Day 4

On food:
The woman serving the food in the evenings has clearly decided that I'm a "growing lad" or something, and I consistenly have to forcibly restrain her from piling ontp my plate about twice the amount I can actually eat. Tonight's meal was veal or eggplant parmigiana. When I asked for the vegetarian option, though, I ended up with both kinds of cutlet on top of enough spaghetti to feed a small Italian village. She will have to be told. Firmly.

On water:
Kelly: So, just out of curiosity, is the drinking water purified?
(We have been told previously that all the fresh water we have is collected on site, from rainwater that runs down from the roof)
Chris: Actually, no. Well, there's this wire mesh thing downstairs that filters off all the large chunks.
Kelly: That's it? Is it clean? Surely there's birdshit and stuff on the roof.
Chris: Yeah, and the birds walk around up there a lot too.
Kelly: Don't people fall sick?
Chris: Not often. I guess sometimes a rat or a cat gets down there and dies and the entire lab comes down with something...that's when we know to check the tanks.