It's JUST an EMOTIONAL ROLLER COASTER over here

Having stayed up until almost 3 am last night, I woke up at 1:30 pm, and was immediately and horribly homesick. It was brought on by nothing but a vague feeling of the loss of something important. Homesickness really, really sucks.

After crying into my teddy bear I had a semi-productive day. I went and signed up for the waiting list for the  field trip to Ravenna tomorrow (I did not get in, oh well...) and also registered to get our apartment checked out by the nice people at SACI. When I had another attack of weepiness*, the housing director Daniella sat down and talked to me. "Five people have already told me they want to go home," she told me. "The first week is hard. By the end you will be crying because you don't want to leave!"

That was nice to hear. Out of the hundred-odd students at SACI, five of us are still having trouble finding our feet**. Afterwards I went to the pharmacy to get some aspirin, which I had forgotten at home among many other vital objects. And I had my very first conversation, completely in Italian, and I feel pretty amazing about it.
After I'd told the nice older man behind the counter that I wanted "aspirin, the kind you take with water", he told me that my Italian was very good. My accent was perfect. He asked where I was from -- I said I was American. He asked what I was studying, I said art.
"Oh, you have the air of an artist." He said, and then told me his name was Carlo. When I told him my name was Alice, he said "Oh, Alice, like Alice in Wonderland!***" He then said it was very nice to meet me and to come back again soon, after shaking my hand very warmly. I felt a lot better when I left -- I'd had my first conversation in Italian, and I only had to ask him to repeat himself twice! Maybe this won't be so hard after all.

Even the things that aren't supposed to be beautiful are beautiful here.

Oh, and BY THE WAY. I managed to get my stove working tonight and made myself a nice little dinner. Yes, the pasta was a bit too al dente, and the sausage may or may not have been completely cooked, but I made it and it was mostly yummy. And I have cookies for later.

Not super sure why this photo is sideways. Deal with it.

*The worst part about breaking down and crying is that it will 100 times easier to start crying again at the slightest provocation, even when you thought you were finished.

**MUCH LIKE THIS TINY BABY DEER

***What, is that the title of this blog? WHY YES IT IS.