I barely left my room today. I must have read for 8 to 10 hours. About the only thing I did other than read was the occasional email or IM chat with family.

Having internet access and a program like Skype really helps people when traveling who want to stay connected with family. It's possible that I'm trying to stay too much in contact with family. There's a woman doing work here -- I won't say anything about who she is and what she's doing -- who really needs to be away from family to concentrate on the work she needs to do. I feel a bit sorry for her. I have the luxury, when I'm home, to be able to concentrate on work if I need to. There are women scholars -- and women in other types of work -- who are expected to do both career and motherhood. This woman needs to be able to get away and devote her time to her work. I'm not that intense about my work.

A bunch of people from my group went for pizza tonight. We walked down the stairs to Trastavere. We ended up at Ai Marmi. At least that's where I was told we were going. We sat at a table out on the sidewalk, al fresco, isn't it called? The pizzas are individual sized. I don't think any of the pizzas on the menu sounded like what we would order in the States. I did order a vegetarian. It was very tasty. We had a good time together. Several of us grabbed the bus for the trip back rather than try to go up the stairs after eating. We may have made it up the stairs, but we may not have made it up along with our dinner.

It feels a bit cooler in Rome tonight. It would be nice to feel coolness when sleeping rather than just trying to absorb the moving air from the ceiling fan.