The ankle drama

The ankle drama continues. On and On. To refresh your memory – the heel of my shoe (and I’m talking very low heel) got caught in a crevice in the cobblestones as I turned a corner. Over I went. Splat. In front of some Italians. Awkward.

It didn’t seem to have been injured at first and so I dusted myself off and kept going. That night, the ankle was swelling up. It’s been seen my two doctors since then. Both have said it’s two torn ligaments and a hematoma (basically congealed blood around the ligaments). The miracle French cream seemed to work up to a point.

Because I have to work every day, that means I have a 10 minute schlepp to the Metro, plus the return schlepp. Then I have to go to meetings and keep on my feet the whole day. So no time to do the whole RICE thing that the French doctor told me to do. Rest; Ice; Compression; Elevation.

Well, I did the compression thing and what did I end up with? Friggin’ bloody itchy allergic dermatitis that’s what! My right foot, ankle and lower leg look as though I’ve been bathing in some radioactive stuff – it’s red and inflamed. This has been going on for about a week since I took the mummy-looking bandages off. I was a bit sick of looking like Tutankhamon and the thick bandages interfered with any ability to walk. They made me shuffle along like some old goat.

In the morning, the ankle is fine but, by the end of the day, it’s visibly swollen. Attitude-wise I’m putting it out of my mind and getting on with it. And I’ve also found a large tube of Arnica cream at a local market here in Testaccio. I tried that last night and it seems to have somewhat calmed the crappy dermatitis.

My Kiwi friend has now arrived in Rome and this weekend is full of walking – to the Colosseum, getting on the (packed) Metro to the Spanish Steps; Trevi Fountain; the Pantheon. Can’t wait to see her face – this is her very first time in Rome. I remember my reaction when I first came here in the early 1990s – jaw dropped to the ground when I spotted my first ancient Roman ruin. Must get a photo of the stunned mullet look on her face!

Looks like some sort of severe sunburn. But it’s horrid allergic dermatitis, thanks to the bandages.

Arnica cream from a local market in Testaccio.

 

How many keys?

How many keys does it take to get into an Umbrian casale? A LOT.

 

 

The password

Did I show you the password I was given at The Convent to use their wifi? I really appreciate how they gave me such an easy password to remember. Because they suggested I memorise it just in case I mislaid it. I kid you not.

I committed this to memory – NOT!

 

Is it a flying broomstick?

This is sooooooo hilarious. Well, I think it is. Every morning, outside the apartment building in Testaccio, is this large red truck with a yellow hand logo. There are several versions of this truck actually. A small one rockets around the park in the piazza, sweeping up leaves and branches with huge broom things for wheels.

Then we have said large truck that drives slowly around the streets, doing what I’m not sure. It has the most hilarious broom hitched to the side. It’s like something from the Medieval era. Or out of Harry Potter.

I haven’t actually seen the council workers use the broom. Perhaps it’s a mascot? I lie in wait every morning now, hoping to catch the workers in action with their witch-like broomstick. Could of used it myself actually – to fly me to work and back each day so I didn’t have to schlepp to the Metro and aggravate the Ankle Drama.

 

What’s Italian for yummo?

My new obsession! I dined at a local trattoria the other night. The main meals were pretty ordinary fare: pizza, pasta and meat dishes. I decided to sample pollo alla Romana con peperoni or Roman chook with peppers. Frankly, I think I could have cooked this better and that’s saying something because I can’t cook. There was nothing actually wrong with the dish; it was just blah. Bland. And swimming in way too much olive oil for my liking. The baked peppers were tasty though.

But the dessert! I’m going back to this joint just for the dessert. I can’t recall the name of it in Italian – I’ll find out. (UPDATE: I can now tell you it’s called Sbriciolata di Millefoglie). Basically, it’s the Italian version of Mille-feuille. Too die for. Light, crispy, sweet but not too sweet. Dusted with icing sugar. What’s Italian for ooh-la-la? Or for YUMMO?!! Obsessed, obsessed, obsessed. One of my regular readers will totally understand this.

Roman chook swimming in oil, with baked peppers.

My new obsession! Yummo! Delish!!!

 

Italian goodies

Week Four now in Rome dear reader. At first, time was ticking by slowly; now it’s speeding up. I’m looking forward to going home to New Zealand but also starting to get into the rhythm of work here and I’ve come to accept the Italians are…well, Italian. And that means yes, things can be difficult here; things are a little slower than I’m used to; a little bit more antiquated (read my Hair Drama post to find out how antiquated things can be); when it rains the roads and drains get flooded; the Metro is packed; you cross a pedestrian crossing and pray you don’t get skittled by crazy Roman drivers.

