No Italy :(

I had planned to go to Italy this week and next week for my interterm class at Baker. Those plans got cancelled after a recent hospital visit. About 9:00pm Saturday night, I began feeling like I couldn't get a good breath. About 4:30am I woke up my roommate and asked her to take me to the hospital. Once I got there, they suspected a blood clot in my lungs, but they couldn't find any substantial evidence. I was admited to the hospital for more tests, and I remained certain that I'd be released Monday and on a plane to Rome Tuesday. That was not to be. Monday, I had an ultrasound done on my legs and they found blood clots behind both knees. So, now I have to give myself shots in the stomach twice a day for at least this week, and I'll take Cumadin (sp?) for 6 months to a year. I can't do transatlantic travel for 3 months (good thing I didn't get on that plane to Rome, huh?) Second semester at Baker doesn't start until the 27th so I'm at home for the time being, relaxing, blogging, applying to grad schools, and catching up on everything I didn't get done over Christmas break. I know I'll get to Italy someday, although this is the second time I've missed the opportunity (the first was when I was studying abroad - I ran out of money for Italy). I still hate that I've missed out on this trip though. There were quite a few people going on this trip that I was looking forward to spending time with and sharing the experience with and I won't be able to have that when I go in the future.

I wonder how fast a speed boat gets you to Italy?

1 year later...

It's been a year since I left for Ireland! Where has the time gone?! I just spent the last hour reading through my posts - I'm so glad I kept this blog as I don't remember half of the stuff I wrote about! Today, I was thinking about all of the things that made Galway so fantastic - the Crane Bar, the Saturday market, the Skeff, the Living Room, Eyre Square, Shop Street, the Spanish Arch. People say there's not much to do in Galway, but I beg to differ. There's not a lot to see, but there are so many places you can just sit and enjoy life. There were numerous times my friends and I went and layed in Eyre Square, enjoying the few full days of sunshine. The Saturday market was a great place to get lunch (a Big Mick crepe with various cheeses, meats, and pesto plus homemade doughnuts) and then take it to the Spanish Arch and enjoy the river and Galway Bay. Walking down Shop Street there were always street musicians performing and lots of shops you could wander into for a little while.
I desperately want to go back to Ireland. I'm applying for grad school at University College Dublin (UCD), Trinity College (also in Dublin), and National University of Ireland Galway. The program at UCD is the best one for what I want to do, but I'm going to miss Galway a lot. I guess it's only a 4 hour bus ride away!