Milan, Italy - July 2nd

After I had caught up on my writing, I went down to the lobby where there were a lot of people checking in. I sat in the study room and played on my computer while more and more people came in to get on their computers or watch TV. I met a couple girls from New Zealand who had been traveling for 5 months and were not homesick in the slightest. I also met a guy from Australia who had just graduated college and decided to do some traveling before getting a real job. We had some Italian beers which were not quite as good as the German’s. He went off to bed while I sat and watched the Italian news. After a while I said goodnight to the New Zealand girls and headed to the room. What followed was one of the most hellish night time experiences I think I have ever had and could only compare it to being in Costa Rica when I had to spend 24 hours alone in the jungle with only a tarp over my head and a sleeping bag. It was so hot that just lying in bed made me sweat, but I still had to keep my body covered with a thin sheet to keep from being devoured by all the mosquitoes who buzzed incessantly over my head. Anytime I moved in the slightest, the crappy metal-framed bunk bed I was lying on would creak and make loud “bing” noises. As if all of this was not enough, I must have caught some kind of virus because my temperature skyrocketed and a few times in the night I had to get up to puke. My body was completely drained of water from sweating and puking but thinking the virus I caught must have come from drinking the water from the tap I dared not drink anymore. I had a terrible headache and when I tried to open my bag to get out some ibuprofen, my body was too weak to unzip it. So I lied in my bed all night trying not to move while my whole body ached and covered in itchy mosquito bites. As the minutes dragged on into hours day eventually broke and thankfully my fever subsided. I walked downstairs and bought a bottle of water from the machine and by drinking in small amounts and allowing time in between I was able to keep it down. Back upstairs I relieved my headache with a couple Ibu that I now had the strength to dig out of my bag. I packed up all my stuff and checked out at 10 and rode the metro to the campus dorms on the other side of town. In the lobby, I was greeted by my professor and a few of the girls who had come from Mason. We checked into our rooms and I unpacked all my stuff. It was great being able to finally settle down and be able to feel safe having my stuff out in the room. After a while I was joined by my roommate, Gary, who plays rugby for Mason, is 23, and decided to come study abroad with his girlfriend. At 12:30, we met in the lobby of the dorm. Our professor, Dr. Wright, gave us some information about what we can expect during our stay here. Afterwards, my friend Allie and a few other girls came with me to the Duomo. I had already seen it the day before, but Dr. Wright didn’t want them to go to sleep so early in the day and this was a way for them to stay awake. We walked around the huge cathedral and then rode back towards our dorms to find some cheaper food. The girls picked up some snacks at the supermarket across the street where earlier my roommate and I witness a near brawl between a short, old Italian lady and the cashier when her frozen pizza turned out to be a Euro more than she thought. Back in the room I rested for about an hour before going back down to meet up with our professor and a couple others who were going to eat. We found a small pizzeria around the corner with cheap food. Apparently pepperoni over here is not what we think of in America, and I was surprised to find tons of yellow, red, and green peppers covering my pizza. The food was still delicious and when we were all through, we made the walk back to the dorms. I was planning on writing this and then going to bed but my roommate and his girlfriend are going out so I might join them.