Stroke Part 1

I thought I might start talking about my whole stroke experience, so that at least I have it "documented" on my blog.

During Carnevale, at the end of February, I got the flu. I ached all over, was very tired, and had a fever for two days. I pretty much stayed in bed and by the fourth day I was felling better, and had that typical lingering cough one gets after having a cold.

One day I coughed, and I got an immediate pain on the back of my neck, on the left side. I thought that I had whiplash or had perhaps pulled a muscle in my neck with the movement of the cough. It was not a particularly strong cough, nor was the pain that bad. I figured that I would wait and see if it went away on its own.

It didn't. It did not get better or worse, although certain times and positions were worse than others. After two weeks I bought myself a neck brace--one of those big soft white ones, thinking that I was putting stress on my neck and this way I could let it rest. I wore it around the house, but it did not help. Again the pain was really not that bad, it just wasn't going away.

After a month I went to see a physician-- a general practice guy-- and told him about my neck pain. He examined me, poking me and asking if certain areas hurt. I was lying on the table, and while examining my neck he told me to relax. I did. Then he cracked my neck.

I had an immediate stroke. I felt panicky (probably also because I was not expecting the neck cracking, and would have absolutely refused it had I known). The room started spinning, I got "pins and needles" in my left hand, I had trouble keeping my left eye open, trouble walking, and I became very very tired. The doctor thought I was just scared after hearing the neck crack, but I insisted he call an ambulance. I knew something was wrong.

Table Manners?

Today in the Style section of The Washington Post, a reader wrote in to "Ask Amy", an advice columnist. This reader complained that he was so disgusted with American table manners because after cutting their food, Americans switch their forks from the left hand to the right in order to then lift the fork to their mouth and insert the bite. He mentioned having to turn his chair in a restaurant to avoid seeing this. Is it really that disgusting?

I'm glad Amy shot him down.

Are European table manners better? I've never really thought about it.

I'll try and post the link when the article comes online.

Crime?

Recently I have been reading some Italian expat blogs that have complained of theft and crime in their respectives cities and towns. Getting my car stolen in America would be hard enough, but having to go through it in Italy would be ten times the nightmare-- the bureaucracy and foreignness of the whole ordeal--dealing with Italian police would be a pain in the arse.

Anyways, back to the point: One of the many reasons I love Venice is that one can galavant around at 4 in the morning without any fear of getting kidnapped or mugged (and of course, no car theft!) Actually it is the absence of cars that makes the city so safe. Kids walk to school on their own and come home from their friends house by themselves after dinner. Women aren't worried about walking home alone. I cannot say enough about how important this is.

Okay, I just had the feeling that I have already blogged about this.....

Missing Italy

We all know that there are positives and negatives to every country, but after 6 years in Italy, this is my first summer in the States, and summer is definitely one of the positives of living in Italy. Italians just change in the summer time, and that feeling washes over the country. A beach is never too far away, and the days seem to last forever. Nights become... special.

Luckily I will be going back for about 5 weeks, a bit in Puglia, a bit in Venice, and a bit in Positano, so I will not miss out completely on l'estate, but one of the major drawbacks to moving back to the USA would be knowing that I would have such limited time in Italy. How could I do it? 2 weeks a year would not suffice. I was so lucky with my job in Venice--I was able to take so much vacation time to come back to the states, but working here would not give me that opportunity. I'm considering teaching so that I know I could have summers off, but that doesn't seem like a good enough reason to make such a career change!

You won't believe me....

...but I had a stroke. On March 28. In Venice. It's true! I had no previous health conditions, but I had something called a Vertebral Artery Dissection, which is the leading cause of strokes in young people. Basically, it is a tear in the lining of a vertebral artery (you have two of them running up the back of your neck). It causes a clot to form, and that clot can go to your brain a cause a stroke. I spent a month in the hospital, and for a good part of that time I could not speak, eat, sit up, walk, or even turn over. It was a traumatic and scary experience. My mother came over and spent a month in Venice, and with the help of physical and speech therapy I started to get better. On May 4 I came back to America, both because I wanted to go home and also because I had a lot of pressure from my family. I have since been continuing with rehab, and would say that I am at 95%.

