No Jacket Necessary

Well, today is day one of my spring break. I started my break off by sleeping in. I did not get a great nights sleep last night, however, because Stacy was up most of the night throwing up. I did fall asleep probably around 2:30 or 3 when she finally fell asleep. Tonight I will be sleeping in Sam's room until next Tuesday while she is on vacation in Paris so that Stacy and her boyfriend can have our room. Anyway after relaxing this morning I took a shower and made myself a ham and cheese sandwich before going out. After lunch I walked over to the Uffizi. I thought I would be stuck standing in line for a long time because it seems to be tourist season. I walked up and asked where I could buy tickets for Friday and the man showed me. There was no line and I walked right up to the window and only had to wait for the guy to come back to the window. So instead of spending an hour in line, I spent about 5 minutes buying tickets. Like I just mentioned, it seems to be tourist season here in Florence. I have noticed within the last week or so the number of people has probably doubled. I find it kind of hard to walk around at ease like I used to because there are people everywhere taking pictures, eating gelato, and doing all sorts of things. I am kind of amazed at the amount of tourists that come here in giant groups, they are everywhere and they seemed to just appear one day. Anyway after I went to the Uffizi I decided to take advantage of the wonderful weather. Today it was sunny and warm so I took a nice long walk just exploring areas I was not familiar with closer to the river. I ended up walking along the river after about an hour or 2 and was pleasantly surprised at how warm I was getting. I took my jacket off and pushed up the sleeves on my hoodie as I walked. I then started home and walked over to the train station to see if there are trains out of Florence that go directly to Sorrento. I had been trying to plan a mini vacation to Naples or Sorrento. There were no trains to Sorrento so I went home and pretty much decided that my trip would not happen. I was exhausted from not sleeping well last night and my walk so I took a nap. I woke up around 6:30 when my mom called me. It was funny that she was calling because I was actually having a dream that she called me. After my nap I heated up my pasta from last night, ate dinner, and am currently relaxing in front of the tv. I am going to look into going on some day trips to Milan or Venice before Mom and Tom come on Thursday. So that is my only plans for the rest of the night.

Scfuli

So it's Friday and that means it is fresco day. I started off my day annoyed. I offered to sleep on the couch while Stacy's boyfriend is staying with us. He arrived yesterday so I moved out into the living room on the couch while they pushed our two beds together. I did not realize when I offered to sleep out there that it was right next to the street and that our walls are paper thin. This means that I did not sleep very well last night because I could hear every little thing that was going on outside all night. I woke up sore and extremely early, probably between 6:30 and 7:30 am. I stayed on the couch until my alarm went off at 8:30 trying to go back to sleep. When I got up Stacy was still asleep so I decided to talk to her about it after class. I went and got my lab work done then walked over to fresco. I got to fresco, got my coffee, and started painting my fresco. This fresco was of a bird of paradise flower that I had drawn 2 weeks ago.  A lot of my colors dried up so I had to remix some of them. I am very happy with how it came out in the end. After class my friends Anne, Jenn, and I went to get some lunch and then stopped back at the studio after to transfer our first frescos onto wood so that we could keep them. We left class around 2 and started to walk home. As we were walking these two guys on bikes almost ran us over, we were partially walking into the bike lane. They passed us and kept laughing as did we. We ended up talking to them and finding out that they were living in Italy but were from Switzerland and that their names were Tim and Scfuli. So who knows, we have made some new friends as we exchanged numbers and parted. Next I went to the travel agency to see what I could find out about going to Naples and seemed to get nowhere. I went home and got my blood results then ran over to SACI to call Dr. Longo. After this I stopped at another travel place and got the same answers. So I came home and made dinner while searching places to go. After talking to Mom and realizing that Naples may not be the safest place to go I turned my attention to Sorrento. I would really like to go somewhere on the coast. We will see if I actually go anywhere. I also got to talk to Stacy and we worked out the rooming situation. I am gong to stay in my room tonight and then in Sam's room until Stacy's boyfriend  leaves because Sam is going to Paris for 10 days and said I can sleep in her room. So, I am officially on my spring break and plan to relax through it. Mom and Tom come on Thursday and I cannot wait to see them!

Midterms and Field Trips

So I knew last night that today was gong to be long and stressful, but I didn't know to what extent. So I started my day out by getting up around 8:30 and then going to my photo class. We started this class out with a midterm. The test was difficult because it was a lot of technical questions. I tried my best and hope that the questions I wasn't sure on were right. After the test around 10 the class went to the photography museum. We stayed there until about 11:15 and then headed over to the Piazza Vecchio. Here we were going to go to the museum but it was closed. This was a relief to 4 of us in the class because we had to be at the Design Center at 12 for an Italian midterm. I walked quickly over to the Design Center with a quick stop to get some food because all I had eat was toast. I got there a few minutes early and started my exam. It was extremely hard. I did the very best I could and made sure to put something down for every question. I finished my exam at about 1:05 and was supposed to meet my graphic design class at the Piazza Vecchio, yes the piazza I was just in with my photo class, at 1! I walked as fast as I could to the piazza to meet them. I got there and did not see them but it was very crowded. As a quick side note, I have realized that the city has doubled in the amount of tourists I have seen this week. Anyway, I called Sam who let me talk to the teacher and she gave me somewhat vague directions on how to get to the museum. I pulled out my map and found it. I took me about 20 to 30 minutes , many hills and some stairs, but I got there. We went to see the fashion art designer Cappucci. It was interesting and after we walked back to the Design Center for the remainder of class. By this time my back was hurting from carrying around my backpack with my Italian books and my camera in it. I was so happy to go home and chill out at my computer for a few hours. I decided to try to go to Capri or Naples for spring break next week. I was having trouble finding what I wanted so I went to SACI to see if they could help me. Alessia, my T.A., was tehre and she sent me to a travel agency associated with SACI. I walked there, after getting slightly lost, and they were closed by the time I got there. So I came home, made dinner, and am not relaxing for the rest of the night. Tomorrow is only one class, fresco, and no midterms and then my break starts. 