But I love Italy and the Italians. Can’t help it. Tomorrow, my Kiwi mate arrives to spend a couple of weeks with me. Bad news for me is that I have to work; good news for her is that she can shop till she drops. And speaking of shopping, I have been SO restrained. Actually, what with all my dramas, I haven’t had much time to shop so that’s why I’ve been restrained. But the local supermarket and health food store in Testaccio is stocked with some goodies. I don’t think the health food store is called this – it’s organic something or other in Italian.

Anyway. I brought over with me a New Zealand range of skincare – Antipodes – never used it before. Brave of me to take something I’ve never trialled for a two month stint in Rome don’t you think? I can’t say I’m overly impressed with the range. Don’t dislike it; don’t love it. I’ll do a review in a future post because today’s post is about the moisturiser drama that caused me to go to the supermarket and health food store. The Immortal Daily Moisturiser decided to drop to the floor and smash.

Off to the health food store I went in pursuit of a moisturiser that hopefully had an English description. No luck. The shop assistant speaks not one word of English – true, I am living in a very Italian area of Rome. But through a series of hand gestures akin to pantomime on my part, I ended up with two fantastic products from an Italian range called L’Erbolario. They have a wide range of natural, plant-based products for face, body and hair.

I muttered my favourite Italian word of the week, rosso (red) and tried to tell the sales woman that my skin has a reddish undertone thanks to my Welsh/Russian heritage. Yippee! She understood. The request for an eye cream that would halt bags and wrinkles dead in their tracks wasn’t quite understood though. She got my pronunciation of occhi (eye) but I thought that linea would mean line, as in lines around the eyes. She produced a kajal pencil, so I figured linea is more to do with route or course (as in Linea B on the Rome Metro). But we finally understood each other.

I came out with a face cream for delicate skin that boasts camomile, rusco (which is apparently Butcher’s Broom) and liquorice. And an eye cream with camellia and grape seeds. Total was Euro 29.90 or around NZ $50.00. The face cream is supposed to tone down redness (and it seems to) as well as protecting fragile skin, whilst the eye cream is light and gel-like. I use the face cream day and night – can’t be bothered really with separate day and night creams – and it’s a lovely textured cream. Lightly scented and doesn’t turn my combination skin into a grease ball. I so like this cream I’ll be packing up several tubs to take back to NZ. The eye cream seems to give good hydration but I actually prefer Antipodes Kiwi Seed Oil eye cream as I find it a bit richer.

I also came out with a natural volume-boosting mascara by Planter‘s (I think this is an Italian brand). Yeah, not so impressed with this as I don’t see any volume-boosting going on and by the afternoon I had panda eyes. But I’ve only used it once so will reserve opinion.

Then I trotted off to the local supermarket, ostensibly to buy my favourite bottled of fizzy water, which is referred to as frizzante. Three things caught my eye: Maybelline’s Age Rewind concealer; Nivea Natural oil; and a Marsiglia soap made with milk and honey.

Because the packaging is in Italian, I’m not sure if I got hold of the dark circles treatment concealer. I think it is but not entirely certain. The colour is Light/Honey but it’s too dark for my deathly pale skin. Don’t like this product at all. The sponge applicator is way too big. The Nivea oil is good and has a delicate perfume. I wonder if this is available in NZ as I would buy it again. The soap is the big surprise though: creamy and the most beautiful milk and honey scent. I’m presuming the brand is Italian. Certainly will take a few bars home with me.

The goodies.

L’Erbolario face cream for delicate skin prone to redness.

Made In Italy.

 

Is this rosso?

Now, I have a hair drama. Remember my last time in Rome and the wonderful Manolo? That Italian hairdresser knew how to cut and colour. But, quelle horror, the salon he worked in has moved to Trastavere and they’ve taken my Manolo with them. I have tried to find the salon but no luck so far. So I decided to go into the same salon where Manolo used to be and see what they could do.

Fortunately, the receptionist spoke enough English for me to explain what colour I wanted and how to cut my hair. I have very fine, straight hair and if it’s cut too short at the crown, I end up with a cockatoo crest. She confidently enthused that most Italians speak English – oh yeah? I seem to be running into all the ones that don’t. Including Salvatore, the new Italian hairdresser. I’ll give him credit though – he can cut very well.