This is the very short version, to update my blog. I thought many times of how I had unwillingly abandoned my blog a second time, and imagined all of the entires that I wanted to write and how I could possibly explain everything that has happened. I hope to be able to cover everything, and I am excited to get back to my blog.

I have had many life changes in the last three months, including having to face the decision of which continent I will be living on in the near future. I am in Washington DC right now, but still have my apartment in Venice. I'm a little freaked out by everything that has been going on, but I'm going to try and hash our some of my impending decisions on the blog!

I missed you, blog!

Venice Travel Tip

I suppose, having lived here for 5 years, I should offer some advice for visiting this very popular destination.

Tip of the Day: Gondolas

photo courtesy of abster.wordpress.com

The most popular Venetian attraction is the Gondola ride. Gondolas used to be used as transportation for the affluent Venetians, but now are strictly reserved for tourists. Many say it is a rip-off, but I disagree. True, they are extremely expensive, but an evening ride through the back canals of Venice in a silent gondola is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Venice from the water is not the same as Venice from the streets. The gondola can offer a different perspective, and give you a taste of how that city might have been in its glory days. Gondoliers are infamous in Venice, they make a lot of money and pay very little taxes. Many say that they are ruining their trade by being disrespectful of its heritage and rude to their clients. Do not fret though, there are still a couple wonderful gondoliers, who love what they do and are happy to offer you your true Venetian experience!

When choosing your gondola ride, be aware of prices and times. This is the best way to avoid getting ripped off. The official price is 80 euro for 40 minutes for up to 6 people before 7pm. Every additional 20 minutes is 40 euro. After 7pm it costs 100 euro for 40 minutes and 50 euro for every additional 20 minutes. BY LAW they cannot ask more. Establish time and price before setting foot in the gondola! Tips are not necessary unless your gondolier was exceptionally gracious and entertaining.

Now for the most important part: DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT take a gondola ride in St. Marks. Any stop where there are 15 gondoliers waiting around trying to sell you a ride is a big NO-NO. The touristy areas do not offer characteristic gondola rides, and more likely than not you will end up in a gondola parade-- lined up with a billion other tourists and a gondolier yapping on his cell phone and smoking a cigarette while yelling across the canal to his gondolier friends. This behaviour should not be tolerated and if your gondolier does any of the above, complain and report him.

To maximize your experience get as far away from the touristy areas as possible. You also want to avoid the choppy Grand Canal and Giudecca Canal. You want your ride to be through the quiet, back canals of Venice. I recommend S. Croce, Dorsoduro, and Castello. You will see a gondolier or two hanging around a small bridge somewhere--that is who you want to approach.

Most gondoliers do not sing, however there are a few who do, and they are to be treasured (and tipped!). Recently I have seen one in Castello who sings beautifully to his clients. Next time I see him I'll try to get his number in case anyone wants to book him!

Au Natural

The other day I came across this article on the Corriere della Sera website.

For those of you who do not know, Corriere della Sera is a major Italian newspaper. The article talks about the "disappearance of natural breasts" due to the large increase of breast augmentations in the USA. It claims that natural breasts could soon be a thing of the past now that this operation is the most common plastic surgery in the country, surpassing liposuction.

Although I am not staunchly against plastic surgery I find the number of women who get boob jobs to be very scary. Most seem unaware that implants are not meant to be permanent. The average implants have to be replaced every ten years, meaning that a 20-year-old could have to undergo 5 interventions in her lifetime. That is, of course, if they do in fact last the full ten years. I also recently read an article about banning breast augmentation for underage girls--as if that should even be an issue?!

Unlike many other cosmetic interventions, breast augmentations place a foreign object in your body, making them riskier then say, a nose job, because even if the procedure goes smoothly, there is always a risk that the implant is faulty or simply rejected by your body. Regardless, I can also respect that this procedure does allow many women to feel better about themselves, especially cancer survivors who now have a chance at reconstruction, permitting them to feel more like themselves. I worry though, about what it means when so many women are getting GG cups put onto their size 2 frames, and how natural breasts have become almost unrecognizable in pop culture. Why do we feel so compelled to prefer something so unnatural? Yikes indeed!