La Routine

Well. A week and a half. This is a good thing, because I am giving you all a nice break between posts so you don't get overwhelmed with the brilliance of my writing. This makes me caring and concerned, rather than negligent and a layabout. If you needed a more legitimate excuse for my relative absence, we could talk about my previously mild illness, which has now turned into an all-out assault on my body and presence of mind. I went to the official USAC doctor here, which was a bit interesting (and your first indication that this is no ordinary cold--I generally scoff at pansies who show up at the doctor for any little affliction, but I figured that once my inability to breathe kept me from attending class on Wednesday, it was time to pay Dr. Lo Presti a visit). For one thing, he is only open two hours a day, so it takes some serious strategery to make it to his office in the appropriate window of time. Further, there is no receptionist at an Italian doctor's office; instead, you take a number when you walk in, and you're expected to take note of who was there when you arrived, so that you can remember when it's your turn. It's all based on a very nice system of trust which I very much approve of. But, you may be asking, if there is no receptionist, to whom do you pay the co-pay for your visit? OH, THAT'S RIGHT. You don't! Because THERE IS NO CO-PAY! Visiting a doctor in Italy is absolutely free, regardless of whether or not you are even a citizen of the place. You show up with an ailment, the doctor tells you what's up, and that's it. You aren't confined to visiting a certain doctor in a certain place just because of the constraints of your insurance plan (if you're lucky enough to even have one, that is). The idea is that your socioeconomic status shouldn't ever prevent you from receiving adequate medical attention. So there you go. No co-pay: just one of the many many many benefits of socialized medicine. I'm sure I could elaborate further on this and take the opportunity to state even more clearly my opinion on the absolute tomfoolery that is the American system of health care, but it's not in my nature to digress in such a way, so I'll get back to the matter at hand. Curiously enough, the doctor didn't actually ever tell me what was wrong with me, and it didn't occur to me at the time to even ask him. He just listened to me, did some of his checkup-y stuff, prescribed me a variety of medication, and I was on my way, released back into the concrete jungle that is Torino. The next day, I went into a pharmacy to pick up two of my medications, the names of which escape me at this moment. For my two perfectly legitimate prescription drugs, I paid a grand total of 12 euros!! TWELVE. To put this into perspective, my potentially life-saving medication cost less than the pair of leggings I bought at the mall the other day. Say what you will about Italian bureaucracy, at least some of it's working in my favor. I guess that's all I have to say about my adventures in health care so far.

Don't worry, though, I've been doing other stuff aside from dying in the past week or so. I finally had my other two classes meet for the first time, and although I already knew the professors, it was fun to find out who was actually in the classes with me and what we'd be doing. I already have assignments for both of them: for Conversation, I have to read an essay about Facebook and then be able to summarize it for my class....doesn't seem too difficult; and then for Culture, I have to observe Italian people in an everyday setting, so I'm thinking the bus ride to school will suffice for that. I also found out about a slightly longer-term assignment; we have to research a region of Italy and give a short presentation on it--I get to do Sicily! Yaaayyy, land of my ancestors, shouldn't be too tough of a job. I already had another test in Composition. Since the class runs for just about a month, I'm fairly certain we'll be having tests every week....but on the bright side, the class does end by Feb. 18, just in time for Composition II to start! I've heard rumors, however, that the second course will in fact be held in the evening rather than at the almost-literal crack of dawn, which is more of a blessing than I can fully explain. I've been counting down how many more mornings I have to wake up at around 7ish (or 8ish, whatever) and the number is currently hovering somewhere between three and six....our schedules aren't always perfectly clear, but I'll figure it out.

Other things that have been going on...hmmm. It was my friend Allison's birthday the other night, so she, her roommates, my roommates and I all went out for, brace yourselves, SUSHI! It was actually my first experience with conveyer-belt sushi, which excited me very much. It wasn't too bad of a deal, about 18 euros for a main dish + unlimited conveyer belt items, and the best part of course was that it was my first meal since getting here that did not feature either pizza or pasta. NO JOKE. I am always up for a tasty Italian meal, but it's only been three weeks and I am already absolutely dying for something non-Italian. In n Out, Taco Bell, even (okay, especially) McDonald's, I WOULD KILL FOR ANY OF IT. I think this makes me ethnocentric, but I just can't help it--the monotony is getting a bit much for me. Consequently, I've been looking for ways to diversify my meals. I started with buying genuine (Mexican-) American salsa, cereal, and cottolette. So far, I am impressed with myself. Other impressive things....my hair has mysteriously lost the will to part itself in ANY DIRECTION, a curiosity which I am going to attribute to Italian water, but which I fear has something to do with a series of missteps on my part, hmmm. In any event, I consistently look like a crazy person, which is perhaps good practice for my future as a bag lady, a fate which will certainly befall me if I continue spending money in this negligent fashion. Ah, money. I genuinely cannot even sneeze without it costing me money, but that's all a part of the study abroad lifestyle, I suppose. Another money-suck is, of course, traveling. I haven't been on any trips yet, although my first is next weekend, when USAC heads to Venice/Verona for Carnevale (!!!!!). I actually haven't even really done much sightseeing in Torino. As in, if it's not on my bus route or in the general vicinity of a nightclub, I haven't seen it. I really must work on that, given that Torino is a huge city with tons of history and sightseeing opportunities. People here are already planning spring break, and various other trips, but I have so far refrained, owing to the fact that I don't yet have a solid group of people with whom I can travel, so I feel as if I need to make better friends/travel buddies first rather than going off on my own and booking random trips, maverick-style. Hopefully, I figure that situation out soon before prices skyrocket for spring break; I'm not even sure where I want to go yet, but as always, I am confident that things will work out!

I can't really think of anything else worth reporting, so I guess that's all for now, although speaking of reporting, I feel it would behoove me to mention that I recently had my first article as the Sagebrush's official spring 2010 study abroad correspondent published. Click here to read said article. Also feel free to ignore the heinous mugshot provided by the Sagebrush archives, and instead enjoy this preview of the mugshot that will be used for all future (biweekly) articles. It's a bit like a passport photo, but in the world of journalism, we focus on the story, not the reporter....I guess. All right, done for today. Arrivederci! xo