Study Study Study

So tomorrow I have 2 midterms which means that today was study day for me. I got to sleep in today because I did not have class until noon. It felt so good to not set an alarm and just wake up. I woke up at 9:45 and felt refreshed. After getting ready for the day I chilled out at my computer because I knew I had a long day of studying ahead of me. I walked to Italian with Stacy and then we spilt up for our classes. We were supposed to be having a review for the midterm tomorrow. However, the review was more just going over our homework. I was hoping she would review the vocab and verbs we needed to know for the test. The homework she reviewed is stuff that is not even on the test tomorrow! So I left class feeling disappointed. When I got home I made a sandwich, checked my email and attempted to study. After sitting at my desk for a few hours of trying to study, I just could not focus, I decided to go for a walk. It was a beautiful day out today and I didn't want to miss it completely and I was freezing in my room so I hoped to warm up. I walked down to the river and stood in the sun for a little bit. I warmed up a little bit, but it was starting to get dark so the temperature was dropping and the sun was setting. Once I started walking around I got chilly again and decided to turn around and go home. The street that I usually walk down to get to and from the river is lined with shops. I went into a few to look around and to warm up. I went into one shop and found a pair f sweat pants and leggings that I ended up buy for 23 euro! I was so excited because I have found that I have been wearing my sweatpants a lot and this would give me some more to wear without having to do laundry so often. I actually put on the leggings when I got home so that I could wash the pants I was in. I feel a bit awkward in them, but they are very comfy and surprisingly warm. So after my retail therapy walk, I attempted to study some more. This time I was more successful and actually got some done before my stomach started growling. So I made myself some pasta and then went back to studying. I am currently taking a study break because I could feel myself drifting. I am actually surprised that I am studying because I have never actually studied for a midterm or final before. I have a hard time concentrating when I study which is one reason being an art major works out so well for me because we don't usually have written tests.  So this whole study thing is very hard for me, but I will do my best as I always do. Wish me luck!

I Give You A 3 Out Of 5!

So today was the big day for me. Today was the critique of my prints for my photography class. I laid out my photos on the table and talked bout them a little bit before anyone made comments. Almost as soon as I was done talking about them everyone started grabbing them to get a closer look and one of my friends said that the one she was holding was so clear it was as if she were standing in front of the statue. My teacher then went on to say that 3 of my 5 prints were excellent in all aspects, the printing, the clarity, and so on. The other 2 prints were not bad, but one was slightly blurred which was probably due to camera shake and it was the only image I took from my damaged film while the other print was a bit "muddy" for his taste and I agree. After this we had a lecture and watched a short film. During this time I developed a pretty bad headache and was extremely hungry because all I had eaten was some toast for breakfast and it was now noon. However, I did not have time to get lunch because I was late for Italian and felt it important to get there since I have a midterm on Thursday. So as soon as class was over I ran to the nearest snack bar and got some food and ate during graphic design. This helped my hunger but my headache just got worse because I was in need of Tylenol and had none with me. After class I came home and laid down in the dark for about an hour and felt a lot better. I decided to make some salmon for dinner which turned out really tasty as it always does. Now I am on the couch as usual watching a tv show called Preacher on MTV in Italian that is hilarious. Once the show is over I will finish my Italian homework and relax. 

Just Another Day

So today is just another day in the life of Meghan in Firenze. I didn't do anything special today but had a great day nonetheless. I started my day with the snooze button on my alarm. I was so tired and warm in my bed I just did not want to get up. After it went off the second time I got up and went to the lab to get my blood work done. I got there just in time because almost as soon as I checked in a huge line formed behind me. After this I walked home in the beautiful weather and took a shower and relaxed before class. Stacy told me right before I got into the shower that we were even because she had gotten sprayed when she turn the water on like I had yesterday. So I carefully turned on the water in the shower and was shocked when I got sprayed again. I protected my clothes this time so only the wall, and myself, got wet. Next I went to my Italian class. This went well and I am finally understanding most of what is going on. This is a really good thing because I have a midterm on Thursday. I have also noticed that I am somewhat thinking in Italian, just basics like hello and yes. After class I got my blood results which were interesting. My platelets are 194,000 which was expected that they would go up since I had a treatment on Friday. My INR did not give me such good news, however. The level for the INR was high. I don't know why this would be because I am on the same dose of Warfarin and I haven't changed my diet, which are things that could affect it. Anyhow, after this I went for a walk to get some gelato and ended up not wanting to home because it is finally warm outside. I ended up gong home about an hour later to take a nap because I got really tired. After my nap I tried to do some homework and talked to Mom and some friends. Next was to reheat my dinner from last night after I peeled all the shrimp I forgot to do yesterday. So here we are after dinner. I am sitting on the couch as usual, about to do my Italian homework, eating a chocolate bar and watching a preview for Angels and Demons on my laptop. I am so excited because the movie comes out in May which means I will get to see it in theaters when I come home! I think I will reread the book after I see it to compare which I liked better. I have a feeling the book will win as they usually do.

Dark Room Until Dark

So as I said yesterday I planned to spend my day in the darkroom printing like a crazy person, and I did. First, however, I had to get up from the night. Last night was not the best nights sleep I had ever gotten. I went to bed late because I was up talking to my friends back home. When I did go to bed I couldn't fall asleep. Once I calmed my mind down enough to relax and start to sleep, my roommate Sam came home with a friend at about 2:30. They were up for a while talking and it seemed like they were being so loud. So, I finally got to sleep around 3:30 or 4 when they stopped talking and laughing. I had very weird dreams again all night last night and woke up singing NSYNC. The reason I was singing "Bye Bye Bye" by NSYNC was because that song was playing on the tv show I was watching last night. I just found it funny that I woke up with that in my head. After getting up and getting ready I had to wait until 1 pm to go to SACI to do my printing because they were closed until then. After breakfast and hanging out for a bit I went into the bathroom to take a shower with my last pair of clean, dry jeans. I turned the water on and started to screech because Stacy forgot to turn off the handheld thing and it was spraying everywhere. I was now soaked with my pajamas on and my dry clothes were no longer dry. There was water all over the floor so I got a mop and cleaned up the floor then went to get dry clothes. The only pair of pants I had left were my khakis, so I had to wear them. After the shower fiasco I checked my email then went to SACI. I spent the next 4 hours in the dark room of the photo lab. I got so many prints done and I am now ready for my critique tomorrow. I also did some prints for myself that have nothing to do with the critique. I decided to do my prints of sculptures. We had to pick 5 images to print that all have something in common, so mine are sculptures from the city. After printing I came home and attempted a new meal, pasta with shrimp. The pasta was easy to make, but I had never made shrimp before. They came out pretty good except that I didn't peel them before I cooked them so I just have to remember to do that when I eat my leftovers tomorrow. So, I plan to relax for the rest of the night and maybe do a little bit of work for Italian. 

