A Better Day

So as you can see by my title, today is a much better day than yesterday. I started my day off last night actually. I had a really good nights sleep and good dreams all night. I woke up fairly early for me on a weekend, 9 am. So after I got up and myself situated for the day to come I checked my INR, which of course was not where it should be. So I went over to SACI to call the hospital only to find that they were closed. I did however run into my photo teacher and we discussed a time for me to catch up on everything I had missed. I decided to go for a short walk and get some lunch before I headed back to SACI at 1 when they opened. I got my favorite thing to eat here in Florence, a ham and cheese panini. It was nice to sit down in the snack bar, even though I paid 1 euro to do so, and eat my lunch without having to walk around. I then walked back toward SACI down a different street. I was very relaxed and excited to be going down new streets and find my way around. I got to SACI and we called the hospital but the doctors had not come in yet so I went home and to check emails and such. About half an hour later got a call about my INR and my daily instructions. Just coming off the flu I was completely exhausted from my outing and decided that a nap was a good idea. I had a very refreshing hour and a half nap. Once I woke up I decided to go down to the river before it got dark out and take some pictures for a project. I got some good pictures and I came home completely calm and happy. So I am in my apartment for the rest of the night enjoying being by myself. I am plopped down in front of the tv watching a hilarious movie and talking to my friends back home. 

From Oi On

Well I started out my day with a major "OI." I had my alarm set for 7:30 so that I could get up and get my blood work done in time to meet someone to go to our Fresco class at 9. I rolled out of bed at 8:51. Apparently when I set my alarm it was set for p.m. not a.m. I called Kerry, the person I was meeting, and she didn't seem at all concerned about missing class, even though she has not been to one class. So I quickly ran out the door to go to the lab. As I left the lab at 9:30 I realized that I wouldn't have my results until after class at 3:30 which was too late to call the doctor at the hospital. So I went to SACI and talked to Chiara, the woman who has been helping me, and we decided that I would test my INR on my own machine and call and then call back later with the rest of the results. So I did this and was quite annoyed that I got stuck twice and was already an hour late to my class. So after this fiasco I went to catch the bus to take to the fresco studio. Doesn't it figure that the girl at the desk at SACI told me the wrong bus to get on? So I had a nice long bus ride pretty much to the hospital and back. Once I got back to my original spot near my apartment, I decided to walk there. That took me along the river which was very nice and relaxing and I ended up being 2 hours, almost 3, late to class. As I walked in Mario, the teacher, basically told me I shouldn't have come because it was too late to start. He didn't realize until I told him that I was the student of his in the hospital. He was then understanding and got me started. My day got so much better after this point. After class my new friends from the class and I walked back together and had a very good time. Adding to that, I feel almost completely better today. I just have a runny nose. So yay! I have also decided that I need new friends here. My "friends" don't talk to me unless they need something. I feel very alone, friend wise. I have come t realize that they are here to party and not to concentrate on their art and studies. I want to have a good time, but at the same time I know this experience will only improve my art and I am going to work very hard on that. I am tired of feeling like I am a bother to my "friends" and being ignored by them. The worst part is one of these people is my roommate. She doesn't talk to me, rolls her eyes and gets annoyed when I try to talk to her. So in this regard I miss home more than ever simply because of friends and family, but I still love Italy and do not want to leave. So wish me luck with new friends. 

Panini Love

So today is a better day than yesterday. I am not feeling 100% but defiantly better. My headache/migraine is gone. I decided to not go to my first 2 classes and sleep in so that I could try to rest up as much as possible. I slept until almost 11 am and felt pretty decent when I woke up. I do have a very queasy and upset stomach today along with a runny nose, but compared to yesterday I feel good. I'm hoping that tomorrow I will feel even better. I did go to my graphic design class for the first half and got all my work done. It was good to go and do what I love to do. After class, however, I was exhausted and came back home to rest after buying my favorite ham and cheese panini. It was so good and to top it off I held it down with no problem. I have spent the rest of my day at home trying to rest. I attempted a nap but wasn't tired enough to fall asleep. I made myself some tortellini for dinner after my "nap." They didn't agree with me unfortunately. So I have plopped myself on the couch with the tv on and my computer in my lap for the night I am pretty excided because Crossing Jordan is on in a marathon I think. Too bad it is in Italian. So tomorrow I attempt a 6 hour studio of fresco. Wish me luck.

