[ITALY] The Pangs of Hunger

From: Christine Stromberg
Sent: Wednesday, May 24, 2006 8:32 am
To: Tara Stromberg
Subject: Mom

Tara,

Hope you are feeling better and adjusting better. I kinda worried we have not heard from you yet, I am sure I am overreacting.

Drop me line so I know everything is fine.

PS Grandma is at her home now, and is doing wonderfully.

Love you lots,
Mom

***

From: Tara Stromberg
Sent: ?
To: Christine Stromberg
Subject: Re: Mom

i sent you an email silly, didnt you get it? >sigh<

anywho, dear mither et al,

i had been waiting for you to email me. let me know if you got it. i can forward it again. i am so glad grandma is back at home. i will send her one of the postcards i bought today.

so i got off my crutches yesterday, and I'm feeling pretty good. my foot hurt for a little while as i tried to get used to walking again, but now its fine and just changing into an array of beauteous rainbow colors. now i dont have to bathe sitting down anymore, i relinquished my top bunk, and i can get my own food.

for class today we went to the Uffizi gallery to see some paintings. they had the Michaelangelo Madonna, and a really cool Leonardo da Vinci exhibit (i thought of you, mom ^^) but we didn't have time to stay there. i can go back for free with my card, so i intend to do so. tomorrow we go to bologna for more artness.

I'm having a lot of fun with everyone here. we all go out together and eat and such, and look after eachother. it's gorgeous here. our backyard is a meadow and so far it's been warm (with some cool nights).

so that's all the good news. now the not-so-good news. i am running out of money. when i got my traveler's checks exchanged to euro, the rate left me with -$60. And now my wallet is left with 140 euro, plus 40 in cash. i've only went grocery shopping (today) so i can have food for the weekend, and only spent 10 euro. got salami, provolone, yogurt, jam. so that's not good, cause i've only been here for a week.

i also think this diet is killing my digestion. i'm not geting enough grains and stuff. i might even be losing weight, cause my pants are always falling down. we only get dinner four times a week. breakfast seven. lunch none. so we have to fend for ourselves on those select days. most of the time i skip lunch or eat an orange and bread that i take from the cafeteria in the morning. and for dinner i had to buy Chinese (*shame*) twice, because it's cheaper than actual Italian food. i did get pizza for 5 euro. but most of the places close at 8, and after that they charge you 30 euro for an okay sit-down meal. and there is no oven here, or stove. just a microwave. and they don't sell stuff you can microwave here because Italians actually have good taste.

I'm also covered in mosquito bites. they are everywhere, even in our room. i was sitting in the sun at 2 pm and they bit me. i killed two last night as big as bees. i made sure they suffered.

and transportation is hard too. I'm walking everywhere. bus cost 1.50, but that adds up fast. i like walking, but its a long way to the city. and the way back is uphill, on cobblestone. and everything here closes at 7 or 8. including the buses. cabs are two times more expensive here than in new york. go figure. i guess we are lucky.

so I'm hoping that i can last on these groceries and the crappy food they give us. it's not that bad actually. maybe its just cause i'm always hungry. but the breakfast is the same every day. mushy fruit (not even fresh!), three yucky cereals, bread (mostly stale), lukewarm tea, yogurt and pre-packaged croissants. oh and hard boiled eggs. god forbid they actually cook them. the dinner is usually good though. we just have to wait until 7 for it.

we want to plan a trip every weekend; hopefully get to pisa, rome, venice, pompeii, mayyyyybe capri. if i don't get to go to a beach here i will twist someone's head off. i just hope this won't include getting a hotel or a pricey ticket. cause then i'd have a problem.

so anywho, enough whining. i should be glad to just be here, and i really am. I'm having a great time, and praying thanks to whomever that i didn't break my foot. cause i would have came right back to the states and started over again another time ^.^;;

I'm sure i have lots more to say, but i just bought some postcards, so ill send one along instead. hope everything is well with you guys, and that the weather has since gotten better. I've taken some pictures (and by some i mean a lot) so I'll send you the link to my snapfish as soon as i can. I'm warning you there aren't many of me. at all. but its hard to take pictures of yourself.

Take care and tell everyone i miss them and will be trying to buy them something from Italy. i wish it could be food, but i haven't found any cookies yet, which saddens me a lot.

ciao for now, and molti baci,

Tara