A Nice Saturday

It is Saturday and that means no classes and sleeping in! That is exactly what I did today. I slept until 10 am which I have not been able to do in a few weeks. I felt so good when I woke up and was instantly in a good mood. I hung out in my pajamas for about an hour talking to Stacy and then we decided to beat out the carpet that was in our room. After this I decided it was time for a shower because the carpet was gross. So I proceeded to take a nice hot shower and then do laundry because I realized I was wearing my last pair or sweat pants. Although I felt like doing nothing and enjoying the glorious day we had, it was warm and sunny outside, I had to get printing done for photo. My roommate, Sam, is a photo major and said she would help me after she was done with her Italian homework. So I waited until about 3 and then we went over to SACI and she showed me how to work the machines. While I was waiting to go over to SACI Stacy started cleaning our room. For some reason I found this to be hilarious and spent most of my time giggling with her. I was feeling pretty confident about getting these prints done. I took in my 3 negatives that actually had some images on them and made some contact sheets. When I took them out of the dark room to see what I could salvage to actually print, I saw maybe two images that were printable. Almost all of the images were blurry, fogged, and overexposed. I was so upset about this because I only had 2 more rolls to process and I wasn't sure they would come out alright. So I decided I would go downstairs to the processing room and get that done so if the negatives got messed up I could spend most of my time tomorrow out shooting. I had a little bit of a hard time opening the film, but after about 15 minutes I finally got them open. I think what I did wrong last time was I forgot to put the reels on the tube in the canister. This time I made sure to use this and everything. My next uh-oh moment was how much developer to use. I wasn't sure what number to use on the chart so I used the first number. There were no T.A.s around this weekend for me to ask so I had to do it alone. I then proceeded to go through the all the steps and got a phone call from Mom which always cheers me up. After rinsing the film I took them off the reels and saw images!! I was so excited that the images were there and not foggy. I had only about 15 minutes before SACI closed so I decided to wait until tomorrow to print contact sheets for them. I will find out tomorrow what shots of those will be printed. I am so excited and relived. After all this I went food shopping with Stacy and then came home and made myself some dinner. The dinner was good, but I got a stomach ache half way through. So I am now on the couch about to study a little bit for my Italian midterm that is on Thursday. So tomorrow will be spent shooting in the morning for my upcoming project then in the dark room printing. Wish me luck!

A Very Long Day

So today was a very long day for me as you can tell by my title. I had to go to the day hospital to have a treatment for my platelets today. I first went over to SACI and Chiara called a cab for me so that this time I wouldn't be dropped off at the wrong place. This however did not make that much of a difference because I was dropped off at the wrong place. I was dropped off around the corner from where I was supposed to be. This was ok and I walked in and they told me they couldn't find Dr. Longo. So I sat down and waited for about an hour until I got a phone call from someone at the hospital telling me to come now to the day hospital. I told the woman i was there and about 10 minutes later she realized what I was saying and came out. Ironically, while I was sitting waiting I saw one of my roommates from when I was in the hospital last month. Anyway I got started with my treatment at about noon. My lunch was some crackers and juice that I asked for at 2:30. I started getting my normal headache and decided to just sleep through it. I woke up around 5 and still had 3 bottles of the treatment left. Of course it would take forever to go through because there was a problem with my IV. So at about 6:30 I finished and had to fill out some forms. I finally got home around 7:15 and made myself some salmon for dinner. So I am going to just relax for the rest of the night because I have a headache. Tomorrow I plan to spend my day in the dark room printing and processing film. 

Boring

Boring is how I feel about my day today. I did a lot, but nothing exciting or special. I first had photo this morning. We were having critiques so I could not get any work done toward my own critique on Monday. After class I ran home to drop off my camera and paper and to pick up my laptop for class later on in the day. After my quick pit stop I got a panino on my way to Italian. We had a quiz in class today. It was very hard, but I did my best. I am still having trouble remembering all of the verbs and words we are learning. We are learning a ton of new words everyday. After Italian I went to graphic design and worked some more on my logo. I am just about done with it, I only have about 2 more steps until I am completely done. After class I went home and talked to Chiara about my day tomorrow. Tomorrow I am having a treatment because my platelets are low and she had some important information for me regarding payment. However, what she told me and what everyone else says seems to be different. I will get everything worked out tomorrow because by the time I found out it was different everyone had left for the day. After talking to Mom about all this I went out and finished shooting my film from yesterday because it is a bit warmer today. I got the roll finished just as my fingers started to freeze. Next was time to reheat my leftovers from dinner last night. So like I said, I did a lot today, but nothing special. To top off my boring day, I think I pulled my groin muscle from when Dara was here. I think this because I pulled it when I used to swim and the pain is the same. I have found that standing, and strangely enough walking, help the pain. So I am going to try to keep doing these things so that the pain goes away and it gets better soon. So tomorrow I have a treatment for my platelets in the morning so I am not going to my fresco class. I am sad about this because I love this class, but if I go for 2 hours that is not enough time for me to get the painting done. The paintings have to be done in one sitting or else the plaster will dry. So I am going to sleep in and get a note to be excused when I go to my treatment tomorrow.

One Year

So today was not as bad a day as I expected for it to be. Today is the one year anniversary of my dad's death. I have been having a rough week and thought today would be just as bad as the rest of my week. Surprisingly, today was actually a pretty good day. I started by getting blood work done this morning after sleeping in. I slept pretty good last night but was awakened by the wind. It sounded like someone was throwing something against the wall of the building it was so windy. After getting ready for the day and getting my lab work done I went to class. Today was T.A. day for Italian, which is usually pretty laid back. We had a different T.A. today because Alessia was sick or something. He was very nice and helpful. After class I went home and warmed up while eating my lunch. It is so cold outside today that it physically hurts to walk out. After warming up for about half an hour I decided to go out and shoot some film because I am so behind with the loss of all the film from yesterday. I bundled up wearing 2 t-shirts, my fleece hoodie, jacket, hat, scarf, and gloves. This did not seem to be enough because within 5 minutes of being outside I was freezing. I was determined to get at least one roll finished so I kept on walking around. I got about one and a half rolls shot until I couldn't handle the cold anymore. I had a hard time with shooting today because I encountered some problems. The first was operating my camera with gloves, so every so often I would have to take them off. Next was the police. Apparently you cannot take pictures of the police here. This was no big deal and they were nice about it, I was just kind of bummed out that I couldn't get my shot. Lastly, I was on the Ponte Vecchio taking a picture of the people on the bridge, a beggar woman in particular, and when I wouldn't give her money she hit me in the leg with her cane. So I was somewhat discouraged with my luck. I decided to come home and thaw while checking on my blood counts. My INR is actually still doing well and in a normal range, but my platelets were low at 49,000. Chiara called Dr. Longo for me and he said he wants me to have a treatment on Friday and this time it will be done the way Dr. Travis wants it done. I came home and was happy to be able to talk to my mom for a little while non the computer and then attempted to take a nap. I could not fall asleep so I got up and made myself some dinner. So I am now about to do my Italian homework while keeping warm and resting on the couch. My leg has started hurting again, so getting around for me is not the easiest thing to do. So tomorrow will be another long day for. I will be printing in photo what I can salvage of my film from yesterday then hopefully out shooting at some point along with my other classes.

