One important aspect of our Roman life has been translated more or less successfully: coffee! I had previously sampled both Starbucks espresso, which was very bitter, as well as independent place in Branford, which was both bitter and had an after-taste. Sean repeated the experiment and agreed that both sucked. In all likelihood, they don't clean the machines often, which gives coffee a bitter taste (at the Academy, people complained that Monday coffee was more bitter, since Alessandro was known for not cleaning the machine when he closed on Saturday). And it's expensive/wasteful anyway, considering they give you a regular-size paper cup for a single espresso shot. Although I haven't tasted it, Sean's department apparently has some excellent espresso. It's capsule coffee, but his adviser Raffaella is from Turin and wanted the good stuff. They even have actual ceramic Illy cups! Truly, the grad students are living the life.
Since bar coffee is never going to be an affordable or tasty solution, it's up to us to make it at home. I bought Kimbo espresso-ground coffee and a Bialetti moka pot on Amazon, but unfortunately I didn't realize how large a pot I was buying, so we've each been drinking a double every morning. Without the power of an actual espresso machine, you can't get the crema that gives bar espresso its special slightly thicker texture, but the taste is solid, and it does the job! I had stopped ordering it macchiato months ago, so we don't even need to bother with frothing our own milk, which seemed like a pain in the ass whenever I watched someone do it in the common kitchen. One day, perhaps, when we have decent income, we could think about investing in a real machine. In the short term, we need to find some decent cups. Somehow I thought that with all the Italian-Americans around (Linda has a moka pot, for example, though she only uses it to make the decaf espresso Gary drinks after big dinners) I'd be able to find some espresso cups at Goodwill, but I've checked a couple with no result.
Another carry-over from Rome: boxing! We joined the distinctly non-gritty 9Round boxing/kickboxing gym, which offers a different 30-minute workout every day. We do the rounds twice to get a good workout out of it, and it is tough, so that's nice. Sean looked at me once as I was flagging and said (quietly) "Come on, ladeee!" like Leo would have, and I both laughed and worked harder. We're never going to actually learn anything new in terms of technique, though, and obviously never even glove-spar with someone else, which is a bit disappointing. Even though I sucked at it, it was definitely a challenge. But never fear, 9Round offers its own things for me to suck at--like jump rope. Yes, the pastime of 10 year old girls is beyond me. Oy.