Learning ASAP

As if particle physics wasn't hard enough to understand, I've learned that the masters of the trade like to speak in acronyms.
Take, for instance, the ILC, or the International Linear Collider. It's the newest project that Fermilab, and the rest of the world, is backing as the next big thing in the field. The ILC would look into discoveries made at the LHC (Large Haldron Collider), which is at CERN (not sure what that stands for yet), and lead to SID (super important discoveries) by crashing electrons into positrons at 99 percent of the speed of light. OK, I made that last acronym up, but you get the idea.
That's where I'm at right now in deciphering the language of those I work with. Hopefully, I'll get the hang of it soon.
On another note, I visited the city on Saturday for the first time since I arrived. I went with Siri, who's technically my boss but also turning into a good friend, and Leonardo, a visiting scientist from Italy who just arrived on a one-year contract. We ate pizza: stuffed crust, of course, although Leonardo ordered a regular one because eating pizza that's more like a casserole would be a disgrace to his country. Plus, if an Italian friend saw him indulging in it, they'd never let him live it down, he says.
Then we stopped for a drink and walked around the lakefront. Chicago is such a great city, so active and exciting. It was a warm night, and people walked around everywhere, sipping martinis at restaurant windows (like Amy and I once tried to do), posing for wedding pictures at Navy Pier and drinking on bar patios. I'll definitely be making more visits there.
Tonight, Leonardo made Siri and I real Italian food: pasta with homemade tomato sauce, which was delicious, and ice cream, not necessarily Italian but good. It sure beats my version of the meal, made from a box and a glass jar.