Film With Or Without Pictures?

Today was one of those days for me. I woke up and felt refreshed and thought I was going to have a good day. Boy was I wrong. I went over to SACI for my photo class. I had four rolls of film to process today. I had high hopes for these rolls because I thought I had gotten some great shots. Two of the rolls were taken while I was in Rome with Dara. So I go down and everything was going pretty good. I was in the dark room opening the canisters and there was no problem. The black out curtain had a tiny little rip in it and I tried my best to cover this up. I got all the rolls open and into the canister pretty quickly and then closed it. I went through the processing process. When I took my film out of the canister I saw pictures and was excited. Then I noticed that most of the film was extremely dark and no images were visible. Libby and Jacapo said it could be from a number of things. Everything they said did not really apply to me except that maybe the top of the canister came loose while I was agitating it and let some light in. So maybe a quarter of my film will be printable. I will go tomorrow and try to salvage what I can. We are supposed to have a critique of our images on Thursday. Jacapo said he would move it back for me because I have had such issues with everything, first my camera and now my film. So I have the weekend to reshoot film, process, and print. Wish me luck. So after this I ran to Italian class and was late due to my film drama. Italian went very well and I think I did well on my quiz. Next was Graphic Design which was kind of boring because I spent most of the class waiting or my teacher to look at my logo. I walked home with Sam after class in the rain, yes it has started raining again. As I walked into my room I realized that I didn't have my camera and that I had left it at the Design Center. So I walked as fast as I could all the way back in the rain and got my camera. I came home and decided to just relax for the rest of the night. I was pretty stressed out and upset about my film. I will start reshooting and printing tomorrow. I predict tomorrow will be a hard day for me. Sunday was the day Michelle died a year ago and tomorrow is the day Dad died. That plus school is draining me emotionally. I have already been having a hard time with this since last week. Hopefully everything will go well for me tomorrow. For right now I am going to just try to enjoy my night. I am watching tv with Sam's brother, talking online, and writing my blog of course! I did manage to upload all of my pictures, for those of you who are interested, from my trip with Dara to Facebook. Check them out!

Bye Dara

Well today was my last day with Dara before she leaves for Venice. We did not do anything together this morning because I had class. I took advantage of this and slept in until 9:30. I felt so good when I got up. I took my time this morning and then slowly made my way to class. I got my laundry finished also. After class I met Dara for lunch. We had a nice warm lunch then walked to Santa Croce. I say warm lunch because it is utterly freezing today. I think the high was 32 degrees, which is very cold. Actually before we went to Santa Croce we walked through the markets. Dara got a nice leather jacket from a guy name Guisseppe. He gave her this amazing deal because sheis American and I was studying. He said he would give me a deal on a bag I like also. I might go back and get the bag later. after this we stopped by SACI so I could call the doctor and then we went to Santa Croce. We walked around there for a while. It was beautiful and I think I got some really good shots. After this we were both freezing so logically we went to get gelato. Yes, gelato is cold, but we ate it inside. After amazing gelato we went to my apartment to warm up and check emails and stuff. We then went to her hotel to drop off her new jacket and then to dinner. We ate at a restaurant on the river. The food was really good. I didn't eat much because I wasn't feeling well. I hope I can go back and retry it. I am utterly exhausted. I enjoyed having Dara here and talking to her, but she wore me out. I am tired now to the point of freaking out about everything. I have a lot going on right now with school and people coming to visit me, I just need to figure it all out and calm down. I need sleep I think. So I will be going to bed early tonight. So goodnight and thanks for everything Dara!

I'm On Top Of The Vatican...Err The World

Well I am home from my quick overnight to Rome. Rome, as always, was beautiful. I started my trip off by getting on the early train. This was a huge feat for me because I am scared to death of trains. I was actually, however, not freaking out on the train or in the station. I did almost miss my train because I had trouble finding the platform, but I found it and made my way to Rome. I met Dara, dropped my stuff off at the hotel and the got on a bus to Vatican City. There was a giant line to get into St. Peters that wrapped around the piazza. We decided to get some lunch then head over to the museum. We got to the museum a little early but went in anyway. We both were intent on seeing the Sistine Chapel, so we kind of sped through the rest of the museum. We stopped to take some pictures, Dara much more than me. We got to the Sistine Chapel and as previous times, it was amazing. We were actually allowed to take pictures. I have quite a few pictures in there of the ceiling and one of the Last Judgement. After spending time there we left the museum and decided to stand in the huge line to go into St. Peters. We had perfect timing because the line was extremely short. We went in after waiting in the sun for about 10 minutes. There were not a lot of people which allowed me to take a lot of pictures, some for class and some for myself. I was really excited to be able to get up and take my own pictures of the Pieta. While walking around St. Peters, my cell phone rang! My mom was calling to make sure I made it to Rome alright. I had it on partial vibrate and didn't feel it. So I answered it and go yelled at by a guard. I still find this hilarious that she would call at that point in time. After all this we left and went into the tombs. This was weird for me to see all the tombs and I was happy to leave them. Our next and last stop in Vatican City was the Cupola, the top of the dome on St. Peters. We climbed 120 stairs to the first stop which gave amazing views. Then we kept on going another 320 stairs to the very top of the dome. To say I was tired was an understatement, but it was worth it. The views of Rome were amazing and I can now say I stood on top of the Vatican. We then had to climb back down! I was completely tired. I am used to taking naps every day because I get tired very easily. We walked back toward the hotel and decided to the Forum area and see it at sunset, it was beautiful. After we went to dinner then back to the hotel. It was only 8 when we got back I think but I was tired. We sat an talked then went to bed around 10. So today we got on the train and came to Florence. After dropping my stuff off an taking a quick shower I met Dara at the Duomo. We had lunch then walked down to the river. We walked across to the Piazza Michaelangelo. This is a beautiful piazza at the top of a big hill. I was sore from the stairs the day before but I had been wanting to go up there so I figured I'd give it a go. I was exhausted after this hike up and down the hill but we then went to Santa Croce. We didn't go inside, that is tomorrow, but we walked around the market outside and I bought a leather bracelet. After this we headed to the Duomo area, got a snack, then back to my apartment. By this time my left leg was in pretty badly. The pain was not only in my knee like I am used to, but in my hip. We stayed here for about an hour and a half then went to dinner. As we went to leave I realized I could barely walk. So I am now crippled. I am hoping my leg just needs some rest which is what I have been doing and plan to do for a while. Tomorrow I have class  then we are going out and doing some more sightseeing. Hopefulluy, I will be able to walk by then. Keep your fingers crossed.