I'm Backish

Hi everyone. Sorry I haven't updated recently, but I was in the hospital here in Florence. I am "home" now. M platelets went very low last Wednesday and my INR (my Coumadin level) was high. this is bad because low platelets means that I will bleed and high INR also increases bleeding. So I had to be admitted into the hospital to stop the bleeding I was having and to try to get my counts to normal. It took 6 days, and things are almost normal. My INR is still a little high but ok for me be home. I started this adventure in the ER. I spent 8 hours in a hallway with no contact with anyone because hardly anyone spoke English. I finally made it to a room. By this time I felt as though I was living in a bad dream and would wake up at any minute, I didn't. I started getting a treatment for my platelets which I get back home on Friday. However, this as a 2 days treatment which I usually only get one days worth. So, this did improve my platelets a lot but my INR was still out of control. That seems to be the reason I stayed so long. I felt pretty good for the majority of the time I spent in the hospital. I was EXTREMELY bored. My "friends" and roommates did as little, if anything, as they could for me. I felt like I was just a huge bother to them. For example the night I went in I called my friends and asked them to bring me some stuff I needed. I told them I was in the hospital and that my roommates could not bring it the next day because they had to go to Bologna. I simply asked if they could go to my apartment and pick up a bag Stacy had packed for me and bring it to me at some point the next day. They all (all 3) said no because they were going out for the night and didn't have time to pick it up. So, I felt very alone. I didn't have internet, so all I could do was listen to music and attempt to talk to my roommates who spoke Italian. That was kind of funny because we didn't understand each other but we tried. One of my roommates did speak a little English which helped. So my days were spent watching the visualizations in iTunes and critiquing them. I am very happy to be home today. However, I woke up with a massive migraine and have been extremely nauseous all day. They told me that I have some kind of flu that is going around. I plan on spending the next few days just trying to get over this flu. The school said not to worry about classes and to just feel better. I would write a more detailed account but I am really feeling lousy and this is about as good as it gets at the moment. Maybe when I feel better I will write it out better. 

Got Platelets and Tissues?

So today was a very hectic day for me. I woke up with the sniffles. This was no problem except that it has developed into a cold from this morning. So I am currently using massive amounts of tissues. I don't feel completely lousy though, just snotty. I woke up somewhat early today so that I could go to the lab and get blood work done. Turns out that my platelets are down to 14,000 which is very low and my INR is 3.1 which is high. This would explain the excessive amount of bruises on me. I found all this out after I had my boring Italian class and took a walk down by the river. That walk was by far the highlight of my day. It was very calming and I got some good pictures to develop I think. I spent about 2 hours walking, taking pictures, and relaxing. It was nice. After my walk is when the day got hectic. I found out my blood results and started emailing doctors and ended up going to Dr. Kerr to find out what to do basically. So the plan is that I am to go to the hospital, through the ER, tomorrow and tell them what is going on and get treated for the low platelets. I am very nervous about going tomorrow because it is a hospital in country where the language is not english and they could do things very differently. So for now, I am in bed relaxing, keeping warm, and drifting in and out of sleep. I am very tired but if I go to sleep now I won't sleep a full night so I am going to have to wait a few hours. Wish me luck tomorrow.

Developing and Design

Today was great day despite the overcast sky. I started my day out running late because I wasn't feeling well. I was happy when I got to class because they waited for me to start. Today we developed our film. I was nervous going into it simply because I had never done that before and I  really didn't want to mess up my film. I went into the dark room to put the film in the canister and didn't have too much of a problem. Then I developed and in the end there were pictures on my negatives! It was so exciting to see the work I did while out taking the pictures coming to life. We didn't get to printing, that will be on Thursday. I can't wait. I was having such a good time I didn't want to leave. After this I went to Italian class and nothing special happened there so I am going to skip the boring details of that class. I then went to Graphic Design. That was a very relaxing class for me. I find creating designs, especially tedious ones, calm me and relax me. I did one design fairly quickly and then started on my second. The second is extremely tedious because I am working with very small shapes, but I think it will come out very  good. My teacher seems to like the concept, so I guess we'll see with the final product. I didn't get to go down to the river today because by the time I got home from class it was starting to get dark and Jacapo (my photography teacher) said not to go down there after dark. So I came home and worked on my design some more. So here we are. I am taking a break from homework to write this and make dinner soon. I'm thinking pasta, as usual, and that I am going to go make it right now. Yum!

