My first post

Today I am about one week from beginning my trip to Rome. I figured I should set up some sort of journal to chronicle the trip, on the advice of my parents and Mrs. Ake.

This summer has been spent doing clinical research in the Emergency Room at CMC for Dr. Jeff Kline. I do not think I will be doing that again next summer, but I did enjoy the job to the extent that it allowed me to listen to the Tony Kornheiser Show from Washington Post radio while working on Excel.

The last few days (Sunday-Thursday) were spent visiting New York City. I stayed with the Ake family, who were very, very gracious hosts. I met some people in the finance industry, and did the touristy stuff. My impression was that the city (or at least Manhattan, where I spent all of my time in the city) is the modern equivalent of what Rome was 2000 years ago. NYC is also a true testament to capitalism: specialization to the extreme, and everybody must be good at what they do, or they can't afford the rent. I really liked it.

On the trip Mrs. Ake convinced me to start the blog, so that I will be able to remember the events that are to come whenever I want to. That seems like sage advice. On the blog, I will try to document all different types of experiences in Rome, from my room to memorable meals (I probably will focus more on the food than an Average Joe would: I like food). I want to post pictures, but most of the time I think I will do that through Facebook.

My picture is what I will be missing most when I am in Roma, of course. That and football.