This Thanksgiving, I would like to thank...

the man on the train who sat across from me while traveling from Rome to Milan. I believe he joined us at the Florenze stop which means my mom, sister and I enjoyed his company for a little over 2.5 hours. He didn't speak a word but was kind enough to share his bacteria/virus infected germs with me when hacking up a lung every so often during the ride.

I have strep throat.

Do I know for certain that it was him? No. But if you look at the statistics, he is the most likely suspect. Fortunately my mom and sister seem to be fine so far.

Friday and Saturday I was certain it was tonsillitis. Symptoms included fever and incredibly swollen tonsils (sensitive to touch and my neck looked twice the size it should be). My throat was swelling so badly that I took myself to the Ospedale Fatabenefratelli Pronto Soccorso (Hospital Emergency Room) late Saturday night. I was having a hard time breathing. This was an experience I REALLY never wanted to have. I had no idea if they would even treat me. They have socialized health care - but I didn't know how it worked for American expats.

The hospital isn't anything to brag about. It reminded me of very old school cafeteria style floor and walls. The "physician rooms" were lined on the outside perimeter and were separated by plywood (i.e. hollow) doors; otherwise there were tangerine colored curtains with beds set up in the center of the hospital floor.

When I first arrived I was "greeted" by an Italian man who only spoke Italian, saying a lot of things I didn't understand - which is exactly what I told him. He took me by my arm (which I didn't care for too much) and brought me up the a counter where a big piece of plexi glass (thick plastic) separated me from the hospital workers and a small little intercom that I had to speak into. As usual I get a look from them as if I just landed my space craft across the street, had gills and slime dripping from my body. I told them (in English) that I had very bad sore throat and was having a hard time breathing. He then asked me, "Where pain?" I grabbed my neck like I was strangling myself hoping that would translate as "hard to breath". He took my passport, handed me a piece of paper and sent me to a waiting room.

They put me in the bianco (white) category which means "non-urgent" and is greeted with a slap in the face in the form of every single person being treated before me! At first I thought they just didn't want to treat me because I didn't speak Italian, but after a little over an hour I "found" (by simply looking above my head) poster with four circles with four different colors; red, yello, green, white. The Codice Colore (Color Code) - A color coded procedure explaining how they determine who they see first. Bianco was the very last code and least urgent. Damn it.

I waited for 2.5 hours. It was now 2:15 a.m. I watched a lovely older Italian women come and go. A couple brought who brought their mother in - came and went, another women - came and went... all leaving with smiles on their faces - good for them.

I might sound a little disgruntled, but the evening did provide some Italian nightlife entertainment.

1. Crazy Lady:
A crazy drunk/drugged Italian women was staggering down the hall way with her pants around her knees. Thanks to this woman, I will never own green underwear as long as I live.

The orderly finally got her to lay down on a hospital bed. The secutity guard put up the safety bars so she wouldn't fall off the bed. Mr. Safety Guard didn't read the find print that says "if drunk/durgged women puts all her body weight on the bars, they will break and she will fall. She his the floor pretty hard, along with half the bed; screws, nuts and bolts rolling around across the floor.

From what could tell, I believe they ended up strapping her down to a bed. For 1.5 hours straight she screamed random Italian words like "Aiuto" (HELP) and a few words I couldn't make out and non words like "AHHhhhAhh" and "UUUHHH". The hospital staff started yelling back at her "BASTA" (Enough/No more). I dont' think anyone would have minded if they knocked her out (by needle or fist - we didn't care)

2. Dumb Guy:
A younger man (24-26ish years old) came in with a cut on his wrist. He was either drunk or drugged - probably both. There were two waiting room side-by-side which the hospital could combine into one room by opening a sliding ply-wood door that was on the wall shared by the two rooms. While I was there, this shared door was closed - allowing there to be two separate waiting rooms that are accessed by the main hallway.

This guy started banging on one side of this door, then walking around to the waiting room next door and banging on the other side of the same door. He couldn't figure out that they were the same door. VERY strange and a little amusing I must admit! A women looked at me and did (what I have confirmed as) the internation expression for crazy (finger circling you temple).

OK, so it is now 2:15 a.m. I FINALLY get in to see the doctor - yay.

My throat was so swollen she couldn't see anything, so she gave me an anti-inflammatory shot into my arm. I hate needles. She sent me back to the waiting room (NO -anywhere but there!) for 30 mins to let the drugs take effect. Ahhh, man that was great! Almost all the swelling went down!

She gave me Amoxicillian (sp?) and a pain reliever in powder form which I didn't figure out how to take until today... AND I found a new community of white bumps that took up residence on the back of my throat. Once again, making it hard for me to breath!

