• Sick in Italy


    No one wants to see a pic of sick ole' me... so instead here is a view of Siena from the Basilica di Santa Maria dei Servei.  On the right is the Torre di Mangia in the Piazza del Campo


    So I’m finally getting back on track with the blogging after my illness.  I know, I know, no excuses, no excuses, so aside from my feeble excuse of INFLUENZA FOR 5 DAYS…..

    After returning from the alps (which I will recap in the next post), I found myself sick with the flu.  Well, I can say I never get the flu shot, I can’t remember the last time I had the flu, so of course I was overdue and it decides to attack me in Italy.  Maybe just from snowboarding?  Maybe from being at the kindergarten I teach at?  Who knows.  All I know is that on that Wednesday, the gelateria KopaKabana opened and they were giving away FREE GELATO ALL DAY LONG!!!  By the way, this is 1: the best gelato in Siena.  2: the cheapest gelato in Siena.  3:  they give you the most in your cup in Siena.  #winning.

    Yes, I am guilty of going to KopaKabana twice in the same day when they were giving it away for free.  HOW CAN YOU NOT?! IT’S FREE GELATO!

    After the second one, of course I would attribute my stomach pains to too much gelato…

    Next morning, I had the fever.

    Now, I will spare everyone the horrific details of the flu because we all know all the symptoms…. Unfortunately I suffered all of them.  Instead, I will shorten to the facts of my illness and what happens when you are sick in Italy.


    1.           Your Italian mom is more worried about your lack of eating than your throwing up.
    2.        Your Italian mom is the best person in the world to take care of you when sick – she does everything you could possibly need.
    3.         BUT, your Italian mom thinks that the reason you got sick was because you went outside with wet hair.  No, of COURSE you didn’t get sick from the sickly germs of another on a door handle.  Of course not!  Nope, if you got outside with wet hair, you’re instantly sick.  Wet hair = fever.  Makes total sense right…
    4.         The doctor makes a house call.  Makes life much easier when your body is fighting the flu to then get an ear infection, retaining all the same symptoms except now your left ear feels like it will explode and you can’t help but cry and cry.  Yes, it is nice being treated and seen by the doctor in bed.
    5.         I could only manage broth, bread, and apples for a while.
    6.         Your Italian mom is absolutely THRILLED when you finally can eat meat again.
    7.         The only thing you can manage to watch on TV because it takes too much energy to understand Italian is MTV.  It is the only thing that isn’t in Italian.  Love me some Jersey Shore..
    8.         Health care in Italy is free.  When your ear isn’t any better after the first set of antibiotics, you go to the hospital.   Yes, it’s free.  Yes, that means the wait is forever long.  I wouldn’t know how long I waited because I fell asleep.
    9.         Of course you are going to get sick when all the awesome things are happening.  Of course I get sick during all the Carnevale celebrations.  No carnevale in Venice for me :(
    10.         You know you’ve made some great friends here in Italy when you can’t go to Venice with everyone for Carnevale and they bring you back a legit hand painted Venetian mask.  Thanks so much Liz, Brenna, Kristina, and Veronica =)
    11.         Plug your ears and talk.  Sounds like you’re talking inside your head right?  That’s what it was like with my ear.  When in Italy, it makes it REALLY hard to understand everything because you can’t really hear well to begin with.  It’s quite difficult to learn new words and pronounce things correctly too.

    BUT THERE IS A HAPPY ENDING! – I’m all better now =)  And I can hear.  Finally back on track.