A New Life in Reno

Dear blog, The past three weeks were pretty busy! Overall I'm doing good, trying to balance study/research/sport/human relations.. Here is the main summary. Veterans Day Yet another excuse to have a BBQ! With the lab guyz we have been to a wonderful location on the Truckee River. We've been eating all day long, I was so full! (almost, not completely of course) Pig Nic && Loving Cup &&  Karaoke Bar These three places I have the chance to checkout are amazing! Live music every evening, launch events, and much much more! When I first came here I thought 'music must be dead around this place'. I couldn't be more wrong! There's plenty of great bands to see live, I'm so happy! Pig Nic Loving Cup West Second Karaoke Bar Late Night  Building and Testing Robots Last friday I went to the lab at 9, as usual. But I could not imagine that I would stay there until 5:30am. We really wanted to setup one ground robot to ...

Aaargh I'm getting super busy.  I already knew this would happen at some point, but I could not imagine this much and this fast! As usual, I'll try to make a list of BIG stuff that have been going on during this time.. Hospital Experience Ok, this was intese. Basically one Saturday morning I wake up to go to the bathroom and I lose consciousness. Twice. The first time I cut my head in the back, the second time on the forehead. Nothing special, do not worry I'm more than fine. But I needed stitches! So I ended up spending a beautyful Saturday afternoon in the hospital, experimenting in first person  the much criticized American health system (before you ask: yes, as a PhD student I have an health insurance!). And I have to say: compared to other pepople waiting in the room with me, my cuts were nothing!  I had all the services and the care that I needed. Overall, I have to say, positive experience! Nevada Day The 25th of October was Nevada Day! ( It commem...

That's a (S')more! On Friday night we made a bonfire in the garden and we have melted marshmallows. That was awsome. And I tried my first time ever S'more! It is incredibly good. This is the scheme I made for the recipe for anyone who (like me) had no idea what it was: Of course the mashmallows have to be melted using the bonfire, it's a ritual. The Eldorado Great Italian Festival Ok. This is painful. But I try. So in previous posts I wrote something about the obsession americans have with respect to Italy right? But a hole weekend dedicated to it!? The entire city was there. And I could not find a single true italian. But not a problem, you would say. Ok. But FRIED RAVIOLI !?! This is abomination. This is insulting! I think this festival is yet another opportunity to stuff you with fatty and sticky foods.  Overall the atmosphere was great, so many friendly guys everywhere. Everybody love Italy apparently! And everyone is nice in Reno! ...

Dear Diary, So much stuff going on this week! And the first month here is already gone.. Quizzes and more quizzes This University is hard! But in a good way. Basically you have to 'know things' because there is a in-class test every week. And homework. A lot of homework. And the work at the lab too. AAARGH! The Gym FINALLY I found some time to join the 46 millions $$ (yes, 46  $$$ ! ) gym of the campus. And I feel alive again. The first 2 weeks here I trained only on Saturday for several reasons, but now I found a kind of balance between work/study/sports. I tried to imitate the other guys in the lab (an average of 14/16 hours/day in front of a screen with almost no brakes) but I simply can not do it. I guess I have to do it my way, as usual. The international BBQ Yes! I had my very first american barbecue! And it was amazing! So many people, from all around the world (most of them from Japan, for some reason). I had quite hard times in remembering their name...

Yep! It's already been 3 weeks! Time flies when you are having fun, I guess.. I apologize in being so late with this post, I will try to publish one every Sunday. At least this was the original plan. BUT then I got trapped in this world of 'late lab nights' and I really like it!  So my standard day is something like this:  Wake up: easy, I'm a morning person Say hello to C. N. and A. (my housemates) Eat the entire world: I don't know why, but I am always hungry. ALWAYS Grab the bike and go to the lab! Now it depends: on Mon and Wed I have classes in the morning, so I work at the lab after launch. All the other days I work all day long. SPOILER: I am documenting my activities, probably at the end of each month I'll make a video.. Stay tuned! Considerations on this first period in Reno I really like this town! Even if I am not living it like I used to do in Torino, everyone here is kind, open, I did not see any contrast of any type yet. I ass...

Here's a list (continuously updated) of good and bad things that I'm learning about Reno! Thumbs DOWN There is no dinner: people come back home around 5 or 6 pm and sandwiches of unlikely size are fired No recycling, not even for plastic. In some public places they do it, but just a bunch of them They use air-conditioning with no sense! Example: get in car. Even if outside there's a nice sunset breeze, put the air at maximum and windows closed. no sense! It's illegal to drink alcohol in the streets  Guns. Seems like if you don't have one you can not be a true american Everyone has a car. No one is walking around, especially at night The bus is once every 30 minutes on average, rarely in the evening Food waste. So much food waste! Thumbs UP People (my housemates in particular) like to chat a lot around the table after daily activities, they like to stay together Walking down the street everyone will talk you like: "hey man, wassup?" Air ...

"Summary by Important Sentences" Tue 27 3:55 am alarm: "BEEEEEEEEEP!!!!!" me: "mmmmhhhhhh" 4:25 am On the train to Venice (Mestre, a really nice place, raccomanded) 6:05 am On the train to Florence 8:30 am officer: "what time do you have the visit?" me: "9:45 sir" officer: "come back when it's the right time! and back off please" 9:45 am desk girl: "oooh you are going to Reno!? Nice place!" me: "really? Have you ever been to?" desk girl: "no" 9:50 am consulate: "why are you going to the us? russian girl before me: "tourism" consulate: "and where exactly?" russian girl before me: "Las Vegas" consulate: "do you have proof of your work?" russian girl before me: "here is a letter" consulate: "sorry, you need more that this. visa rejected. have a nice day." me: "mmh, cheering" 9:58 am c...

It is incredible how fast I received my I-20, just 2 days! Can you belive it!? Eventually, on Tuesday 27, I'll go to Florence for my visa interview. Here is the list of everything that you need to carry for an F1: Confirmation page of the DS-160 form. Valid passport. Form DS-2019 in original issued by the school, duly completed, dated and signed. SEVIS payment receipt. Satisfactory financial documentation that demonstrates the economic availability to pay the costs of study and stay during the entire period of study in the United States. Possible flight date: 3 September

All right buddies! Here it is. New life, new blog! It has been an extremely long process.  And it is not even over yet! BUT good news: yesterday [08/19/2019] I finally signed the contract! Apparently, the biggest delay was due to fundings that were not available until one month ago or so (for now, let's forget about the fact that I was wrong to send some documents to the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR)). Can you image a longer application procedure?! But wait, let's try to summarize this path of bureaucratic suffering from the dawn of prehistory: UAVs And More The very first email ever sent to Dr. K dates back to Wed, 13 Jun 2018, 14:24 . At that time I was having some  difficulties  in my project at work and I was planing to quit. This was one of the main reasons why I started to think about a phd: too young to stop studying, not old enough to start working! "UAVs And More" was the subject of the email I sent to get some tips from someone from a...