holy sore throat

I woke up in that pristinely clean, white room last summer and heard the sound of water lapping on the sides of the canal down below.  Soon lovely, touristy thoughts of Venice turned to fears, as I found that my sore throat had worsened dramatically, to the point where I couldn’t swallow without massive pain and I was so congested that breathing through my nose was impossible.  I took out my guidebook and started to plan my route to the nearest hospital, though dreading the many bridges it would take me over, as I was tremendously low on energy.  Fears of caveats in travel medical insurance for ‘pre-existing conditions’ and the real possibility of not being well enough to spend the next month in a remote mountain town gripped me.

Then the phone rang:

“Pronto?”  (Hello?)

It was Sister Letizia, the head nun at the convent where I was staying.  She said, “Signorina, it’s eight-o-clock.  Are you coming down to eat breakfast?” (all in italian, of course).  

“No, I can’t eat.  I can’t breathe well or swallow.  There’s something wrong with my throat.  I think I need to go to the hospital,” as I choked back fearful tears.  It’s hard to travel by yourself when you’re really sick.

She said, “You need to calm down.  I’ll be right up.”

A few minutes later, I heard a gentle rap on the door.  Sister Letizia came in and started to scold me, saying I was worrying too much (when I mentioned the travel insurance and the expense of potential plane tickets home).  Meanwhile, I was in the bathroom, choking back tears and whatever else was involved in the sore throat.  She asked to see my throat. Promptly after seeing it, she said, “Oh, I think you need to go to the Emergency Room.  Do you know how to get to the hospital?”  I showed her the map and where I’d planned on going, and she said, “oh, that hospital has been closed for years.  You’ll have to go to the main one.”  

She then proceeded to tell me which ferry to take (yes, ferry… Venice), and gave me the fare, saying “we nuns get a special fare break, so take these tickets and hurry!  Oh, and please call once you’ve heard something.”

I took the ferry and tried to look out the window and enjoy the view as I went to the hospital.  An aggravatingly long wait later, and having been mocked by the over-joking ER doctors, finally there was clarity–I officially had mono. 

Yet, despite my fears, through all my hospital visits (one in Venice, two to three in Gemona), I never had to pay a cent.  They didn’t ask to see my travel insurance.  They simply saw my passport and treated me anyway.  Thanks, Uncle Sam, and Prime Minister (at the time) Prodi.  I tend to think it was more related to the kind-but firm nun who was praying for me and who made me feel loved and like someone was looking after me at a time when I felt utterly alone and scared.

I had to laugh, when, yesterday, I was in the midst of a coughing fit and a french-quebecoise nun sat across from me in the metro.  My coughing did not let up for a while, and she made eye contact with me, then dug around in her purse and went to hand me a candy.  I thanked her but said I already had a cough drop, and she suggested drinking tea.  She had a worried and kind look on her elderly face, and pulled out her rosary and started saying prayers as I got off the train.

The only time I see nuns is when I have sore throats.

thick

The air is thick with raindrops;

my stomach thick with milk and espresso;

my vision thick with greys and greens;

my nose thick with someone else’s garlicky lunch;

my thoughts thick with doubts and warring truths;

my conscience thick with ’shoulds’;

my heart thick with gratitude and questions;

my spirit thick with cravings for a deeper rest.

“You have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in thee.”  –Augustine

a turnaround

Yesterday was a tough one.  I tried to wake up after a very restless night for both myself and my husband.  It was VERY dark and grey outside, with a drizzle turning into a downpour that lasted for at least a couple of hours.  This seasonally-affected girl had a tough time.  

Sherri and I went for our Wednesday walk and witnessed a raging fire on someone’s front balcony–in the midst of the pouring rain.  The Verdun firefighters were quick on the scene and got to it after a few tense minutes of them breaking in and getting the hose going.  It was a curious phenomenon, and quite strange to smell smoke and rain in one inhale.  

I got back and was achy and exhausted from my rough night.  I had a headache and was just generally sore, not hungry, not thirsty:  lethargic.  And I stayed that way for hours upon hours.  I also was quite self-piteous.  

Well, a call from Julie in Colorado brightened my spirits a bit.  It was good to connect with her.  Pete had come and gone during my time talking with her, and I decided to go to his soccer game–the final, championship intramural soccer game of the season.  It was a good thing to get out of the house, even though it meant a half hour metro ride plus a 15 minute walk uphill.

It was all well-worth it, though.  I sat with an umbrella over my head as it had continued to rain, and watched the ridiculous footwork of Pete’s teammates (some were varsity players, so they obviously won). Pete, goalie, played well.   During the game, the final installation of the Montreal Fireworks competition went off in the background. (The competition is an international affair–every Wednesday and Saturday of mid June-August they block off a major bridge over the St. Lawrence River, so spectators can see with nothing in their ways.) Our vantage point was from the field carved into the side of Mount Royal–it was quite beautiful.  

I came home soggy, but happy I went.  And I slept better than I have in almost the entirety of my marriage. 

It’s good to fight lethargy.

the apartment–after

**This post brought to you by the help of many friends, the beauty of hand-me-downs, IKEA, and Boomerang Paint.**

Renovation:  Two or three Russians (hired by our landlord who is Russian himself) ripped out a closet in our office that was jutting into our bathroom.  Then they re-did the floors and walls of the bathroom, so we have more space.  It makes a lot more sense this way, though meant we had one closet to share, one storage closet in the dining room, and a wardrobe.  Hence the knotty-pine things in the dining room.  I hated them, but at least they blend it alright.

