BUGS BUGS GO AWAY!

The Bug Fiasco:

Months ago, I began to find random bug bites on myself when I would wake up each morning. At first I paid no attention to them, but over time, when they kept appearing, and when I went on my spring break trip and they disappeared...I realized I must have bugs in my bed. AH! GROSS! I thought maybe it was just an allergic reaction...but then I got back from spring break, and the very first night I was home, I was itching like crazy. YUCK. I spent the night on the couch for a few nights, then spoke to IES about the problem. Finally, they came to give me a new mattress and new sheets etc to hopefully fix the problem...but then, they mixed up the rooms...and they brought Katie and Brittany new mattresses, and they left mine. AH! Eventually, they fixed the problem, and brought me a new mattress...but then left my contaminated mattress in the hallway. Great. A few days later, Elisa, my roommate, found actual bugs crawling in her bed. Ewww. We left for the weekend, and came back to find that Elisa's whole bed had been taken away. She left a note saying they would bring her a new bed soon...and she would be back once they brought her a new bed. However, that very night, I received more bug bites in my bed...and had the same thing happen the next night. The second night, I actually even saw a bug in my bed. AHH. Also, this time, when I went to sleep on the beloved couch, the couch made me feel all itchy, too...so I had to sleep on the smaller couch, that I hardly even fit on. Fun. Brittany commented afterwards that she had seen bugs in the first couch, the night after Elisa had slept on the couch (when she found bugs in her bed). The colony must have grown. Ah! I contacted IES and the very next day, they found us a new apartment. We had one more night in the contaminated apartment, before we moved into our new apartment! This was quite speedy service, eh??

It was all quite crazy, as we weren't allowed to take any clothing, papers, books, or basically anything except electronics and extreme valuables with us when we left...as they wanted to de-contaminate everything. We were instructed that we would have 260 euro (about 350 dollars) to go shopping for new clothes and toiletries for the week, and that we would be excused from class. So, last Thursday, I was basically told to go shopping instead of go to class. Katie, Brittany, and I first went to UPIM (the Italian version of Target) and bought a bunch of things, before we met Marco to go to the new apartment.

This new apartment is located about 10 min walk from school, as opposed to 15-20 min. like our old apartment. We took a nifty little elevator up to the ninth floor of this apartment building that is in a cluster of a bunch of other apartments...all gated into this nice courtyard area...right next to the super market. YES. We arrived on the 9th floor. Our apartment is the only apartment up there. woo hoo!! We walked inside, and it's a bright, spacious, beautiful apartment. There are wonderful hard wood floors everywhere, and windows look out over Rome in every room. We walked out on the gorgeous terrace, that has an amazing view over all of Rome. There is a kitchen decked out with all new appliances, that leads into a dining area with a pretty wooden table, which melds into an area with a desk, that goes right into the living area, with a tv. It's amaaazing! Walking straight through that whole area, there is a cute area in the back with 2 bedrooms and a bathroom. One bedroom is small, with 2 single beds, and has doors leading out onto the terrace. The other bedroom is larger, and has a huge double bed, with no doors out onto the terrace, but huge windows looking out over the courtyard. My lovely roommates gave me the bigger room, since I have had so many problems with the bugs. (even though they were inconvenienced by all of this, too, and some of them started getting bites, too.) They are so sweet! Also, since there isn't enough room for her, Elisa is living with her boyfriend Giuseppe, for the rest of the semester. Crazy. So we basically have a penthouse apartment in Rome just for ourselves, with a beautiful view...and no neighbors right nearby. Ah, party anyone?? Oh yeah, and there's another bathroom when you first enter...so yeah, that's right...2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, baby. We can actually pee at the same time now. WOO WOO. AND WE GET HOT WATER for more than 10 min. hahaha. The other apartment had a lot of pretty Italian charm, but this apartment is just so convenient and lovely. I LOVE IT!

So that's that.

In other news:

Everyone makes out everywhere here. Ah. Get a roooom. I mean, I'm all for people wanting to express their affection..but do ya have to put it on display full force when I'm sitting here on the computer? haha. We share a building with an Italian university, and there was a couple earlier making out wonderfully in the hallway a few minutes ago.


OK I'm gonna go. Ciao ciao!