Cause Baby It's Freezing Outside

Well, as you can guess today was a cold day in Firenze. Not only was it cold, it was bone chilling cold. I do not enjoy or handle the cold well at all so I suffered every time I stepped foot outside. I guess it is a compromise since it has finally stopped raining. I think I would rather have the cold than the rain. So I started my freezing day by going to the lab to get my blood work done. After that I walked to fresco class. By the time I got to the studio I was frozen and my lung was a little sore. I was very happy to be indoors for class even though the studio is cold, it was warmer than the air outside. I didn't really have anything to work on so I started a new drawing for my next fresco. I decided to draw a bird of paradise flower from a picture I found in a nature book Mario had. Surprisingly the drawing came out very nice and I was happy with it. The next step was to add color to my pencil drawing so that I would have a color guide when I go to mix the color and paint the fresco. This went pretty well. Of course by the time I was finished with the color, I was using pastels, I was covered with oranges and browns. I then traced the drawing onto tracing paper and poked holes as guides to make it easy for me to put an exact copy of my drawing down onto the stone. Then I mixed all my colors and was finished for the day. I will paint the fresco next week and hopefully it will turn out pretty like the picture. I then started the dreaded walk home with a stop for lunch with my friends from class. We walked through a little market and I am pretty sure we took the long way back. This normally would be ok with me except that the cold was really bothering my lung and each breath I took was hurting. I finally got home and was relieved to be inside where it was warm. I was so cold I took a hot shower, but for some reason I had practically no water pressure so it almost wasn't worth it. It was almost 4pm and I needed to go to SACI with my blood results to let Dr. Longo know what they were. However, the lab had not emailed them to me so I had to test my INR with m machine. For the first time since being in Italy it was where it should be. Dr. Longo did not answer his cell phone so I left and went to get tickets for Dara and I to go see the David on Sunday. However, the museum closed at 1:50 because of a strike. I sure hope they don't have this strike on Sunday because I really want to go and I know Dara does too. The rest of my day has been spent inside. My apartment is pretty cold, but not compared to outside. I am all packed and ready to get on the train and go to Rome tomorrow morning. I am nervous about the train for a few reasons though. One is that I am not sure where I am going in the train station. The other reason is that I have to get on the train and anyone who knows me knows I am scared of trains. I am going to try to sleep so I don't have to think about crashing while on it. So I will tell you all about my trip to Rome and the Vatican when I get home on Sunday. Ciao!

Much Better

Today was a much better day than yesterday which really wasn't hard to accomplish. After I posted my blog last night my day just got worse. I had a friend that was minimizing my life and then I started crying out of sheer exhaustion and the memories of Michelle and Dad. Today had to be a better day, and it was. It was a better day from the moment I woke up. I woke up this morning feeling tired, but not utterly exhausted. I went to my photography class and got a lot of good news. Jacapo moved our critique from Tuesday to Thursday of next week, giving us two extra days to work which I need badly. He also gave us a free day to do whatever we needed to do. I went out to shoot since I had no film to process or print. I walked around for about 2 hours and got one roll taken, hopefully I got some good shots toward my critique on Tuesday. I also stopped by the post office to mail home some things to Mom. It was a beautiful sunny day to go out on the town even though it was freezing! After this I had Italian which went really well. My teacher is going to set it up so that I get to go out with the advanced students so I can start speaking it some more. I find that I am understand what other people are saying somewhat, but I can hardly speak it. Next was graphic design which is always relaxing. This went well because I am ahead of most of the class. I designed a logo today and the found out at the end exactly what my teacher wanted. I will have to redesign it, but I have an idea already so it shouldn't be that hard. After class I walked home and decided as I was falling asleep at my computer to take a nap. I got some sleep, but Stacy had a friend here and she was in and out so I kept waking up. I did get sleep so I do feel better than before I went to sleep. Next I made dinner, salmon tonight. Of course about 5 minutes after I put it in the over I got a bad stomach ache. It went away enough by the time my food was ready for me to eat. This is one of the many reasons why I hate Crohn's Disease. So I decided to not eat for the rest of the night unless I feel 100% okay, which I am still not. I am going to just relax in front of the tv and try to feel better. 

