Apartment swap

I'm so excited that today we unofficially secured sublets for our apartment in Waltham and also an apartment in Florence. We will sublet our apartment to next year's vicar at First Lutheran Church, which is conveniently, literally, across the street. The vicar, Rachel, will be needing a place to stay for almost exactly the same time we will be gone. The only downside is that her stipend for rent will fall $100 short per month, but I'm sure we can work something out--it is already a HUGE relief to not have to move all our stuff into storage and also to have our wonderful apartment kept warm and waiting for our return.

Our current apartment:



For Florence, we were actually contacted by a current I Tatti fellow from MIT. He looked up Seth and offered advice as well as his furnished apartment. He raved about it and made it seem like it is this year's big hangout spot for the fellows. Apparently the landlady likes to rent to visiting American professors (she likes to practice her English) and so offers big discounts. The apartment is in a great location downtown (across from two essentials: the University and a huge market, San Ambrogio) and with two bedrooms and a loft it is even bigger than our relatively large apartment here in Waltham. We will be expecting lots of visitors!! :o)

The Italian apartment:


It is so fantastic having the biggest burdens taken care of--having our apartment and possessions in good hands while also having a reliable place to stay in Florence. I had already come to the conclusion that we would have to live in some nasty, dank studio for the year. Now only a few more hurdles to jump before we can leave...

Spring time and the lab

Since Easter Seth and I have been busy merging into the end-of-the-year rush--recitals, seminars, preparations for summer, etc...

In the week and a half following Easter, we were faced with a hike in our protein intake, from endless egg salad to ham in its various forms. We made ham sandwiches, spaghetti carbonara, split pea soup with ham, ham stir fry, ham fried rice, baked beans with ham, etc. The funny thing is that we even froze about 1 or 2 pounds for later, AND we never got bored of it! It is just so versatile and delicious! :o) The Jewish students and the Muslims at work must have loved me when I brought in my leftovers for lunch ;o)

As a followup to last May's post about the big turkey on Prospect Hill, and the previous post about the turkeys at Brandeis, a couple days ago we saw a big male in full display regalia strutting his glorified turkey stuff on a rocky slope up in the park. SO amazing! Once again, I wish I had my camera. I wonder if he was one of the baby chicks we saw last spring and watched 'grow up', or if this was one of the displaying males we saw this time last year? I hope we see him again!

April 15th was technically my last day at the lab, since I was only hired as a temp to work on the soymilk study. However, Dr Hayes and Andy (the senior research tech) both seem to really want to keep me on to help look at the data, work on the manuscript, and run another study or two. Since I was hired so casually, it has been easy for me to take the job for granted, but when I think about it, it has been nearly ideal. I can make my own hours-up to 20 hours per week, everyone is really nice, it is at Brandeis (I can walk up whenever I want, attend classes and lectures, go to the gym and yoga, meet up with Seth, etc), and it pays nearly twice as much as I would get as a summer field assistant (which isn't saying much, considering field assistants get barely over minimum wage). Of course, it is also great experience if I decide to go for a nutrition degree. Now if only there were windows...

As a perk, our lab is adjacent to the famed Alex Lab, directed by Irene Pepperberg. She is noted for extending the field of animal cognition and language to birds, pouring most of her efforts into an African Grey parrot named Alex. Alex sadly passed away a few years ago and since then Irene has been featured in documentaries, has spoken on NPR several times, gives numerous public talks, and is training two new parrots, Griffin and Wart. I have even seen camera crews crowd around their door.

Irene's new book about her relationship with Alex

I have always been intrigued by the lab and while sitting at my computer I occasionally hear the two parrots whistling across the hall. A week or two ago my curiosity finally overtook my fear and I got myself to knock on the door to ask about seeing the birds. An undergraduate was working--there is always someone in their little room to keep them company--and she seemed really excited to have a visitor (she must get bored hanging out there all day long...). She told me all about the birds and even did a little demonstration: she held a block of wood for Griffin, asked 'what material?' and got a response of 'wooood'. She then held up a plastic loop for him, asked 'what toy?', and he whistled back 'riiiing'. As his treat, she then asked 'what want?', and he eagerly said 'want nut!'. She gave him a nut. Griffin and Wart are still young and haven't learned as much as Alex, who was a young man of only 31. African Grey parrots can live to be over 70 years old, so it will be exciting to find out what they discover in the coming years!

On the Easter Hunt

I spent Friday then Saturday morning working, cleaning, running errands and driving myself crazy so that we could relax a bit and enjoy the holiday. It was worth it; we had a really fantastic weekend!

Saturday afternoon I met Bo over at the Watertown/Arsenal Mall. They only have just a few good stores, like Gap Outlet, Marshalls, Ann Taylor Factory Store, Target, and the RMV (which is actually really convenient), so it makes shopping pretty stress-free. After getting a few things, we took the bus back to Waltham, made up some dinner, then she and I went to the Easter Vigil at church. After the service, Cindy, Tom, and Clarisse hopped over for some good old-fashioned egg dying. Thanks to the eggs and wine from Tom and Cindy, the snacks from Clarisse, and the help from Seth and Bo, it went really well, and the party even developed into a 'best-egg' competition. Congrats to Clarisse on her Sunset Egg!

Seth, Cindy, Tom, Clarisse and Bo crafting their eggs

Voting for our favorites

The finalists (lower rows) and the winner (top)

The late night was followed by an early Easter morning. Bo had spent the night so that she could join us for some additional festivities, and Seth and I got up early so the three of us could make it to the Easter Breakfast at Church (it's always great running on a holiday morning, especially when the streets are barren and the sun is still on its way up!). After stuffing ourselves on the best meal of the day and attending a really nice service, we postponed an egg salad sandwich lunch and I took Bo on a tour of Brandeis. We couldn't believe how warm it had gotten--mid 70s with clear skies. It is definitely approaching skin-damage season already, ergh.

One of the wild turkeys on campus

Bo and Mr. Brandeis, on that hill no one ever walks up

Bo had to take off in the afternoon, leaving Seth and me to head over to the Cafe on the Common to fit in a couple hours of work. When we returned, I noticed the Easter Bunny had been by and left a few goodies for me to hunt around the apartment: 3 little, 1 big :o)

We had a late dinner of ham (why did Bo have to leave? It was a 7-pounder! We will be eating ham for the next several weeks!) and dessert of strawberry shortcakes (not nearly as good as Seth's mom's, but it had to do). Before we got too miserably tired to stay awake, we managed to watch the first hour of the 'Ten Commandments' on DVD. Probably my favorite movie ever, though I'm not really sure why. I will have to watch the rest over the next few days--it is a long one!

Thanks, everyone, for a fun weekend! Happy Easter!

I love that funky 'caught in the headlights' effect. This is why I try not to ever use the flash.