I spent most of yesterday working on my collaborative project that has nothing to do with the group in Italy. I thought it would go quickly and I could switch to reading papers for my project here, but when I got to 12:30 AM I still wasn't done.
When I felt like I had hit a wall with the code yesterday, I took a break to get out of the apartment and go for a walk. I went to a nearby park where there were trees and a canal. Then, I wrote more code. I got up this morning and worked more on the code... for hours. Again, I hoped to wrap up and switch projects.
Around 4 PM I had fixed the code issue, but I was exhausted and there was no point in heading in to San Raffaele. No matter what, I needed to get out of my apartment. I looked up the hours for some of the museums I hadn't gone to, and decided to head to Mudec to see the Basquiat exhibition.
Luckily, I was on the metro before rush hour. But when I got off, about a kilometer from Mudec, I found that the bridge to cross the railroad tracks was closed. There was a sign about a new passover - but it wasn't open yet. I watched other people, tried a few different ways over/under - and then gave up. I went back one stop and got off with a much longer walk ahead of me.
The Basquiat exhibition was very informative - I've never pronounced his name right, it turns out. I'm still sure I cannot say it right, but now I know that. But maybe I don't say Haiti right either? The English signage and audioguides always include some strange pronounciations (by otherwise-seeming native speakers) and a few words I don't know. But, between this and the Warhol exhibit in Genova, I'm doing an excellent job finding art that is neither old nor Italian.
I found a different way to walk back to the metro, along a nice canal. It is difficult to tell the difference between "old, scenic walkway" and "sketchy back alley" here in Italy, but I always use the presence of joggers to decide something is safe. I then headed to a talk on Buddhism. The primary teacher spoke Tibetan, but it was translated into Italian. I could follow the Italian fairly well, and could recognize many Tibetan words. However, my brain really struggled at switching back and forth.
The week has gone by so fast! It appears as if my project here is splitting into two, and I'm struggling with how much time I should be spending doing background reading, vs trying to jump in and make progress. It was important that I spent these two days on my other project, but I need to make more time for it in the immediate future. While it is nice to have a glut of research to do, I am getting very tired from 12+ hour days! I also want to keep traveling on the weekend, since that opportunity is the most limited.
I also need to limit my research time so I can make progress on a few non-research projects that I committed to over the next few months. I have two big commitments (not teaching/Agnes-related) that need some of my time, and I will soon have meetings where I should have made some progress. Finally, I'm not making as much progress as I had hoped in Italian - and I need to start ramping up my Tibetan before I leave.
So far I have preserved 7-8 hours of sleep a night, but I could really use more hours in the day here! These metric days just don't work for me...
When I felt like I had hit a wall with the code yesterday, I took a break to get out of the apartment and go for a walk. I went to a nearby park where there were trees and a canal. Then, I wrote more code. I got up this morning and worked more on the code... for hours. Again, I hoped to wrap up and switch projects.
Around 4 PM I had fixed the code issue, but I was exhausted and there was no point in heading in to San Raffaele. No matter what, I needed to get out of my apartment. I looked up the hours for some of the museums I hadn't gone to, and decided to head to Mudec to see the Basquiat exhibition.
Luckily, I was on the metro before rush hour. But when I got off, about a kilometer from Mudec, I found that the bridge to cross the railroad tracks was closed. There was a sign about a new passover - but it wasn't open yet. I watched other people, tried a few different ways over/under - and then gave up. I went back one stop and got off with a much longer walk ahead of me.
The Basquiat exhibition was very informative - I've never pronounced his name right, it turns out. I'm still sure I cannot say it right, but now I know that. But maybe I don't say Haiti right either? The English signage and audioguides always include some strange pronounciations (by otherwise-seeming native speakers) and a few words I don't know. But, between this and the Warhol exhibit in Genova, I'm doing an excellent job finding art that is neither old nor Italian.
I found a different way to walk back to the metro, along a nice canal. It is difficult to tell the difference between "old, scenic walkway" and "sketchy back alley" here in Italy, but I always use the presence of joggers to decide something is safe. I then headed to a talk on Buddhism. The primary teacher spoke Tibetan, but it was translated into Italian. I could follow the Italian fairly well, and could recognize many Tibetan words. However, my brain really struggled at switching back and forth.
The week has gone by so fast! It appears as if my project here is splitting into two, and I'm struggling with how much time I should be spending doing background reading, vs trying to jump in and make progress. It was important that I spent these two days on my other project, but I need to make more time for it in the immediate future. While it is nice to have a glut of research to do, I am getting very tired from 12+ hour days! I also want to keep traveling on the weekend, since that opportunity is the most limited.
I also need to limit my research time so I can make progress on a few non-research projects that I committed to over the next few months. I have two big commitments (not teaching/Agnes-related) that need some of my time, and I will soon have meetings where I should have made some progress. Finally, I'm not making as much progress as I had hoped in Italian - and I need to start ramping up my Tibetan before I leave.
So far I have preserved 7-8 hours of sleep a night, but I could really use more hours in the day here! These metric days just don't work for me...
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