But….I explained the colour I wanted by saying rosso (or red in Italian) and pointing to the colour on the colour chart they shoved under my nose. The colour I chose was RED. Let me repeat that: RED. So I’m not quite sure what happened. But I’ve ended up darkish brown with fawn highlights.

I have always had red hair except for a brief stint in my stupid 20s as a blonde. My natural colour, way back as a teenager, was a reddish coppery blonde. Guess you’d call it strawberry blonde.  I’ll dig out a photo to prove it. I have never been brown or dark brown. I mean, you may as well be BEIGE and DEAD BORING.

Before the colour was revealed, the most hilarious thing happened. Salvatore proceeded to the highlights. Along came this elegant older woman; I’d say she was in her 60s. Reed thin. High heels clinking on the marble tiles. Tiffany silver heart bracelet. Jet black hair. She couldn’t speak a word of English despite the receptionist espousing that most Italians speak English.

She then whipped out this cap thing. The sort I haven’t seen in Australian or New Zealand hairdressing salons since the 1920s. Well, the 1990s maybe. You remember ladies? The rubber cap they plonked on your head and practically pulled over your eyes. Then the hairdresser started what they secretly wanted to do all along – torture you – by pulling your hair strands out through the holes in the cap and making your eyes water when they reached the hairline. Back then, I think highlights were called streaks.

So the reed thin Italian lady roughly plonks the cap on and pulls it down. Then….and I’ve NEVER seen this done…turned the top rim up and stapled it to the cap. Followed by – getting a blue ribbon, stapling it to one side of the cap, pulling it under my chin, and then stapling it to the other side. Don’t believe me? Here’s the evidence.

Well, sort of. I was dead scared of reed thin woman so had to secretly take a photo. You can’t see the blue ribbon under the chin, stapled onto the cap. Talk about giving me a chin lift! And what’s with that creepy star fish mirror thing they have going on?

By the time you see me here with the dreaded cap on and looking like I’m wearing fern fronds on my head – we are at the 3 hour mark. Yes, THREE hours. Salvatore worked slowly. The hair washing chic worked slowly. Oh and I had my hair washed THREE times, slowly.

When they revealed the finished product, I nearly died. Dead boring brown. And where are the highlights? Reed thin woman declared it to be Bellissima and was clearly waffling on about how the colour suited my skin. I thought I looked like something out of the Vampire Diaries because the dull colour just drained me. No warmth.

Salvatore then took his time to blow dry and by the time I made it to the reception desk to cough up Euro 127.00, I had been in there for nearly four hours. Oh and Euro 127.00 was the 50% off price! I nearly choked but revived myself when I saw reed thin woman making a bee line for me with a huge fluffy brush.

Without asking, she grabs my face and proceeds to plaster it with powder, followed by bronzer and lip gloss. True to say, dear reader, what with washing my hair THREE times, they had practically washed off my makeup. But talk about in my face. She then launches at me and gives me the Italian hello and goodbye thing- kiss, kiss on each cheek. I backed out graciously and proceeded to have a meltdown outside.

I now feel devoid of personality. I mean my hair colour has always sort of defined me. The receptionist said that reed thin woman owns the salon and considered that I had WAY too many highlights in my hair. And that now I look more like a sophisticated Italian lady. Bollocks. It’s plain dead boring.

My mission (and I choose to accept it!) is to hunt down Manolo. Then drop at his feet and beg him to fix this boring bloody brown business.

Rosso? I DON’T THINK SO!

 

The French to the rescue

As you know, dear reader, I’ve been having all sorts of dramas here in Rome. They are not of my own making I promise. I just seem to be having a run of not-so-great luck whilst here. That or it’s a very long full moon. I’ve had accommodation dramas, ankle dramas, fingernail dramas, allergic dermatitis dramas and now….the hair drama. But let me save THE HAIR for another post.

For today is all about the French. Two doctors here in Rome examined my foot. One said it’s just a bad sprain; the other declared I’d torn two ligaments and had a hematoma. That doctor is French so it was delivered in a very matter-of-fact tone. But….he didn’t tell me about a miracle French cream for bruises and traumas.

My French colleague at work here in Rome came to the rescue. We went to her casale in Umbria again this past weekend. Just the two of us – a girl’s weekend. Very relaxing. And she brought along Hemoclar cream. Its active ingredient is Pentosan Sulphuric Polyester in a concentration of 0.500% – what the? All very mysterious sounding. Don’t like the thought of the sulphuric polyester business.