Rain, Rain, Go Away

I am learning very quickly that is rains a lot in Florence. The good thing about the rain is that it does not rain heavily everyday. I have found that it will rain and stop and then rain and stop again. The rain is also usually just a mist or sprinkle. However, it rains almost everyday and thus makes it hard to do laundry. Anyway, enough of my rain rant and lets get to my day shall we? I started my day off feeling pretty great. I went to Italian this morning and did pretty well, in my opinion. I think I am catching on to some of the basics. After Italian I came back to the apartment to check my email and to my delight found that the elevator and lights in the foyer were working after a week of not working. It seems to be perfect timing for these to come back because my knee started to hurt again today and stairs can be very hard on my knee. So yay! After fighting with my internet I decided to take a walk to the Duomo to take some pictures for a drawing I needed to do. I did and it had stopped raining by the time I go there. I took my pictures and then decided to go down to the river and take some pictures with my digital to post on facebook. It started to rain while I was on the bridge, but I was still utterly relaxed. It is so peaceful to me, I am going to try to go down there everyday if I can. After my walk I came back home and found my internet working better. This was good because I had an email from Dr. Kerr to come down to his office before he closed in 15 minutes. I walked as fast as I could and wouldn't it figure that the elevator in that building wasn't working? So I climbed 5 flights of stairs painfully. I got to his office with 2 minutes to spare. When I was done getting the medicine from him I went down the 5 flights of stairs, a lot more painful than going up, and went home. So here we are a few hours later. I got my drawing done and I am relaxing on my bed. Keep your fingers crossed that this medicine helps. Honestly I don't think it will because it hasn't in the past, but you never know. So even though it may sound like an eventful day, it was pretty calm for me and going down the river was the highlight for me. I posted the pictures of the river on my facebook for anyone who wants to see the place that brings me peace.

Lazy Sunday

It's Sunday, the quietest day of the week here in Florence. Today was a pretty good day for me. I started it out with a good nights sleep. I slept late and woke up feeling pretty good. I have been able to eat and feel pretty good after I do so. It rained overnight and into the day. However there was about a 3 hour lull when the sun came out. I took advantage of this opportunity and decided to go out for a walk and take some pictures for my photo class. I was pleasantly surprised why the weather. It was warm and sunny, and I actually regretted wearing my jacket. I started out walking around the Duomo because I know that area. Then I decided to not worry about getting lost and wander. I actually didn't get lost and ended up at the river and the Ponte Vecchio. It was so beautiful. I was astonished at how calming it was. I found peace as I walked next to the river. It was the most beautiful site I could have imagined and I didn't want to leave. It was at this moment that I realized that I am in love with this city and it's calming affect. After strolling along the river for a bit I decided to turn back and go home. Apparently I chose a good time to do this because it started raining as I walked in the door or the apartment. I wanted to go out again but it didn't stop raining. I decided going out in the rain was a bad idea because I am trying to avoid a potential cold and that would just help whatever may be brewing in me. So I spent the rest of the day at home. I made some tortellini for dinner that my stomach has handled very well. The only thing that would have made this day better is if I could have shared it with the people I love and miss from home. 

