Such is life...

I've lost my voice. My sickness has made it to my throat and lungs, so I am coughing and am rendered virtually unable to speak. My throat is sore and raw from my coughing in the night. I'm noticing as I progress, my writings become less structured with fewer sentence variations and a diction that leaves a lot to be desired. My apologies. These, however, are the least of my worries.

Note: Be prepared, as the following is more of a narrative rant and less of a joyous description....it's been a long day.

My friend and I were both assigned to different rooms, then my roommate was assigned to my room, which in theory makes us roommates. Sweet, right? Well, to quote the title of my last post, "Nothing's ever easy." The exchange office confirmed that we were indeed roommates, but when we moved all of our stuff down to our new room, there were two people living there still. One of the roommates said they were both in the process of moving out, but the other one was home sick and would move out tomorrow. This guy cleared off both beds, though, allowing us to at least have a place to put our things and sleep for the night.

Jonny--my friend and new roommate, if I haven't referred to him by name previously-- went to pick up his key from the housing office and got it without any problems.
Aside: I happen to be best buds with Murphy, of Murphy's Law fame.
When I went to get my key, someone translated to me that he needed to follow me to my room to inspect it. Upon arrival, I first got the "this is a no-smoking room" lecture, part and parcel of any officials' entry into rooms, which oftentimes wreak of stale tobacco smoke. Second, he said that I couldn't move in because the previous people had not yet moved out completely. Jonny had gotten his key, so I wasn't going to rat him out, but I had no clue where I was supposed to go.

The man said he would return in twenty minutes, and when he did, he had the key to my old room and said that I had to move back for one night. Imagine: four months worth of clothes, schoolbooks, my bed linens and pillow and blankets, diabetes supplies galore, etc. Jonny had gone out with other exchange students (I stayed home because I was ill), so I was on my own to move everything. The guy told me I could leave stuff I don't need for the night, so I did so happily. I had to surrender my new room key for my old room key, so I basically had one shot to get everything I needed out. If you have met me, you know I forget things like it's my job. I converted my fitted sheet into a Santa sack full of linens, clothes for tomorrow, etc. I lugged that and my bookbag to my old room.

Lo and behold, I forget my towel and my converter, which I need to use my laptop (I had scheduled a Skype conversation with Mom and Dad to occur ten minutes from when I discovered my lack of towel).

I went to the housing office again and asked to borrow my new key so I could grab the stuff. After having my whole fiasco translated (as no one speaks English on campus), a man said he would take me to my room. When we got there, he watched as I shuffled through all of my haphazardly packed belongings to find these two crucial belongings. After signing a form saying I entered the room (registered to me now, mind you), I left.

I am told that things will get better, and indeed I believe that. At the risk of sounding like Debbie Downer, things can't get much worse from here. Of course, I'm not 100% sure I can stay in this new room because exchange students shouldn't technically be living together as per Koc regulation, but I'm not going to jump off that bridge until (unless) I get there.

On the plus side, I had a delicious meal today in the cafeteria. Not really sure what it was, but it was basically chicken and vegetables in a sort of stew with rice. And the oranges here are absolutely delectable, the best I've ever had. Juicy, sweet, and oh so delicious.