Damsel in distress I guess

So once again I have been remiss in my blogging duty. I keep thinking I’ll have time to blog at the same pace I live but that’s foolish – a million new confusing wonderful and irritating things happen here everyday and I just don’t have time to write about it!
I just want to give you a condensed version of these last couple of days here in Rome:

Friday: we had a huge thunder storm! It was like the wrath of gods. It marked the end of the warm weather they’ve had down here, and the horizontal rain made me think of my home town Gothenburg. My Swedish co-worker S and I went out for drinks with other WFP people in the evening when the storm had died down a little. And when I say died down a little I mean that it was still pouring down..We had drinks ("aperetivos" I think they’re called here, but I’m not sure if that means drinks or the whole after work drinking concept) with some really nice people (all complaining about their soggy shoes) right by the Colosseo which looks fantastic when it's lit at night.

Saturday: seeing the sights in Rome. In the evening S and I had planned to do absolutely nothing and enjoy it too, but then our closest supervisor and neighbour called and invited us over for drinks which was nice of him (his girlfriend celebrated her birthday so there were a lot of people there.

Sunday: hangover day. I finally get to wash some clothes and when I hang them out to dry on the terrace the rain starts up again. In the evening I went to finalise the whole flat renting deal and that’s another long and tedious story.

Monday: I enjoy a very nice lunch with a bunch of co-workers (all of whom are a bit crazy it turns out. We discuss the situation in Georgia, the American presidential election and Matt Damon. I realize I’m really part of the WFP team when I start to receive emails full of goofy links, pictures and “quote-of-the-day“ stuff. Also my supervisor gives me a hell of a lot to do which makes me feel all the more welcome here on my new job. The evening treats us to yet another fantastic thunderstorm and rain rain rain which was convenient since I once again had to schlep my suitcase across town. That’s right folks, I finally moved to my new place! I took a taxi a part of the way as I just couldn’t, couldn’t be bothered to navigate the narrow uneven streets with my lead case.
I discovered that the flat was.. in a state. In a shit state. It was a pigsty. It looked like the former occupants had just upped and left in the middle of the night! Speechless I walked around and just gaped at the things they’d left behind. Here are just some examples: an onion on the kitchen table. The kitchen rubbish. Food on plates in the fridge. A fridge, packed with semi-filled bottles with syrup and ketchup. Socks, shoes, dirty towels and flip-flops lying on the floor. Bottles, jars, perfumes, old soaps, towels and medicine in the bathroom. It was funny in its own surreal way at first but then it just started to freak me out. I couldn’t touch ANY surface and the sheets on the bed were yellow and worn and I just didn’t want to have skin contact with them.. To top it off I realized that I couldn’t use my computer since the sockets in the place were from Pluto AND that the shower had no hot water. But I persevered and just said ‘fuck it, I’m off to bed’. The lack of a blanket and the traffic noise coming from outside made sleeping difficult. Also I missed my mum (she could help me clean the place, and give me a hug.

Yesterday, Tuesday: I bought fruit from a market place on my way to work (dead cheap delicious pears!) and felt well adjusted to my new life here when I had time to get bored waiting for the train to the office (boredom is quite rare in the life of a newbie). I left work pretty early (17.20) and bought a tremendous amount of stuff for the flat: cleaning equipment, things for the bathroom, food... It felt great to spend my dwindling resources on things like Ajax and mops. With no time to lose I launched Operation Clean Up when I got home. I cleaned and scrubbed and I scrubbed and I cleaned. I even loaded the washing machine with the dirty towels left behind. I felt pretty god about myself, and it was nice to do something productive and back breaking.
And then the lights went out. Everything stopped and there I stood, surrounded by furniture turned up side down on a wet kitchen floor. A very puzzled damsel in distress in pitch black darkness. After exploring a bit I realized that it was just my flat that had been affected – I could still hear my neighbour’s TV blaring. I tried knocking on neighbour doors to ask for help but no one (no one!) answered. I tried calling the janitor guy who my land lord had assured me would “answer at any time” and he of course didn’t answer. In the end I ventured outside and procured a lighter so I at least could light a candle, thinking to myself that “the darkness at least conceals the dirty state of the place”.

This morning the power was still missing but I stubbornly refused to be upset about it. And then I got to work and my computer semi-died on me and I almost started to cry. Too many stupid setbacks. But then a co-worker of mine who lives close by said he would help me find the fuse or the switch or thingamajig today. And the computer kinda works so I didn’t cry in the end. But it was, excuse my French, fucking close.

That’s my life up to this point.

Ciao