Food, How I Miss You

Well today is Saturday, a day to sleep in. I was very excited to be able to sleep in today and not have to worry about going to class or the lab. I think last night was the best nights sleep I've had since being in Italy. Today was a pretty laid back day. Stacy and I went food shopping and exploring a little bit this morning. After shopping we came back to the apartment where I spent the rest of the day. This is because I started to feel sick with my Crohn's again. Sure enough it got really bad to the point that any food would make me sick. I made some buttered pasta for dinner and could barely eat it. This stinks because I am very hungry but I can't eat much. In addition to not being able to eat and the pain in my stomach, I missed out on going out for Stacy's birthday tonight. I just knew that if I went out I would just feel lousy and have a lousy time. So I stayed home. However, I did get to talk to Chris on skype and got a call from Aunt Sharon, so the night wasn't completely horrible. I am currently sitting in out living room, alone, trying to watch Italian tv. I don't understand a word of it but it is funny. I think I am watching a talent show and there was a guy playing the tuba. How ironic is that? He was playing a polka, badly I might add. Maybe I will feel better tomorrow. I am looking forward to eating again.

Fresco, All in a Days Work

So today I had my first fresco class. It was great. The teachers are Mario and Luigi, no I am not making that up! I will get to that class after I tell you about the very busy morning I had. So I had to get up at around 7 am to go to the lab and get some blood work done. So I did that and it was no big deal as always. They were very nice and the girl helping me kept giggling because she didn't really know English. Today we were supposed to be at SACI at 8 am for police sign in for our permit to stay. I was very happy because I received the letter that Mom was sending me from the US just in time. So I got to SACI at about 8:05 and sat in the lecture hall for about 20 minutes while they signed us all in. Then I had to figure out where to go for my fresco class that starts at 9. I found out that we were meeting at SACI main building then going over. Good thing because the fresco studio is on the other side of the river. We got there after walking around for a bit by bus. Unfortunately I have no idea where the bus stop was. I will find it by Friday. The class is small, only about 7 of us total.  We learned how to prep the wall and we each prepped out own tiles. We also did a drawing that we will be frescoing. Mario made us all coffee and showed us where to go for lunch. It was great. After class I went to the post office to mail some stuff home. I was so lost as to how to do it because post offices are different here and everything is in Italian. I got lucky and saw someone from SACI. So we both figured it out together. After we walked to SACI then I decided to go for a walk of my own. I had a pretty good day today until I started with my current headache. My stomach is feeling better to the point that I can eat now. I am looking forward to sleeping soon and sleeping in tomorrow. However, I am not logging off just yet because I am fighting with our wifi so that I can video chat with Chris. 

Oi Crohns

So today started out as a pretty good day. I got a good nights sleep last night ad felt pretty good when I woke up this morning. So I went to my first class which was photography. We were having the most boring lecture on theory. It actually was not that boring, but for some reason I could not keep my eyes open. I did not fall asleep, but it was with great difficulty that I stayed awake. We got a break from the lecture at about 11:15. So I went across the street and got a small cup of coffee and a kitkat bar because they are my favorite to try to wake me up. It worked. However, about 15 minutes into the second half of the lecture I started to feel sick with my Crohn's Disease. I told the teaching assistant that I wasn't feeling well and came home. I took a quick shower to try to feel better, that was unsuccessful. I then went to the internet cafe because our wifi was running a little slow and I was in a rush to email doctors and get to class. I missed my Italian class but made it to my graphic design class. Again, I left the class early due to not feeling well. I explained my situation to my Italian and graphic design teachers and they were both very understanding. I then went to the dean of SACI, as Mom suggested, and explained everything to him. He really was no help other than to tell me they will do everything they can to accommodate my needs. Next it was back to my apartment to try to nap but I found I needed to get some lab work done that Dr. Verma wanted. So I was off to see Dr. Kerr to get the slip for that because I could not get it done today because it is too late in the day. Finally, I made it back to my apartment with nothing else to do so I got to take a nap. I felt much better after the nap for about 5 minutes. Then I had a piece of bread and some pasta for dinner and began to feel utterly crappy again. I am still exhausted and am in high hopes of sleeping well tonight. Tomorrow will be a very long day and I hope I make it through feeling ok. On a good note, we fixed our wifi, except for the occasional laggyness, by moving the router to another window. So I am relieved about that. Wish me luck for tomorrow that I make it through my day. I am nervous because I have 6 hours of fresco studio and it is my first class. I also have no idea where that class is, have to get labs done in the morning, and meet with the police for something in the morning. Ack! Anyway, that is my blog for today and I will sign off and most likely go lay down.