When Coffee Just Isn't Enough

Well today seemed to be "one of those days" from the moment I woke up this morning. I woke up at 9 to go to the lab like I always do on Wednesday. Before I was even out of bed I was in a panic because I took a deep breath and had a sharp pain in my chest. The last time I felt pain in this area, on the other side though, I had blood clots in my lungs. After about 10 minutes of moving around and getting ready to go I felt better. I must have just slept on my side funny because the pain went away completely. I was relieved that it was gone because I was so nervous I wasn't sure if I should have called home and woke my mom up or gone to the hospital or what. After this little bit of drama I went to the lab and was just utterly exhausted. The lab went very quick and the staff is starting to know my face now. I'm not sure if that is a good thing or a bad thing. I walked home and took a shower before I had to go to class. I was so out of it I didn't even bother to dry my hair and just put it into a ponytail, where it has remained all day. On my way to class I stopped in the snack shop and got a panino for lunch and a coffee in hopes that would wake me up, it did nothing other than taste good.I went to class early because I needed to print out the last month of lab results. Of course I get to the design center where my class was and I forgot to bring all the codes for the past month with me. This meant that I would have to leave my class early so I could run home grab the codes then go to SACI main building and print out the labs. I did this and was all set to print at SACI but the printer would not work so I asked the librarian and she helped me figure out what printer to print to. Next I called a taxi to take me to the day hospital for my doctor appointment at about 1:10 and my appointment was at 1:30. The cab ride is only about 10 minutes so I was not worried about being late. However, the cab driver did not speak English and my Italian is not good enough so he dropped me on the outside of the gate and did not understand that I needed to go to the day hospital. So, I walked for a while, panicking because I had no idea where I was. Finally I cam to a building and went in and asked. Of course the English that was spoken was limited but the woman did tell me what direction to go and where to turn. After I turned where she told me I was lost again and went into another building and asked again. This time I got lucky and found someone from Ireland. She was very nice and took me outside and showed me where to go. I was now 15 minutes late for my appointment, but Dr. Longo still saw me. Thank god because if they told me I missed it I would have cried I was so upset about the situation. He was very nice and took some blood to make sure some of the results were correct and said to call later to find out. He joked and said next time we would talk only in Italian. After this I went home and tried to take a nap. Just as I fell asleep my photo teacher, Jacapo, called me and told me my camera was ready for me to pick up. So I got a bus ticket and got on the bus. I was a little nervous since I was not sure where to get off, but I found it just fine. I now have a working camera. I was so excited I loaded film on the bus home and took a few pictures right there on the bus. Finally I was home and again tried to take a nap because I was still exhausted. I laid down for half an hour wide awake. I gave up trying to sleep and went to SACI to call the Dr. Longo to find out that my blood test came back fine and he was happy with my results. After this it was time for dinner. I reheated my left over pasta from last night. I am currently relaxing watching my favorite tv show. It is in Italian, but it looks funny so I watch it anyway.

A Key For A Camera

Today was a very long day for me. My day started with my INR at a decently low level, but decent nonetheless. I had a 9 am photo class. I went and was just exhausted through the lecture. After the lecture my teacher showed me how to make a print. This was probably the most exciting thing of my entire day. I made one test strip and two prints from my first roll of film. We also decided to go get my camera fixed today and that we would meet at SACI at 3:20 to catch the bus. I quickly ran back to my apartment to drop my camera off. On my way to the design center I got my favorite panino and made it to class a little early. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I am usually late to Italian because my classes are all back to back and I have to walk from the main building to the design center. Italian went pretty well. I got my quiz from yesterday back with a grade of A/B. I am happy with that grade. I am also starting to understand more Italian when people speak it to me and in class. After Italian I had graphic design downstairs. My teacher has been out sick, so we had a substitute for today. This class runs from 1 until 4:30. At the start of class I told the sub that I needed to leave at 3 to meet with my photo teacher to get my camera fixed. She was okay with this and did the individual critiques first so that I would be there for that. I left the design center and ran home to get my camera and hopefully a quick something to eat. As I got to my apartment the door to the foyer was closed! The way our apartment building is set up is there is a main door, then you go upstairs to our floor and there is a door to get into a foyer where our actual apartment door, and neighbor's doors are. This foyer door would not open when we first moved in and has been left open since because the light in the foyer was out. The light was fixed yesterday so now the door is being kept closed. This is good because of the extra security. So, when I came home to grab my camera it was closed and just like the first day I could not get the door open. I spent about 20 minutes trying to open the door! I gave up and went to SACI at and told them I could not get in. So Daniela, the woman in charge of housing, came and sprayed the lock and showed me how to open it. I tried while she was there and could not for the life of me turn the key. She let me in and said she would call the locksmith because it was difficult to open. So I quickly got my camera and walked as fast as I could to SACI to meet my teacher. We then got on the bus and went to the camera place to get my camera fixed. He said there were a few problems, all of which could be fixed. So to fix my camera and completely clean it, it would be 60 euro. I agreed to pay this and he said to come back Thursday afternoon to pick it up unless there is a problem in which case he would call me. So finally I went back to SACI and found out that my doctor's appointment had been changed from 2:50 to 1:30 tomorrow, which is no big deal. At this point I was exhausted from running around pretty much all day. As I sat down at my computer to relax and do some work my cell phone rings. It was a woman from the hospital, who spoke no English at all. I actually understood everything she was saying and she understood my broken Italian. She was telling me about my appointment and how it was changed, but the time she said was not 1:30. Once we got to the time she did not understand how I was saying it so I just agreed to what she said. I hung up and ran to SACI as fast as I could to catch Chiara. Luckily she was still there and called the hospital for me and said that everything was fine. So finally I got to come home and relax. I made dinner and am currently in my spot on the couch listening to music. So tomorrow I have a feeling will be another long day simply because I have to get to the say hospital for my doctors appointment and I do not know where that is. Hopefully my cab driver will speak English or understand my Italian. Fingers crossed.

Hollywood Undead No.5

So everyone who reads my blog is probably wondering what is up with my title. Well, Hollywood Undead is the name of a band that I have been really into recently and No. 5 is the name of the song that I have been dancing to. This song instantly puts me in a good and  I cannot help but dance to it. So I am currently listening to it, dancing, and writing todays blog. Anyway, onto today's events. I got up early to go to the lab. I was on my way out the door when the doorbell rings and it is someone from SACI that finally came to fix our refrigerator that has been leaking or 3 weeks. He was here for about 20 minutes and says he thinks he fixed it and replaced a light bulb in the foyer for us as well.  After he left I ran over to get my lab work done, which came out pretty good except a slightly low INR. Stacy and I got home around the same time and each took our turn taking showers and then we both had class. I had a quiz in Italian. I had a hard time with it because I missed class. I am just having a hard time with the huge amount of words I need to learn. My teacher was aware of this and helped me out. She said she is not worried about me and suggested that I attend some other classes to get some more exposure which I may do next week. After class I went home and made some lunch and rested for about an hour. After putting some laundry in the washer I went out for a walk on this glorious sunny day. It was quite warm which made my walk so better. On my walk I went into a store called ZARA and bought a pair of jeans. My jeans from home don't fit anymore because I lost a lot of weight so I decided I would buy a pair so that I could have some here that fit. I also bought a pair of sneakers for 10 euro, that is cheap! After shopping, walking around, and a quick gelato I came home and did my homework. It took me a while to do because I had a lot of looking up words for Italian and a logo to redesign for graphic design. The logo came out alright for what I had to work with. The pictures I took were bad because the lighting in the exhibit was so horrible, so I had a lot of editing the pictures to do. After I did my homework I made some dinner and ate way too much. So now I am relaxing in front of the tv with a stomach ache from eating too much. It's okay that my stomach ache because No. 5 just came back on my ipod! DANCE!

