== May 2007 ==

'''Tip:'''' as always, start from the bottom and proceed bottom up to keep time flowing in one direction.

=== Tue, 2nd ===

==== BankOfAmerica ====

I went to BankOfAmerica and opened a bank account.  I went there wearing a yellow T-shirt
and a weary pair of jeans.  In the beginning, they referred me to a young guy who quickly
tried to offer me a student's saving account.  When I queried for interest rates, credit
cards, and dollar/euro conversion rates, they finally realized that I was going to move
a bit of money.

When I've shown them my balance, they immediately switched me to a very polite girl who
took all the time to explain me everything in detail until after their closing time and
recommended me to open *3* different accounts to get a rate of 4.80% with no fees!
I totally hate when people judge you by your wealth, dressing, or other stupid status
symbols, but maybe a bank is the only exception where it makes sense to do so.

Banking appears to be far, far simpler here.  I already feel like I know
everything while in Italy I still can't read most of the paperwork I get from
my banks.

Batt: Or maybe american bankers are so skilled that you are happy while, in truth, they have stolen your money forever :-P


=== Tue, 1st ===

==== Good News, Everyone! ====

'''After a long struggling, I've finally found a room!'''

And I'll be moving in *today*!  But I'm writing on Thursday the 3rd, actually (aren't you thinking fourth-dimentionally yet?).

The room is nice and comes with some forniture, including a desk.  It's on the second floor
of a house where the landlord lives with her wife and a very friendly puppy.  I like it
that way: all those houses shared by students I've seen so far tend to become unmaintained
and dirty quite quickly, while this one is a real house with a fully operational kitchen,
bathroom and even a clean back garden!

My landlord is Armenian, but have been living here in Boston for a long time.  My first
impression is he's a very nice person, honest and easy going.  I haven't met his wife yet --
she'll be back on Sunday.

I'm afraid the house is a bit far away from MIT, in southern Boston.  But that won't
be a problem as soon as I buy a car.  There may even be a chance to rent or buy the
car readily from my landlord's son.

I don't know the address yet.  I should, but I forgot the sheet on the table when I went there.  And I can't call my landlord either because I've stolen his cell phone by mistake also.  Yeah, I reckon I mustn't  a good impression, actually  :-)

==== Do You Speak English? ====

Some of you will be pissed off by this change, but I'm starting to make
some international friends here and none of them could read Italian.

Writing in English is also what I need to improve my writing skills.
For the few of you who barely know English, some more reading surely won't hurt!
If you're real lazy,
[[http://translate.google.com/translate?u=http%3A%2F%2Fbender.codewiz.org%2Fwiki%2FMayBlog&langpair=en%7Cit&hl=en Google Translator]]
is your friend.

As always, I'd very much appreciate being told of any mistake I make.