But heck who cares – because it basically cured my foot! The theory (so my colleague told me) is that this cream draws out congealed blood (and this is basically what a hematoma is) and disperses it. I was somewhat dubious but on Saturday evening she spread a thick layer over the badly bruised area on the outer side of my right foot. This soaked in overnight and, next morning, I woke up to the find the whole bruise had shifted to the upper part of my foot, just beneath the big toe. Weird to say the least.

More cream throughout the day and my foot started to be flexible again and the pain was diminishing. By night time (so about 36 hours later), the bruise had moved to just below my right ankle. Monday morning, I was ready to run a marathon. Well, not quite. The only part that is still sore is the ankle and if I slightly twist my foot to the right – ouch. Aside from this, I developed allergic dermatitis to the bandages you can see in the photos in a previous post. Honestly, I’m waiting for the earth to open up and swallow me as I walk down a Rome street in the very near future!

In the meantime, I’ve now literally ordered by step-son, who is French and due in New Zealand in June, to rush into a chemist in Bordeaux where he lives and bring with him tubes of Hemoclar. A miracle product.

You can see the dermatitis – all the red bits. Eew! And the large spot is skin healing. It was grazed when I fell over on one of Rome’s cobblestoned streets.

Hemoclar – a miracle French product!!!

Know idea what this says. Who cares! It cured my foot.

 

What I took to Rome

I think I pared down. Unlike my trip to Malaysia and Thailand or my last trip to Rome, I think I’ve taken less makeup. Then again, maybe not. I’ll let you decide. And I’ve been keeping out of Sephora. Well, I’ve gone in twice and eyed off some stuff I want to buy. But I’ve resisted so far. I haven’t even bought the Naked 2 palette yet (but I will).

So what have I taken with me in the way of makeup for my 2 months here in Rome? Once again, my beloved bird-decorated makeup bag has come with me. And I have only taken one eyeshadow palette and my favourite MAC eyeshadows. I’ve taken one bronzer and two blushes plus two mascaras. Quite restrained really!

Here’s the list:

EYES

• Dr. Hauschka Stone Colours Collection palette. I really love this collection of neutral earthy tones. Frankly, I could have just taken this palette alone because it’s so very versatile. You can do a soft day-time look or use the darker colours for a smokey eye. The dark colour on the far right can be used as a liner, wet or dry. The shadows are soft and have great pigmentation. No messy fall out and the colour stays put all day, especially if you use an eyeshadow primer. HIGHLY recommend this palette.

• MAC shadows in Orb, Naked Lunch, Era and Bronze. These are my very fav MAC shadows, particularly bronze. I can’t tell you how many pots of Bronze and Orb I’ve been through over the years. Orb is such a lovely soft pink and I like to wash a bit of Naked Lunch over it. I use Era as a crease colour or often as a base. Then I put Bronze on the outer corner of the eye and under the eye. I was going to take Bare Minerals Bare Skin (you can see the pot in the photo) but chucked it out at the last minute. I use MAC’s Painterly Paint pot as an eyeshadow primer. You can’t do any better.

• I took two mascaras with me (in case one dried out!). Innoxa Lash Define mascara in black. This is my second tube. It’s a really lovely mascara. Doesn’t clump and separates out the lashes. I also brought along Revlon’s Grow Luscious mascara in Blackest Black. This was given to me when I bought the (hideously expensive in NZ but absolutely fantastic) Revlon Lip Butters. I’ve never used it before and wouldn’t normally take with me an untested product. But….so glad I did. What a great mascara this is. I LUV the funky green metallic tube and the mascara is an absolute joy to use. It does have a huge brush but that seems to work for me and the lashes are more voluminous. Will certainly repurchase.

• Almay Crayon Contour Automatic Eyeliner in black. I actually haven’t used this that much since I’ve been here. I tend to use the Dr Hauschka dark colour as an eyeliner. But I like this eyeliner. You don’t have to use a sharpener because it has an automatic twist-up. The colour glides on smoothly and I haven’t experienced any smudging using this eye pencil. It’s a very handy item to travel with too. Only thing is, when I line the lower eye, the colour disappears after a few hours but I think that’s due to my combination skin.

• Moisture Mist Circle Litener in pale. This is a creamy under-eye concealer that lightens and brightens. The tube seems to last for ages.

