Trip to Milano, Italia!

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Remember that soccer ball that Ian forced me to take to Italy? Well, here it is buddy (first picture). Just for you. As my dad said "Only a great friend would give you something incredibly inconvenient to bring and expect it to happen." Well, it happened, and it was definitely inconvenient: it took up 3/4 of one of my carry-ons and almost made it so I had to check my other carry on between the East Coast and Milan, but thanks to a really nice old German dude that didn't happen (more on that later).



My ticket over to Milan was pretty cheap: awesome. The reasons why: not so awesome. I really didn't mind having to transfer planes in Newark and having a 5 hour layover (second picture, I did find a wine bar!) without both wifi and a bar (what kind of an airport doesn't have wifi or a bar?? at least in the terminal I was in), having a broken monitor for crossing the pond and thus being unable to watch anything, or having to transfer again in Munich with another 2.5 hour layover (was too tired to remember to take a picture with Prosper here). No but really I didn't really mind, it all worked out, I had fun traveling, and I got to Italy in one piece (third picture) on the 28th.



The airport I flew into is actually in an area called Malpensa, about an hour outside of Milano. I took a cab to the institute I will be staying at. The driver and I had a great conversation about all kinds of stuff despite him speaking very little english and me speaking a bit less Italian. It was a good way to warm me up for what it will be like trying to communicate with Italians until I learn more of the language, which apparently needs to happen sooner rather than later. I arrived at the institute (fourth picture) a few hours after getting into Italy, and began the process of becoming an employee at IFOM - The FIRC Institute of Molecular Oncology Foudnation. I know the acronym doesn't exactly line up with the name of the institute, and I just now bothered to google it and figure out why: in Italian it is Istituto FIRC (Fondazione Italiana per la Ricerca sul Cancro) Oncologia Molecolare. The HR office here is incredibly welcoming, and helpful, and will help me do everything from finding a bank to finding a permanent living situation.

For now, I am being put up at their guest house, a floor above my lab! And with that my journey from Seattle to Milano has come to an end.

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