in need of a hero

if you're going to waste money to call me, you could atleast sound excited to talk to me.
just a thought.

starting to feel frustrated that i can't go out at night because of my foot... ugh.

double-header

I feel like I am being physically rejected by italy; last night before I went to sleep I lathered my entire body in bug spray because every morning I wake up with 10 more mosquito bites than I had the before falling asleep. Well, this morning I woke up with a mosquito bite (dun dun dun) ON MY EYELID! Yes. I look disturbingly similar to Quasimoto. I filled up on Advil this morning and luckily the swelling went down a little bit… note to self: put bug spray on eyes tonite…?!?!?

Other than that, there’s nothing too exciting to report (for once)… it’s raining today and it’s sposed to be like this all weekend. Usually I really don’t like rain (it just puts me in a blue mood) but here it’s not so bad. Well, actually, I haven’t gone outside since it started raining and I’m thinking that might be why I’m okay with it…

I decided to skip my field trip to Carrara and Pietrasanta tomorrow because every time I tell a teacher/person who works here/person who’s been there that that’s where I’m going they look at me like I’m crazy. Carrara is where all the famous Italian sculptors got/get marble for their pieces – I’ve heard it’s incredible to see and WISH I could go but it doesn’t look like it’s going to work out… rough, hilly, terrain? Wet ground/rain? One leg? Um… I’ll have to wait til NEXT time I come to Italy.

One of the perks of NOT going on my trip tomorrow is the fact that I WON’T have to wake up at 6AM tomorrow (we’re sposed to leave SUF at 7:30AM). Everyone’s being kinda blah about going out tonight though because of the rain… I should probably feel the same way since it’s like a safety hazard for me to be crutching around on the wet pavement but oh well… we’ll see.

I talked to my dad on AIM today and I was nice because we haven’t really had a long conversation since I’ve been here! He said that he started taking a German class (!!!). Go dad! From what I can remember hearing, dad’s not the strongest “language person,” but I’m proud of him for trying!! Can’t wait til my mom and dad visit – I can’t believe that I have to wait a month and a half!

We only have school Monday-Thursday :) have a good weekend everyone!

Lots of stuff --

Last night was really fun and I’m glad that I dragged myself (and my old lady crutches) out. Around 11ish marilena and I met up with a bunch of people on the steps of the Duomo. It’s funny because on one of the first days we were here we attended a mandatory safety meeting and one of the things that they sorta warned us against was “drinking on the steps of the Duomo” because that’s where all the shady/crazy locals and foreigners all meet up. They were right. It was fun anyways… drinking wine on the steps of the Duomo with close friends?!? I loved it.

Eventually, after taking pictures with boys from Berlin, we wandered (I crutched myself) to an irish pub called “Robin Hood’s Tavern.” We were the ONLY people in the whole place but the group of people we were with (all but one SCUer) was really cool so it was fun just chatting with all of them. We drank Stella and the bartender liked us and bought us shots (they were pink? No clue what they were though…). I have fabulous pictures!

Around 2 we were waiting for a taxi and it was crazy because the steps of the Duomo were littered with wine and beer bottles, and plastic cups, and trash, and a clean up crew/street sweeper came in and spent about 30 minutes picking up trash and hosing off the steps! I’m not too sure how I felt about it…seeing this incredible, famous, building covered in trash was disturbing but at the same time really cool (what? We partied at THE Duomo?!),

I felt crappy this morning but I was pretty proud of myself for getting out of the house. My foot was a swollen purple mess today. I’m trying to be really careful and even though I’m sure it’s healing, it looks worse and worse everyday.

As the days go on I’ve been writing down things to include in my little journal… they might seem random, but I think they’re all worth mentioning.

1) Italian elevators: most of the buildings around here are really old. At school I have a class on the third floor (figures) and since it is impossible to climb up three flights of stairs on one foot, I was given permission to use the elevator. Well. The elevator is about 2ftx3ft… To get in and out of it, you have to manually open two sets of doors. So there I was standing in front of this so called “elevator” trying to get up enough courage to actually GET IN it when a teacher walked up and asked me if I was stuck or needed help! She assured me that I wouldn’t get trapped in it and that it wouldn’t crash to the floor (serious concerns of mine)… it didn’t but I’m still slightly traumatized and am not looking forward to cramming myself into it again tomorrow.
2) Before I left on my trip Stephanie gave me an “engagement ring.” Actually, I stole it from her last time I was at SCU because it fit perfectly and I planned on wearing it everyday I was here, since, well, we are engaged and all (haha). Unfortunately I had to take it off today because my fingers are all swollen and blistered from using my granny crutches. Seriously, it’s a huge work out and I felt so bad about taking it off that I felt it was appropriate to mention something about it here. Stephanie: we are still engaged and I still love you, I promise!!!
3) There is an overwhelming amount of girls at SUF… I’m starting to think that I take for granted that SCU actually has boys at it.
4) I am taking a class called “Family and Gender in Contemporary Italy” and I have a lot to say about my teacher: Firstly, the way she talks. She speaks English but it’s in slow motion and she says “va bene” at the end of every sentence: blah… blah… blah… talks… so… slow… va bene… va bene… va bene… it gets old really fast. I have her for an hour and a half twice a week. AH.