• Too Faced Absolutely Invisible Candlelight powder.  I tend to use this as a highlighter on the brow bone, top of cheeks, bridge of nose, Cupid’s bow. I bought it at Sephora in Rome and LOVE it. I actually should use it on the face as it’s said to give you some sort of ethereal glow but I find it’s the perfect highlighter.

FACE

• Revlon’s ColorStay Foundation 150 Buff (Combination/Oily). My fav foundation up to now has been Revlon’s PhotoReady in 002 Vanilla but I ran out and decided to give the ColorStay range a go. Glad I did. Applied with a stippling brush (I use one by Artiste), it gives great coverage. I do find you have to work fast though as the foundation can dry quickly and I don’t like the open bottle design. It means you have to be very careful pouring out the foundation onto the back of your hand. The PhotoReady foundation has a handy pump. Having said this, it’s a very buildable foundation and doesn’t go blotchy after hours of wear. I know that bloggers complain that the PhotoReady foundation has some sort of glitter in it but I’ve never noted that. I think I still prefer the PhotoReady formula because it seems to impart radiance but would certainly buy another bottle of ColorStay.

• Innoxa Pure Mineral Loose Foundation – I ran out of Jane Iredale’s Amazing Base (in Warm Silk) so decided to give Innoxa a go. Innoxa seems to be quite popular in New Zealand and a couple of people I know use this mineral powder. I bought it in Fair and use it on days when I don’t feel like wearing much makeup. First thing I’m going to say is I don’t like the container. I don’t use the brush that comes with the product as I prefer using a kabuki brush. But the lid doesn’t allow you to do the whole tap and swirl thing. That’s annoying. The second thing is that coverage at first seems too light. But I’m used to it now and you can certainly build up coverage. It feels silky and lightweight and lasts well on my combination skin. The sifting holes are too large and you have to be careful the powder doesn’t fly everywhere. So I’m not giving this product good points for design. I’m 50/50 on whether I’d buy this again although I must admit I’m not disappointed with it.

• Concealer is Thin Lizzy concealer creme in Miss Von Dita. I think this is my fifth tube. LOVE it. It’s a beeswax formulation and coverage is great. I apply it with a small brush to any areas prone to redness. Back up concealer is my other old stand-by: MAC’s Studio Finish concealer in NC15. Light and creamy. Couldn’t live without either.

• Moisture Mist Green Veil. This has become my go-to product for neutralising redness. It comes in a sturdy stick formula that you apply before foundation. It’s creamy rather than a thin liquid such as Smashbox Photo Finish Color Correcting Primer, which I bought at Sephora and didn’t use much as I thought I would because it does zippo, nada, nothing.

• Primers – I brought along two. Too Faced Primed & Poreless Skin Smoothing Face Primer and Moisture Mist Matifying Pore Concealer. Both create a really good canvas and certainly minimize nasty pores. Of the two, I prefer Moisture Mist because it’s more gel-like than Too Faced, which is thicker.

• Powder – no argument on this one, it’s Maybelline’s Dream Matte pressed powder in Light. The thing I don’t like about this product is the design. It has a swing out mirror that can be slightly annoying because it swings out when it wants to. The powder though is very finely milled and I sometimes use it as a foundation powder. Multi-tasking!

LIPS

• Revlon Lip Butter in Peach Parfait. Gorgeous! You can read my review here. Revlon ColorBurst in 070 Soft Nude – my favourite nude lip colour. I tend to top this with the absolutely beautiful Maybelline Color Sensational lipgloss in Touch of Toffee 255 (that’s the one bottom right in photo).

• I also packed a current fav – Palladio Paris Pink – a beautiful soft, semi-matte pinky peachy colour that seems to stay put through numerous cups of coffee.

• For gloss, e.l.f. Studio Glossy Gloss in Ballet Slippers came with me, as well as Deborah Milano Euphoric Shine lip gloss (07). This last one I bought in Rome last year and I’m panicking because I can’t seem to find the range in Beauty Point (the Italian version of Sephora).

• And to keep the lips from cracking or drying, I packed my all-time favourite – Evolu Healing Lip Treatment SPF15 (a New Zealand brand).

BRONZER & BLUSHES

• Miracle I know but I only packed one bronzer. What a decision this was when you consider my favourites. In the end, I settled for e.l.f. Studio Contouring Blush & Bronzer Duo, which is said to be a dupe for Nars’ Orgasm/Laguna duo. The blush is a soft peachy coral with a touch of shimmer and the bronzer is a soft caramel. There is great colour pay-off and the compact is sturdy and sleek. Will rebuy and rebuy!

