Aloha! [Boy am I tricky or what?]
I am actually in bed at the moment, about to take a much-needed nap. I am sick. I always get sick at times like this. Always. Seriously, if me getting sick in a foreign country right before a test and a weekend excursion was a racehorse, it would be named Stupid Fucking Immune System and it would be the safest bet ever.
I went to see a doctor yesterday because Wednesday I was trying not to vomit internal organs so I could not go to school. [Poor Christine was still here and unfortunately I was a terrible host. To her I apologize and hope you'll come back and give Lauren in Rome another chance. We're pretty cool.] Thursday I dragged my ass to the Study Center and coughed and snuffled my way through class. The staff helped me find an English-speaking doctor and made an appointment for me [thank god they're really nice] so yesterday Sasha [my roommate] and I navigated the undergrounds of Rome, also known as the Metro, to get me to the doctor. The best word I could use to describe him is "loopy," because that's what he was. He was really nice and spoke English completely fluently, and is actually a well-known wine connoisseur in Italy [he puts on the wine-tasting classes at our school]. Random enough for you? He would make really terrible jokes and laugh really enthusiastically at himself while Sasha and I gave each other looks and haha-ed along. Example: while asking me to open my mouth and say "ahhh," he makes me do it like three times and then he tells me, "Okay stay like that. We [himself and Sasha]'re going to get some coffee, we'll be back in 20 minutes. HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"
So I officially have a "severe upper respiratory tract infection of probably viral origin." If I don't get better in two days, it's probably not a virus and I need to take anti-bacterials or whatever they're called. I'm tired and sick, leave me alone. Oh, antibiotics. There we go. Hah!

Every cloud has a silver lining, right? WRONG.

The doctor's office doesn't take credit or debit cards, which I, being a stupid American, didn't anticipate, and I was out of cash. Sasha saved my ass by lending me 50euro, I paid, and we were out of there. It was ridiculous. I'm in a foreign country with some weird-ass insurance, this was my first time seeing this doctor, and all I had to do before I saw him was fill out a form giving them my name, address, phone number, gender, name of my insurance company, and birthplace and date. Afterward, they told me the price, I handed them the cash, they gave me a very large receipt stamped and signed by the doctor, and I was on my way. It was unreasonably simple. Except that really, medical care SHOULD be that simple. Fucking America.

On the way home from the metro stop, Sasha and I stopped to look at this huge shoe store [we're all on frantic hunts for boots before the sales end], and we ended up finding a great pair of boots. We both got the same shoe, except in different colors; mine black and hers brown. The price? 22euro each [They gave us some serious glares when we each paid with a 50euro bill. Really, half the ATMS will only give you cash in multiples of 50, and almost no one will break them for you]. Awesome. They're the cute slouchy kind that look like they're suede that you tuck your jeans into. I want to buy a solid pair of actual leather boots that lace up, and then right before I go back to the good ol' US of A, if I have any money left I want to buy a pair of heeled boots, because they're SO good-looking but there's no point in getting them now because I refuse to break my neck on the cobblestone streets.

Okay it's naptime. I'm missing a cooking class tonight because of my damn lack-of-health. Send me get-well wishes! Grazie!

[Oh, PS - I will start putting up photos with each post again soon. I now have a Pro Flickr account so I can host as many photos as I want, all for your viewing please. Check it out: CLICKY, CLICKY.]