Lets Dance

So today was an interesting day for me. I woke up to yet another rainy day and decided to not go out. It simply was too dreary outside for me today. I stayed in most of the day on my bed doing homework and fighting with my wifi. It won mostly. I could get onto AIM which I was pretty happy about. I got to talk to my mom and some of my friends for a while. After some pretty upsetting personal drama that I do not want to go into I decided to go over to SACI main building to check my email since I could not at home. I got al my emails checked and some songs downloaded that Chris emailed me. I had to eave at 7 because they were closing. This was perfect timing because I was getting really hungry, so I went home and made some dinner. I attempted to make gnocchi. That was interesting because Meg and I were in the kitchen, which is very small, at the same time. Also, I have never made it and I think I didn't let them cook long enough. I ate them anyway. They were good, but I'm not sure I'd buy that brand again. They were too doughy for me. After dinner I restarted our router a few times and got the wifi working. I was pretty excited about this. So I am currently sitting in front of the tv, not watching it, and dancing to my ipod. I am having so much fun with my music pumped up and dancing. So I say to everyone, lets dance! I am having so much fun I want to share it with everyone! DANCE!

I Saw The Sun

Well today was a much better than yesterday. My day yesterday was pretty good until I got an upsetting call from my mom. I don't feel going into it, but there was mention of  me having to come home if my platelets drop very low again. This among the other things we talked about really upset me last night because I do not want to go home, I just got here. I was also tired, so this affected me even more than it would have if it were in the middle of the afternoon. Anyway I slept very well and then woke up this morning around 9:30. To my delight the sun was out and the sky was blue. I took advantage of this and went for a nice walk along the river. I had to cut my walk short because I had not eaten anything and needed to get over to SACI to call the hospital. My INR is finally within range at 2.1. After my walk and stop at SACI I went home to my apartment to check my email and stuff. I couldn't stand to be stuck inside on such a wonderful sunny day. So I decided to go out and just explore. I walked for a long time and eventually ended up at this big square with fountains. I have no idea what this place was other than a little park surrounded by a huge circle with a ton of cars. After I walked around here for a few minutes and realized there was nothing to do here I turned around and headed back toward the Duomo. It was getting pretty cold and had gotten very overcast by the time I made it back to the Duomo, but I decided to get a gelato. I saw down on the steps of the Duomo to eat it and watched all the tourists. Next I went to the atm because I only had 5 euro in my wallet. I put my card in and chose my amount. It said the action was complete but it gave me no money. So I went to a different atm and tried my new atm card that I had just gotten this morning in the mail. This time it actually went through and gave me money and a receipt. I then turned around and went home because it had gotten very cold and I was exhausted. I did a quick email check before taking a refreshing 2 hour nap. After my nap I made dinner and then sat down to watch some tv. So here we are. I am watching tv in English and chatting with my friends from home. Tomorrow is yet another day to sleep in and my day to do my homework. 

I'm No Michaelangelo, But I Painted One

Today is Friday and that means it is fresco day. I always kind of dread Fridays because it means I have to get up early. I started by going to the lab to get blood work done this morning. As usual my INR was low and my platelets are on their way down, but still a good number. I then walked across the river to the fresco studio. I was about half an hour to an hour later. Mario, my teacher, said it was ok if I came late since I had to get the blood work done. Once I got a cup of coffee and settled I started my fresco. I had drawn a figure from the Sistine Chapel and gotten my colors ready last week so I needed to do was transfer my drawing to the tile and paint it! Sounds easy doesn't it? It wasn't too hard actually. Transferring it to the tile was easy since I had poked hold in the lines of my drawing and rubbed chalk on top. Next I started painting. Mario showed me how and then let me finish it. It was kind of hard because I am by no means a painter. It took me a few hours, with a lunch break and some help from Mario, to finish it. I am very happy with how it came out. I can now say I have painted a fresco successfully. After I finished I got to leave class about 2 hours early! Unfortunately, it had started to rain very hard which meant I would be taking the bus home. The bus was packed. I was not sure where to get off so I just waited until I saw the bus stop down the street from SACI and my apartment. Of course as I got off the bus it stopped raining. I am really getting sick of all this rain. It has rained every day this week and is supposed to rain until Monday. I was supposed to meet someone to get my camera fixed today, but she cancelled and said we would go on Tuesday together. Then the girls from my class never called me about getting soccer tickets. I am kind of bummed out about that because I was pretty excited to go. I guess it is probably for the better since it is supposed to rain all weekend. Maybe I will go in a few weeks. So that was my day. Somewhat boring, but I did finish my first fresco!

Mental Institute, Broken Camera, & Cancelled Class. Oh My!

Well I first want to say I'm sorry for not posting yesterday. I had a total blonde moment and simply forgot. Not a lot happened yesterday so I will give you all a quick recap. I started my day off with low INR, big surprise right? It rained a lot, another big surprise. I did get to go and get train tickets however. Libby, my photo TA took me to help so I didn't get the wrong kind. So I am going to get down to Rome at about 8:30 am on Valentines Day to meet Dara and I got on the same train as her coming home. I am very excited! Anyway, I finished my day by being kept awake until 3:30 am by Stacy on Skype. Ok moving onto today. Today was a very interesting day, as you can tell from my title. I started it off with low INR . I then went to photography where we went on a field trip to an old mental institute. My camera was broken, so I couldn't shoot any film but I did take some great shots on my digital. This place was amazing. It was once a whole community. My teacher told us that it was more of a prison for people with mental illnesses rather than a hospital or ward. They closed it down a while ago and are in the process of revamping some of the buildings. Some of them are in use for different things now. My teacher also told us that some of the patients still live in the abandon buildings and wander the area. So that was a great experience and I hope I can go back with some film and shoot more pictures. Next I went to Italian where nothing special happened. After Italian I had graphic design. As I was waiting for class to start the TA came in to tell us that Camilla, our teacher, was sick and would not be in for class. I was excited because I had only eaten a banana all day so I got to go home eat, and rest. I got my daily panini and then went for a walk down to the river. I wanted to walk for a while, but I had a bad headache so I turned around and went home. I did stop for a mint gelato on my though. I took a nice long nap in attempts to get rid of the headache. When I woke up it was just about gone. The rest of my might I plan to just relax since I still have a slight headache. Tomorrow I have my fresco class in the morning. Then I go to get my camera fixed hopefully and then hopefully my friends wait for me to go get soccer tickets. I thought it would be fun to go to the game with them this weekend. I will update again tomorrow and not be blonde and forget. I promise!

