Cooking without Salt... and Various mishaps.

Ah. Culture shock has arrived. It first stood on the front steps like an eager Jehovah Witness asking me for a bit of my time. I politely and firmly said "No, thanks. I'm doing dandy." It knowingly said "I'll be back" and I double locked the door.

Now culture shock has developed into a camp of wild gypsies in my bedroom. It even used my toothbrush. You know, you give culture shock a cold shoulder and next thing you know you are an angry, irrational monster on the brink of tears because it's 5 pm and you had a yogurt and saltines for the day's meals. Why have you not eaten anything? Because you can't bear the thought of having to talk another person in Italian or you had only 40 minutes break from school. Thursday I had class from 8 am to 5 pm... with a hour long lunch break which was mostly taken up by transit time. Grocery shopping = stressful. They never give you enough plastic bags (because of course you have to ask and of course you can't remember the correct word in Italian). I asked the butcher in Italian "Where's the salty?" and he says to me with a smile "The salt?" HAHA. So embarrassing. But I found it and I went back to him and told him "Thank you, I found it!" Fortunately, Italians in Perugia are SO NICE when you speak even terrible Italian to them.

Because I am stupid and shy AND go up and down probably 20-30 flights of stairs a day and walk a 4 miles everyday, I have probably lost 5-10 pounds my first week here. I don't have a scale but I can see a dramatic difference in my body. Of course, I brought clothes that were mostly loose because most people say they gain 10 pounds when they study in Italy... Nope, my pants can't stay up... I'm hoping once I get my cafeteria card tomorrow, I'll stop losing weight and not be starving all day long. It's amazing how long you can be furiously hungry without actually dying.

My new apartment is great! But lacks two essentials: salt and internet.My sad, sad meal that I cooked the first night desperately needed salt. Thank God for salty cheese! My spirit is dying without internet. Of course, the housing lady told me she would install it on Thursday morning... It's Monday, lady and I'm losing my freakin marbles. My phone doesn't have data (didn't realize until after I paid for it...) so basically I'm a terrible correspondent and company like 95% of the time.

I'VE REALLY missed blogging. It's my new therapy since I can't eat my feelings anymore... 

"Finn, I need applause to live!"

I thought I needed food to live. Nope, I really just need the internet. AND coffee. Let's be real.