A Rainy Day in Firenze

Doesn't it figure that the day I finally get to do the rest of my laundry it rains? My luck. So I did the remainder of my laundry last night after dinner. When I took it out of the washer at about 10 one of my roommates said it was raining. This meant that I could not put my clothes outside overnight like I had planned to dry. So I go somewhat creative. I hung my clothes on every possible surface in my room that Stacy's clothes weren't already drying on. They were pretty close to dry by the time I got back from class around 1 this afternoon. I am still waiting on my jeans and socks to dry. I'm glad they dried so fast because I was running out of shirts to wear. The downside is that almost every shirt is very wrinkled. From now on I may be taking my shirts to the laundromat to dry them. We'll see how bad I look. Also, the wifi we got in our apartment is barely working. Only one person at a time can get online and it still is taking forever for everything to load. I got fed up with it and came to SACI. So I am sitting in the student lounge at SACI. Hopefully it will start working better when the rain stops. We are also going to try moving the router later tonight. If this doesn't clear up the problem I am going to take my name off the router and cancel my account and figure out another way. On a happier note, I got my camera working. I went on a hunt today for a camera store and found one that sold the kind of battery I needed. So I will have a working camera for class tomorrow. YAY. I am really excited about this photograph class. I think I will do well in it, I hope so anyway. I also bought some basic art supplies for my graphic design class that I needed. As I was walking around the city looking for these things I found an H&M store that I went to the other day. It was a lot less crowded so I walked through. I found some cute jackets for 30 euro. I might go back and get one. Anyway I seem to be rambling. Keep your fingers crossed that our wifi starts working better soon. 

Sleep, Class, and Wifi

So today was an extremely long day for me. I had my first class at 9. So I got up at 8ish to take a shower and make sure I would make it on time. Normally I would be fine with this, but I have not been sleeping well. When I go to bed my body is exhausted but my mind is racing. So I didn't fall asleep until about 3 am this morning. My first class was photo. I totally love my teacher. He is very soft spoken and somewhat reminds me of a lost puppy dog. I really like his teaching style, very laid back and not too overbearing. So after a lecture of getting to know him and the class we went to a camera store to get some supplies. Then my friend Kerry and I walked back to SACI for Italian an hour early. Good thing too because we got so lost. After an hour of walking around we found the school just in time to go to another store with our class to buy our Italian book and notebooks. Then after that outing I had Graphic Design. That was great. I fell asleep in class because I am just so exhausted though. I tried my hardest to stay awake. I think that class is going to be a huge review for me. I am mixed in with all the beginners and there are 3 of us who are intermediate. I have to do a collage for class on thursday, so I have to go out and find some basic stuff like glue and paper. It should be a good class though and I really like that teacher as well. She is very enthusiastic about what she teaches. So, the only class I haven't had yet is Fresco which I will have on Friday. After all my classes I located the lab in which I will be getting blood drawn at. It is right down the street from SACI, so I will just go before class. So that was my busy school day, but the day was not over yet being that by that time it was only 4:30. I came home and just took a nap until my roommates and I went out to get wifi for out apartment. I am writing this blog from the luxury of my own apartment! We are all thrilled to have this and be able to talk to our friends and families without worrying about being kicked out of an internet cafe or whatnot. So my day is just about done. Our friend Angela came over for dinner and we hung out for a bit. Now I plan on just relaxing and hopefully sleeping tonight. Almost all my friends (except my apartment) are sick, so I am going to do everything I can not to get sick. So hopefully tomorrow won't be as long because I only have one class and now we have internet. YAY!