It’s funny though cuz for Fam and Gender we have to write a paper and someone asked how long she wanted the paper to be. The teacher laughed and was like, “why… are… all… American… students… obsessed… with… the… length… of… papers…? Italian… students… just… write… and… I’ve… found… that… , based… on… students… I’ve… had… in… the… past… , Americans… can’t… do… that. Va bene?” It’s interesting but it’s a huge way our two cultures differ. Americans like things to be written out all clear and perfectly and Italians just sort of go with it. I think this is pretty apparent in the way that we drive. In the US everyone stays in their lanes, goes the speed limits, uses their turn-signals, etc. whereas here Italian just concentrate on getting where they want to go.
5) My Italian teacher thinks it’s funny how 4 out of 8 girls in our class have the same silver Tiffany’s necklaces (myself included). He asked us how we all got them and we all said the same thing: “Il mio ragazzo me ha regalato.” (my boyfriend gave it to me as a gift). Now, he is convinced that we’re all dating the SAME guy and don’t know it. It’s funny. He teases us about it everyday. (bytheway, this man has THE hairiest arms I’ve ever seen).
6) I love art but often feel like I don’t fit in with the kids in the classes. My printmaking class here in Florence is no exception. Today I felt really hungover and crappy and high off of the fumes of the oils we were using and spent the whole class listening to the conversations going on between everyone in my class. Well. The conversation turned into a discussion on how sororities are ridiculous, and how there are a lot of pretty people here at SUF that are wealthy and beautiful and dumb as rocks, and how the Santa Clara students (especially girls) are naïve and ditzy, and how people in California are weird because they pretend to be liberal but they’re really conservative, and how going out every night shows that people are irresponsible and immature and blah blah blah… so there I was sitting there thinking hm. I’m THAT girl that lives in California, that goes to Santa Clara, that’s in a sorority, that’s incredibly conservative, that did something really stupid the 4^th day she was here (eh hem… my foot), that tries to go out at night as much as possible… It was very painful to listen to. I already felt pretty insecure, cuz that’s how I always feel in art class, and this didn’t help. Unfortunately, my head was pounding so badly that I didn’t have the strength to argue with my whole class so I sorta just ignored it and decided to spread the word that all those girls are a bunch of bitches and no one should be friends with them :) I’m really mature, I swear.

I’ve been having a problem lately with eating during the day. I’m so busy that I literally forget to eat. I haven’t eaten lunch in about a week now! Today was no exception and by the time I finally got home from school around 5ish I layed down on my bed and slept for 3 ½ hours! I dunno if it was from my lack of food, or my late night last night, or from the way I have to work my ass off to gimp from point A to point B... but it was exhausted.

Susana and Kike went out to dinner with friends tonight so Marilena, Lucas, and I ate dinner together. Luca is an interesting character… 25 years old, still lives at home, hot as can be, LOVES anime, speaks minimal English, stays up til 4 am on the computer, etc. Marilena and I have spent hours discussing his weirdness; maybe it’s an Italian thing? Who knows… It’s been a long day.

PS it’s about midnight and our host parents still aren’t home yet! Haha, they’re party animals! I love them.

stupid foot...

It’s about 11:30 and I JUST arrived on campus – it’s the second day of school and I’ve already had to miss a class. This morning I went on a crazy adventure and am actually kinda proud of myself for surviving (and only crying twice).

At my doctor appointment with the SU doctor yesterday, I was told that there was a possibility that I could get my cast of since the fracture on my foot was so small. So today he set me up with an appointment at the clinic that he regularly works at called Villa Nuova. This morning I woke up bright and early and got on the phone to call a taxi….

Well… after giving the operator the address of my house she was like “no taxis this morning,” and the line went dead… I was like, shit! I just lost service! SOOOO I called back and was like “scusi, blah blah blah, address is… blah blah blah,” and again she was like “no taxis this morning.” I started flipping out… i had only 20 minutes til my appointment and I had heard it was about a 20 minute ride there. So I grabbed Susana (my host mom) and asked HER to call… maybe they were being mean to me because I spoke poor Italian??? But she got the same response – “tera, there are no taxi’s this morning… this is normal in Florence; very busy in the morning.” WAIT, WHAT?! How the heck was I sposed to get to my appointment to get my cast off?!?!?! Then she left (along with the paper that had all the info of the hospital, the doctor I was sposed to report to, the number of my student services guy at SU).

