Not an iPhone day....

Remember what I wrote about my iPhone days and my pre-paid phone days. Well, ironically,
just when I was having an iPhone day yesterday, I couldn't get an iPhone. So the comparison worked beautifully - I was trying to buy an iPhone, finally, and the salesman told me that until I have my permanent residency permit, I can't buy ANY cell phone with a plan. Drat! It literally turned into a pre-paid phone day because I can't actually get an iPhone yet.

So today it is time to find a pre-paid phone, just so I have a number, because those permits can take months. How ironic.

It is also the last day of intensive German classes before I switch to a slower pace. It has been a good start - I have begun to pick up words that people say, be a little more clued in in the shops, and even have a better chance of reading an extra word or two on an advertisement. And a lot of practice speaking, which is a good thing. I'm more likely to improvise with the words I know and try to get my point across when the shop-person doesn't speak English.

And sleep....we got out foam mattress topper from P this week in the mail. Glorious. The bed is now the undisputed most comfortable place in the apartment. To do email, homework, reading, etc. The dog agrees.

I'm going to miss some of my classmates from German class. The Portuguese guy, the Italian woman, the guy from Russia. They were fun people to learn with. The other dude, not so much. I never quite understood him - like a mix of a 10 year old and a pushy grown-up. And our breaktime conversations were always a race across politics, policy, travel, culture, and anything else you can imagine. Yesterday, they asked me if I was nervous having a baby in another country, and the conversation made its way to how little science understands about pregnancy. The Italian woman said that she thought it was nice, magical, to not understand everything.

Me: But, this is about health and well being. I want to know what is going on with my body, and this baby.

Italian: But wouldn't you like to just feel it is more magical? I can see that since you're a scientist you probably want to know more about it.

Me: Look, if you had cancer, would you want medical science to know as much about the condition as possible, or for it to remain mysterious?

American guy: Whoa, dude. You, like, just compared being pregnant to cancer.

Me, (trying to get around the less-than-ideal example I had chosen): Yup. I did. This is a parasite. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy it is here, but it is a living creature which will feed on my body if I don't take care of it correctly. If I don't have a high enough intake of Calcium, it is going to leech it from my bones. Not so magical, but I want to know about it.

Italian: But don't you just want to enjoy it? (Here she said some other things, too. She isn't an unreasonable woman, she's a lawyer, but I think she put this condition in a different box from others and I was trying to work out why it was ringing false for me)

Me: Maybe it is because I'm a scientist, but I think that knowing more means I can make safer choices in some cases, and actually, I find knowing what is _actually_ happening to be pretty magical. But I suppose that could be because I like science, too. I mean, this thing had a TAIL, not legs, the first time I saw the ultrasound. That's crazy, and amazing, and evolution, and I don't even know what, all rolled into one. And to know that during some week, its brain was forming. It's mind-blowing.

At this point we got back to the classroom.

I think the part that I didn't like was the implication that only someone who studies science would want to know more about the pregnancy. As if science is only for some people. What I didn't think to ask until later of the lawyer was whether she believed all people should have some idea about ethics and argumentation or if it was only for lawyers. No harm done. All great conversations these last few weeks. And I've learned a lot about different countries' policies for all sorts of things: work, immigration, citizenship, women's rights, etc.

Time to go study for today's test.