Paint:  Start with Yellow.  Enter Shore onto the scene… a mocha-grey combo that looks pretty bizarre when the first coat goes up, but with a second layer, looks soothing and modern.  Shore went up in the living room, office, in the main hallway, entry, and three of our four bedroom walls.  I wanted a dramatic dining room, so we bought premium (non-recycled) paint in chocolate brown.  This is not Hershey’s chocolate color, though… this is Lindt 85%, baby.  It actually turned out darker than I’d wished, but looks quite dramatic. We also created an accent wall in our bedroom with the Lindt Chocolate paint.  (I have no idea what the color is actually called–it’s Glidden anyway). In the bathroom, spare room–Pete’s studio, and kitchen, enter Moss (Boomerang recycled).  It’s a muted cool, well, mossy green.  It also looks quite sharp with the bright white trim.   We had lots and lots of help with painting.  It was amazing.

Furniture:  We came with very little into this big apartment.  We were given so much of what we have–washer, dryer, fridge, kitchen table and chairs, couch, loveseat (though I recovered both–from an ugly orange tweed to neutral stripe and from dusty black to ivory with chocolate trim), and the two knotty-pine-looking storage pieces that are side-by-side in the dining room, as well as a storage wardrobe in the office that isn’t pictured.  We got a major discount on the bed–sold to us from some friends, Pete’s desk was a give-away from his department, and the funky 50’s asian-inspired tv-cabinet-now sideboard was given to us by his supervisor, who was moving.  Everything else we either had already or we got on our IKEA runs, thanks to parental generosity and also some wedding gifts!  My favorite piece is most certainly the Expedit–the four-by-four cubical bookshelf in between our living room and office.  I had visions of some cool divider, but didn’t realize just how well this one would work.  It’s functional and beautiful and allows light to filter in from the living room into the office.  Pete ingeniously raised it up on a board and cement blocks, and stabilized it so it doesn’t topple.  

Decor:  I definitely have a modern design aesthetic.  I like clean lines–the living room has squares repeated all over the place.  Our dining room has a ‘family wall’–executed again by my awesome husband.  Our friends gave us some art and I can’t wait to hang up more photography around.  It’s just a matter of time and finding the right frames.  The two white lamps on that sideboard were found on the street–someone just dumped them on the curb.  I dumped their sea-green shades and bought some better-scaled shades from our local discount store.  I’ll be really happy when we figure out how to plug them in.  The only outlet in the dining room doesn’t work.  

Basically, we love our place and find it to be very comfortable and inviting.  We can’t wait to get some chairs for the dining room (right now the kitchen ones double), and then the place will feel ‘complete’.  

Thanks for bearing with the long post and the long wait for pictures. I apologize for the strange order of the photos.  I also apologize for a bit of clutter around.  I didn’t feel like cleaning it all up.  

http://s20.photobucket.com/albums/b248/mariavvisa/decorated%20apartment/

the apartment–before

When we moved in, our apartment needed a little (or a LOT) of TLC.  We saw the potential–structurally, it’s a lovely place. It has lots of room.  We don’t feel crowded, and we loved that we could really make it our own.

Through the process of painting the entire place (originally, it was all yellow.  But not bright, cheery yellow.  More like jaundice), I wondered if the colors I’d chosen were right.  As it stands, I’m thrilled with it.  Some people would call it too dark.  I find it simple and sophisticated, and even calming.  The key is bright accents and bright white trim.  

We are not done with 100% of the painting (being as though doors and trim drink up paint), but this gives you the idea.  

I’ll show you the before pictures, then I’ll post the post-paint-and-decor pics.

http://s20.photobucket.com/albums/b248/mariavvisa/P%20and%20B%20apartment/

There were password problems.  Now there shouldn’t be.

the purpose of tacky lawn ornaments

My friend Sherri lives on a block of the city that has some of the tackiest lawns I’ve seen in my life.  Lawns here are not grand affairs, just teeny-tiny plots only accessed by the first-floor residents (of the triplexes that make up the majority of Montreal’s housing).  Despite their minute size, they are tended well.  Hanging baskets, window-boxes, trimmed lawns and patches of beautiful bright color.  People seemed to miss the memo, however, on Sherri’s block.  

The best example (and worst yard) is the one that is not grass, but has the old white rock, faded masonry stone pavers around, juniper bushes, loads of fake flowers in their window-boxes and around the yard.  Then add stone bunnies, maybe some cherubs, a pair of flamingoes (but not bright pink–faded to almost white), a plastic bluebird and a plastic Bambi, and probably any other tacky thing you could think of for a yard (note: I have not noticed the gnome population), and that begins to describe this yard.  Think Disneyland stuffed in a 8 by 8 foot plot of land, and faded by the sun. 

Sherri and I were walking by and I said to her, “Your block has some of the most interesting yards.”

She points at a nicely-manicured yard and says, “See, this one is well-kept and funky, but that one [the aforementioned] is well…”

Me:  ”Yeah.”

Then we saw, at waist-height, three troupes of six yellow-vest-donning preschoolers, holding on to ropes manned by their caretakers.  They were on their way to the park, but they stopped at the same house, because all the kids were mesmerized by the animals in the yard.  They were so cute, pointing at les oiseaux, les fleurs, and the chevreuil.  It was fun to see someone enjoying that crazy lawn.

Sherri said, “Maybe that’s why the homeowners did it.”