ANYWAYS. I FINALLY made it to the hospital – the ride there was incredible! I wanted to take pictures of the scenery from the taxi! The clinic was located in the countryside and I def want to try to go back in the direction (not to the hospital of course) sometime over the next 4 months.

The driver dropped me off at the back entrance of the hospital (asshole) and I when i walked in it was totally deserted… I was like “hmmm, yesterday they told me that the receptionist at the front desk would be expecting me… where the heck is the front desk?” When I finally found a person I tried to explain who I was and what I was looking for in italian (the name of the doctor I was sposed to report to was one of the things written on the paper that Susana had taken from me that morning… figures). “Sono studentessa di Syracuse e il dotore dame andare qui…” ::blank stare:: ummm…. No one knew what to do with me… finally I got a hold of SU and they called Dr. DeLeonardis (oh yea! THAT was his name!) and he took me to another doctor that specialized in orthopedics.

This orthopedic doctor ONLY spoke Italian but like I said before, I understand WAY more than people think I do and from the second he started analyzing my x-rays I started crying because everything he had to report was bad news for me… “She has to stay in the cast; this cast she has now is broken because she’s been walking when she shouldn’t have been walking; she needs to go BACK to the other hospital to get a new cast put on; it could get worse; there’s no other option; the cramping in her leg is her fault cuz she hasn’t been taking the injections that were prescribed to her…” etc etc.

After the diagnosis, Dr. DeLeonardis and I had a long talk. Basically it went like this: we (the doctors) think that you should keep the cast. We know it will heal correctly this way for sure. However, you have been walking on the cast you have now and it is broken and you have to go back to Santa Maria Novella and get a new cast put on then not walk on it AT ALL, and you have to take the injections to help your circulation. ::me sniffling::

The OTHER option… take the cast off, and don’t walk on your foot for the next two weeks. Not ever. It will still heal BUT there is a big risk that you can hurt it again.

Me: UGH. Get this thing off of me.

I called my mom (it was 1:30AM at home) and we talked it over and I decided to take it off. I was totally embarrassed because my foot smelled like vinegar and i felt really bad for the guy who had to clean my foot. But who cares… FREEDOM!

I promised Dr. DeLeonardis a million times that I wouldn’t walk on it then headed back to school where Jim (the guy that’s in charge of Student Life) lectured me over and over about being careful and taking the injury seriously and blah blah blah…

Seriously my foot is gigantic and purple and swollen – I am a very visual person and seeing it like this makes me actually BELIEVE that it’s hurt now. When it was in a cast I pranced and walked around all over the place as if it was perfectly ok. I think SEEING that it’s not ok for sure helps me understand how to take care of myself. Sooo… here we go… I’m not liek, an out of control person (like most of the people who work here prolly think I am since I a) broke my foot the 4^th day here, b) refused to take the medicine the hospital prescribed me, c) walked around even though I wasn’t sposed to, and d) broke my cast after having it for only 4 days)… AHHHHHH.

So anyone wanna go out tonight?!?

So this is pretty cool -

On one of the first nights here i entered a beer pong tournment and in order to sign up we had to fill out a little card with our name and e-mail address for a raffle... welllllllll, tody i got an e-mail that said this:

"The winners of the prize draw are Tera Linsley from Syracuse and Matt Tyler from Palazzo Rucelli. Tera wins a 2 for 1 Canyoning trip, or a free day Skiing or Snowboarding in Interlaken from Outdoor Interlaken and Bus2alps and Matt gets another free trip from Florence for Fun. Again, Anna will get in contact with you."

how cool is that?!? too bad my foot is broken and too bad everyone i tell this to immediately asks me "omigod, have you ever seen the movie Hostel?!?" NO I HAVEN'T AND I DEFINETLY DON'T WANT TO KNOW HOW THAT MOVIE IN ANY WAY RELATES TO MY TRIP I WON thankyouverymuch.

today is family day -- susana and kike are taking me an marilena to Fiesole (a city right next to firenze). that should be fun. the weather is absolutely beautiful today!!!

i had my first experience taking a shower with my cast this morning. it took me about 35 minutes AND i spilled water everywhere AND i was completely exhausted afterwards... ever seen those Captain Morgan commercials?? yea, that's basically the position i had to stand in the whole time... uuugggghhhhh! so annoying.

anyways... we're off with the fam! more updates later!