Classes - Day 1

So today was the first day of classes here at SACI. I was pretty excited to start. I only had one class today, Intro to Italian. It went pretty well. I think I will do well in it. I was a few minutes late to class because I had to find the building and then I went into the wrong class. But that's ok being that it was the first day. I already learned a lot. I think having learned Spanish in the past, not that I remember most of it, helps a lot. Actually a lot of the words are similar to the English words, so I just have to think about it. Today was a pretty short and easy day. Tomorrow I have 3 classes back to back. I think I am more excited for tomorrow because I have Photography and Graphic Design. So I discovered that laundry dries pretty much over night. However, I did find a laundramat that has dryers, but it is kind of expensive. So I will only use that if it rains. I went to see the docotr today to get some labs done but found out I have to go to a lab across town. I will attempt to find that on Wednesday. Anyway, not much else going on here in Florence with me. Ciao for now!

Oh Sunday

So it's Sunday here in Florence and it was a pretty quirt day for us. My friends and I went out to a bar/club last night. It was the first time I had ever been to one and it wasn't that bad. I had a good time listening to the music. I was warned about Italian men before I came and I am not one to dance, so I stayed sitting down. But my friends danced, and oh were the Italians all over them. It was rather disgusting actually. They kept coming back to the table I was at to get away from the guys. So we got back to the apartment around 2:3o am. I couldn't fall asleep, so I layed there for an hour or so. Amazingly I slept until 2:30 pm today. I have only ever done that once other time before. However, I think I got all the jet lag out and I feel pretty good. After getting up and running some errands Stacy, Meg (2 of my roommates), and I went to IKEA. That was interesting because it was so crowded and everything was in Italian so we had no clue where to find anything. So there was not much going on here today. I did have a hotdog that was the most disgusting thing ever. Stacy ate hers but I couldn't. So today is just about over. Tomorrow classes start. I am very excited to start meeting more people and get into class and everything. We are also planning on getting WiFi in our apartment within the next few days, so I am very excited for that. I did laundry today, that was interesting. It took me about an hour and half to wash them in the machine. So they are not outside on our porch drying. I hope they dry soon. So I am going to end for today. I miss America but I am extremely happy I took this opportunity.

A New Day

So I woke up this morning feeling much better. I actually got a full nights sleep last night and it was a good sleep too. I have not felt like crying once today. I am in a pretty good mood and have been hanging out with some friends for the majority of the day. Tonight we plan to cook dinner in my apartment. We went to this big market that sells fresh produce and meats. So we got some chicken and veggies and pasta. I am pretty excited. Some of my friends brought movies so we might sit and watch one of those as well. Today is definatly a new day and I think from here on out I am going to start having a good time and living the life I came to Italy to live. I still miss my family and friends at home, but it is not nearly as overwhelming as it was yesterday. I think the thing I miss the most is heat. My apartment has very very little heat that only runs during the day for 6 hours. I have a big apartment, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and really high ceilings. So the heat does not heat it that well. The apartment is beautiful though and my roommates are all very nice. I think I am going to atempt doing some laundry tonight. Wish me luck since there are no dryers. Ending for today I will say this: I am extremely happy that I am feeling better and I am glad (so far) that I have come to Florence (Firenze). 

Homesick Blues

So I have been in Florence for 3 days now and I am possibly more homesick than I was 3 days ago. Everyone who knows me knows that I do not cry. I have cried maybe twice in the past few years. So you know something is off with me when I say that I cry everyday and cry constantly. Yesterday was my 22nd birthday and although I hung out with a few friends, I felt completely alone. I usually am ok when I am out around the city doing things, but for some reason today is different. It doesn't matter what I am doing, I am thinking about home and how badly I want to go back. I know I need to get over this feeling, not just to feel better but for my health, but I do not know how. Talking to people from home makes me cry, but when I'm not talking to them it's all I can think about. Night time is the worst. I think this is because it is the time of day that my mind has nothing to focus on and I do a lot of thinking. For me that thinking has been about home. So then I get upset and cannot fall asleep which is just making everything worse. I am really hoping all this sadness goes away soon and I start having some fun. Hopefully with the start of classes on Monday this will go away. It just seems like Monday is so far away. I know that if I go home I will regret it for the rest of my life, especially if I don't give it a fair try. But as I have said right now, all I want is to go home. So I will end this blog with a positive note. My apartment is beautiful, as is Florence, and my roommates. I look forward to making some new friends and getting some good art made while I am here.