So, for this Thanksgiving I am going to give a big sarcastic thank you to the gentleman on the train (or whomever it was) for sharing with me and, and a deeply honest thank you to Security Officer Nathan from Tennessee who is based at the US Consulate in Milan . I didn't mention it above, but I had to call him twice to help me with telling me where I should go and translating my symptoms to the doctor.

People! PLEASE do not travel or go to work when you are sick!

I hope everyone had a wonderful, safe and bacteria/virus free Thanksgiving!!!

Promise to post pics of my recent trips to Venice and Rome (with mom and sis) very soon!

Grazie e Ciao!
Jamie

Happy Halloween!!!

A little disappointed in the lack of enthusiasm for Halloween here in Milan. I noticed some of the cafes and specialty food shops decorate with carved pumpkins and pumpkin themed food, but where are the costumes, painted faces, kids on a sugar buzz and bulk bags of candy that eventually contribute to your local dentist's mortgage?

Oh ya, this isn't America.

Well, in all honesty I didn't expect the traditional American style Halloween because that would be silly. But... I did expect something. According to my colleagues at work, Halloween has only been 'recognized' and celebrated for about 10 years, and really is "for the kids" to dress up. The only kids I saw dressed up were my adorable nieces by way of pictures posted by my brother and sister-in-law.

Such a shame. Halloween is great! My favorite part was trick-or-treating in the 'rich neighborhoods' that gave out full-size candy bars :).

Anywho - no Halloween celebrations here. ALTHOUGH, they do have Christmas candy and decorations (including wrapping paper) available in the grocery stores. That gave me a little feeling of 'home'.

Happy Halloween to all!

Ciao,
Jamie

Bologna

Despite the fact that I had to spend an entire weekend in a small town working in a building with no air conditioning.... or people.... the drive to the train station made it worthwhile. The train I was 'catching' was based in a city called Bologna. This city was the perfect ending to a very long and exhausting weekend.

So first point of clarification I need to make is that I was in Bologna for approximately 15 minutes and secondly, I experienced Bologna from the passenger seat of a Mercedes van (Mercedes are VERY common out here- so are BMWs - equivalent to Toyota, Honda, etc in the US).

To that end, I loved it.

Here are a few pics that I was able to catch during my 'drive through'. Remember - I was taking them while sitting in a moving vehicle - bare with my photography.


This is a picture of what used to be considered the entrance into the city of Bologna. Pretty cool.













I love this picture. Aside from the fact that it looks like we are chasing down a couple people on bicycles, it is a good example of what a traditional Italian neighborhood street looks like. Roads made from stone, cars, pedestrians and bicycles sharing a very narrow road and very old buildings shooting straight up into the sky. It makes you feel like you're walking/driving/ riding through a maze. Where will this street lead me? You won't know its a dead end till you get there! In all honestly its a bit annoying if you're lost - but neat to look at.








This is a picture of an old castle.

Thats all I got.

The driver said the name a couple times for me but it sounded like gibberish to me.








This was very interesting... I hadn't seen anything like this in Milan or Mirandola. Its a city (public) bus that has two long, thick, metal 'arms' coming from the roof of the bus and attaching to two parallel cables above it. We were behind this bus for awhile. Sometimes parked cars, people or obstacles (i.e. construction) were in its path, so when it had to pull away from the curb, the 'arms' allowed it to move maneuver around these obstacles.

So, I think to myself, that's interesting.

I stare a little longer and think, what the hell is the point?


If I figure it out - I'll let you know.

My boss' college roommate moved to Bologna and is now the star in his own show as a cross dresser. My boss said, "hey you should check out his show when you go back", and I say, "sure, why not," There is a first time for everything - and I've never seen a cross dresser perform (I think.... and hope... that means sing), so why not see one in a small city in Italy.



More Italian vocabulary:


Perque no (pear kay no) - why not
Buona idea (bwoh nah, ee de eh ah) - good idea
Ma (Mah) - but
cosi cosi (koozie koozie) - so so
Niente (knee yen tay) - Nothing (common response after "Grazie")
basta! (bah stah!) - Stop (i.e. final - its meant as a demand, not a destination or suggestion)
Scusi (sku zee) - sorry (formal)
Scusa (sku zah) - sorry (informal)
Mi dispiace (me dis pee ah che) - I'm sorry (sympathetic)
Mi scusi - Excuse me - 98% of people here never say this - they just slam into you and walk off. To the remaining 2%, I always say, with a smile, "Niente".


Buona notte!
Jamie