Soggy Meghan

Well today was a much better day despite the nonstop rain. My day started with my INR being low yet again. I then ran over to SACI to tell Chiara and go to my photo class. I was very excited about class because this was the first time I had been in over a week and I was gong to learn printing. After he showed us how to dodge and burn, which I was so lost on because I missed so much class, he took me into the dark room for my catch up lesson.  It was very confusing and a lot to take in, but I think I got it. So I made 2 contact sheets and a few test strips. I ran out of time, so I did not get to make an actual print. So I quickly got a panini and ran to my Italian class. That class is going well. I am starting to catch up and understand some of what is being said. After that class I went back to SACI main building because my graphic design class was going to an exhibition. By this time it had just started to rain so I was pretty happy that we were getting on a bus to go there. The exhibition was called Workwear and was just that. It was a fashion exhibition of all different kinds of uniforms and things that people use for many different jobs like medical field, hazmat, and hotel work. I took a ton of pictures, but the lighting was horrible so I am going to go back in the next few days and retake them. They are being used to redesign the logo. After this all of the buses were cancelled near the exhibit so we walked back to the Design Center in the pouring rain. After I took off my soaked coat, hoodie, and backpack I tried to dry off a little. I also had a pretty bad back ache because I had been carrying around my camera, 2 boxes of photo paper, and all my italian books! Next I had to go back to SACI main building to finish printing some test strips, again in the pouring rain. I was extremely happy to get back to my apartment where it was dry and not have to go out again for the rest of the night. Stacy is now talking to me, maybe she was in a funk? We also moved our router and the wifi seems to be working much better. So I am excited for tomorrow because I get to sleep in and only have one class. Too bad it is supposed to rain again. Good thing I don't mind getting wet.

Now I'm Mad!

I know I shouldn't get mad, but I can't help it. I woke up this morning and our wifi in the apartment was still not working so I decided I would go to the store and get it fixed after class. Before class I had to go to the lab and get blood work done. The doctor who took my blood did not speak english but talked to me anyway, and I kind of understood him! After that cheerful event I walked back home in the rain and literally almost ran into Stacy as she came out of our apartment. I laughed and smiled because I thought it was funny. Apparently she did not find this funny in the least because she almost growled at me as she walked by. So I brushed that off and quickly got ready for class and went to check my email at school before class since our wifi was still not working. I went to Italian class for the first time in over a week and sat next to Zach, a guy that I am hoping will end up being a friend, that helped me catch up. He seems like a nice guy, talks to me, and is in a few classes with me. So after class I called the hospital and got my INR taken care of, heated up some food, and then went to the wifi place. The guy changed the channel and said to try different windows until the one light stopped blinking. So I went home and found the one window in the apartment it worked at in my room. I ended up going to SACI for wifi because I needed to download something and their connection is a lot stronger than ours ever has been. So I left my roommates a note saying I got it fixed and it was in my room. When I came home later I found that the router had been moved and that the internet was back to not being great. Stacy said Meg moved it and that I should have left them a note. By this time I was so frustrated I wanted to just scream at her. She said that someone moved the note cause she didn't see it, it was right where I left it when I left her to make my dinner. I was beyond mad so I decided to attempt making salmon for dinner. It was definitely an adventure that I enjoyed. I didn't screw up the salmon! It came out a little burnt but that's because I realized part way through I had the oven set on only top, not top and bottom. I also made some rice with a little bit of butter and bolognese sauce. My dinner was so good. I might make it again tomorrow since I have 2 more salmon pieces left. After dinner I did my Italian homework and tried my best to calm down. I am now just in a bad mood and doing my best to stay away from Stacy because I know I will just get angry again being near her. So I am obviously able to get online so I am not as mad as I was. I guess I am just upset that I tried really hard to fix it for everyone and it seems so unappreciated. I feel as though I am just an annoyance to everyone. I really miss having friends that actually care. My so called friend Alicia and Kerry saw me for the first time since I've been home today. Kerry asked how I was but it was completely obvious she didn't care. Why should I even try to be friends with these people who obviously don't the slightest care about me? Hopefully tomorrow will be better. I plan on going to the river tomorrow even if it is raining. I miss my friends and family from home so much.

Getting Mad

So today has been a day of frustration for me. It all started pretty much as soon as I woke up. I woke up feeling like the day I came home from the hospital. I had a headache, stomach ache, and was nauseous. Thankfully that went away quickly. The next frustration took place after my shower. I tested my INR and of course it was low. Not only was it low, but it as very low. I am very nervous about it being so low for a few days now because I am at higher risk to throw a clot. The clots I had over the summer was the most pain I have ever been in in my life and I have no desire to feel even a twinge of that again. I had to wait until 1 pm to go to SACI to call the hospital again so I went food shopping. I got some good food I think and some snacks to hold me over for a while. I then made some very yummy spaghetti with bolognese sauce. By the time I was done doing ALL the dishes in the apartment and eating it was about 1:30 and time for me to go to SACI. Alessia called the hospital for me, and I had her ask them if I should be on a steady dose of Warfarin. She said they told me to take a low dose like yesterday, which I think is just going to make my INR go even lower, and to ask that question tomorrow when my regular doctors are in the hospital. So there is yet another frustration. At this point I was pretty frustrated with the day and to top it off it was raining and my finger was very bruised from testing my blood this morning. UGH! I decided to not go for my walk to the river in the rain and chance getting sick again. I spent the rest of my day on my computer chatting and doing homework. Then at 5:30 the wifi in the apartment went out. The router says it is on, but no one can connect. So here we are at 8:25 and I am in the internet cafe. I am in a somewhat okay mood because I am online and getting to talk to my friends back home, but I am still extremely pissed off at the day. Hopefully a better day tomorrow.