Day 13

I can't stress enough how good it felt to sleep in this morning. The fan felt so great that I used the sheet to cover up with. It was a remarkable feeling of not having anything specific to wake up for, and to just...rest.

I got out of bed, and figured it would be pretty close to noon. I was shocked that it was only a little past nine. I got online, checked some emails, and got a shower. I talked to Heather who mentioned stopping by and seeing the apartment later in the afternoon, and then headed out to do some laundry. I wanted to get everything clean again so that I could start over with the beginning of the second week already here.

I went to a lavanderia about 10 minutes away. I put all my clothes into one of my suitcases and used that to transport them. The washer took two tokens, which costs 3,50 Euro each. The dryer costs another token, so for one load (a pretty big load) costs 10,50 euro. Hopefully, I won't be visiting the lavanderia too often during my stay because it is so expensive. But, it's necessary and complaining probably won't change that fact.

I went home, cleaned the room so that everything was organized, attempted to use the vaccuum, gave up because of how incredibly awful it was, and made lunch. While the clothes were drying, I ran next door to the supermarket and got some fries. Now, my intention was to make something reminiscent of home: a burger and fries. Although, it seemed to look decent enough, the truth was that it was covered in grease and didn't taste as appetizing as I had hoped. I ate the burger and only a few fries because when coming I planned to eat healthy and exercise as often as possible.

After eating, Heather, Lucio (her husband) and the children stopped by to check out the apartment. We tried out a microphone she brought with Vonage to see how well it worked. It works nicely, and only costs 3 euro. She let me borrow it for the night and tomorrow I will try to get my own.

After they left, I called my mom and talked to her for a while. Vincent returned in the evening and we talked about what he's doing for his PhD. We tried some cheeses that he bought and had a beer as well. We also fixed the dvd player. It's funny because instead of it working normally, where the disc drawer will open and extend outward, we took the entire top of the dvd player off so that the disc can be inserted from the top since the drawer is stuck. We each had pasta for dinner and I told him about Ravenna, showing him pictures. We said our ciao's and headed to our respective rooms. I spent a while catching up with friends on aim and browsing some websites. Finally, it is time to get some sleep and prepare for the week to come.

And so, I conclude this entry with a quote by Leonardo DaVinci:

"Every now and then go away, have a little relaxation, for when you come back to your work your judgement will be surer."