A trip...

A trip…

This morning I had to eat the ends of my bread…something I NEVER do, but it was all I had for breakfast.  So, I put them in the microwave and then put jelly on one, and Nutella on the other.  I wrote some of my blogs, watched some tv, and eventually got up to make a grocery list and walk to the big grocery store in the mall thing.  It was looking like rain was headed our way, so I tried to walk as fast as possible.  The way old men look at me some days is just sick; granted I had on my Uniquely American outfit of tempos and a t-shirt, but still. 

In the grocery store, they had NO meat, NO chicken breasts, and a little bit of the ham I wanted.  I tried to hurry, but it was raining when I left.  I bought whole wheat penne, little noodles like we’d had at The American Academy in Rome, some Calabrese sauce, snacks, yogurt, toastate things, almond milk, and I took my Britt Britt’s suggestion and bought some milk to mix it with (FRESH MILK…not boxed milk…and pretty sure it might be WHOLE milk…good thing I am mixing the two).  After I checked out, with a decent price and surely enough things to get me through two weeks, I headed out.  It was raining, but I channeled Nick’s Seattle suggestion and just braved it!  Luckily I had a plastic bag that I used to put my electronics in, inside my purse.  It was not raining too hard and I was able to stop at the other store closer to my apartment to look for meat and laundry detergent.  I ended up with no meat, no laundry detergent, but some cheaper yogurt and cheese for sandwiches. 

My next stop was the fruit and veggie stand where I cannot understand any of my sweet friend’s Italian.  I got some white zucchini, carrots, and some Clementines (which he gave me some for free).  With this I went home to put everything away and eventually eat lunch.  Lila (landlady) called and asked if she could come by for me to sign the official contract.  When she did, I asked her about the modem, about my new roommate, and asked about my computer arriving.  The modem was on its way, new roommates’s name is Sophia (she is 19 or 20…studying nursing…and is apparently really nervous because her English is not very good.  Lila told her that we could help each other with our respective languages…truth!), and my computer would be fine. 

After she left, I ate my lunch while the bottom fell out.  Then there was rain on and off, and sometimes hard, but sometimes with the most beautiful sunshine! 

I eventually braved the potential rain and went to the hotel.  My Columbia rain jacket is probably the best thing I bought for this trip.  The internet was slow, and I could not get a hold of many people.  I was able to talk to April and give her the WHOLE scoop about Rome!!  I had issues with my blog updating, facebook did not want to work well, and it was a rather frustrating time.   Luca called, but I did not answer…done…not interested.  I had a cappuccino (this will be important to the story later); Massimo gave it to me, but that is not why it’s important. 

I spent most of my internet time trying to figure out how I could travel for my long weekend.  Mattea had asked if I felt comfortable driving a car by myself…no dice unfortunately.  It was nearly impossible to get to Mattea this weekend.  So after a good hour of trying to figure that out, Nick and I tried to find a common place to meet.  The airport near me only offers like 3 Ryanair locations within Italy (Pisa, Milan, & Bologna…which these will be helpful later…just not now), and they were expensive.  Trains were too long, or with too many stops, or too expensive.  Some places required hotels since we did not know anyone, and also long train rides.  Eventually Nick and I decided that he would come to Cosenza for the weekend.  I told him that I would speak to Virginia about him coming to the birthday party, etc. So after a few hours of trying to figure it all out, we had done it.  He was coming here. 

Evil cappuccino

I eventually packed my stuff up once my fingers were turning purple.  I had dinner (pasta with calabrese sauce…and…I think that was it…).  The news showed a story about the Hurricane, Sandy, that will be hitting NYC and a lot of the east coast.  I eventually laid down to try and sleep.

I could not read myself to sleep, use sound machine, lay in dark, NOTHING…I called home and they called my apartment phone…I talked to my mom and figured out that Italy had gone through Daylight Savings Time without me knowing it…we read about the earthquake that hit late Friday night about an hour away from Cosenza (it was in the Province of Cosenza, but not city)…and I was still not able to sleep…CAFFEINE WAS RUNNING THROUGH MY VEINS AND MAKING ME ANXIOUS AND SOMEWHAT PARANOID (of noises, etc) AND THOUGH I WAS EXHAUSTED…NO SLEEP!  I fell asleep around 2:45 or 3:00, when I had to get up at 10 after 6.  It was MISERABLE!!!