• For a touch of colour, there’s MAC’s Mineralise blush in Warm Soul. I think this is my most favoured of blushes really. I didn’t pick it out – a MAC sales lady said it would be perfect for my skintone and hair colour. I don’t think she was wrong. It’s a gorgeous rose gold shade with a rusty red veins – odd description I’m sure. There’s just a touch of shimmer in the gold. I also packed Pixi Duo Cheek Creme No.2 Natural Peach. I use either shade with the bronzer from the e.l.f. duo. Very velvety and also a great lip colour. And then there’s the coral colour from the e.l.f blush and bronzer duo.

BRUSHES

• I’m not good at knowing my brushes. I know that there’s a MAC 217 blending brush and an Artiste concealer brush. I also bought two e.l.f. Studio brushes – they are the two in the photo with the plastic protectors. Both are fabulous. The one on the far right is the complexion brush. It’s a multi-tasker as I use it for applying bronzer. Normally, I prefer a larger brush for bronzers but I wasn’t prepared to lug too many brushes. The other one is their foundation stippling brush and it does an excellent job. I’ve noted a few bristles dropping out of this brush but that seems to be settling down.

 

Fawlty Towers?

I’m wondering if I’m trapped in an episode of Fawlty Towers. Ever since landing in Rome, I’ve been feeling like hapless Manuel, who used to get smacked around by Basil Fawlty or dropped plates as the kitchen door of the hotel dining room swung into him. So far, I’ve had the fingernail drama, the accommodation drama and the ankle drama (which I told you about yesterday).

Well, the ankle drama has turned into a right royal circus. It’s over a week now since I went splat, over on my ankle in front of some Italians walking towards me. Major humiliation. The Leviogel the pharmacist prescribed – the one who learnt to speak English in under five minutes - was totally useless. Supposed to be a pain reliever but it just relieved me of Euro 7.00.

So colleagues at work told me to front up to the UN doctor downstairs in the building I work in. I obeyed and met up first of all with Kim, the Australian nurse. Woot! My name is Kim and I’m Australian. Naturally, we chatted away. She was a bit worried I’d broken some bones so she asked the doctor to examine my poor ankle and foot. The doctor is from New Zealand, where I live.

She announced that I’ve probably turn a ligament and wrapped up my ankle in a bandage. I was told to work from the apartment next day, so I did. The following morning, my French colleague picked me up and didn’t tell me that she had secret plans – to whisk me off to her French doctor. Mon dieu.

He’s a sports injury doctor and put my ankle through the wringer let me tell you. Swivelled it this way and that whilst asking does that hurt?. I could hardly answer through clenched teeth – ah, yeah French doctor it hurts. He promptly declared I had a hematoma, two torn ligaments and needed serious bandaging up like a mummy. As well as RICE – rest, ice, compression, elevation.

Over the weekend, I’d been putting ice on it, elevating it much as I could but rest? Sheesh, one is in Rome to work. And that means walking to the Metro each day. He also said I had to buy old granny type shoes to support the foot. When I asked him how long did he think it would take to heal, I was met with a typical French answer: it depends.

He spent ages massaging it and later on my foot was aching with a capital A. But by that night, it was a lot better. I suppose he was massaging the hematoma bit and encouraging the clotted blood to disperse. The amusing thing is the reaction at work as colleagues ask: have you done something to your foot? Ah, no I always walk around with a bandaged right foot!

It’s a major drama, dear reader, because I’m not exactly patient about this. I like to walk around Rome on the weekends and I like to walk around Testaccio where I’m renting and to the Metro. Mind you, I’m thanking my lucky stars. Nurse Kim told me about a Kenyan lady at work. She slipped on some wet cobblestones so badly she had to be airlifted back to Kenya for major surgery (apparently, she refused to be operated on in Italy, not sure why).

I also have another drama. The key drama. Remember my last apartment in Rome, the one with the friggin’ bloody door and the four locks? Well, this apartment has a key that can hardly get in the lock. When it does goes in, it gets stuck and I have to twist it this way and that. Every night, when I arrive back from work, I pray to the door gods that the door will open. And I spend a few minutes looking like a complete idiot trying to do something as simple as getting in a front door. What is it with Rome apartments and doors?!

The first round of bandaging.

Bandaging French doctor style. It actually seems to support my foot well.