Water for Electronics

1:43. August 31, 2011. My Apartment in Firenze
I know it’s a little early to be writing another blog post but I’m jet lagged and it’s one thirty in the morning so what else is there to do. Plus, there have been some fun new twists in this lovely story: As I gathered my things to exit the plane in Rome I hastily (and now I would say a bit too hastily) tossed my water bottle into my backpack without realizing that the cap was not properly secured. Of course seeing as Lacey seems to have taken all the bullets so far on this journey I guess it was just my turn to get struck by a little mayhem. Needless to say my computer took the brunt of the tsunami that occurred inside my backpack. Luckily I managed to realize this in time to do a little in-field triage and quickly sacrificed my sweatshirt and my pillowcase to mop up what water I could off of my computer. Mind you I still had a connecting flight to catch to Florence. I nervously clutched my computer wrapped up in my pillow case and when I finally arrived in Florence, retrieved my checked luggage, went through customs and met with my lovely program coordinator I explained the computer catastrophe to her with the most genuine concern in my eyes. She listened intently and then grinned and in her impossibly nonchalant Italian accent said, “Ah yes, this happens to me five years ago with my computer as well. Let it dry.” Let it dry! That’s it? I’m holding on to this hunk of metal like it’s a dying child and all she can say is let it dry. She ushered me into a cab that took me to my super-quaint little apartment and here I am. Left to wander. As much as there was a very beautiful poetic simplicity in her “let it dry” statement I immediately went to the local supermercado and purchased 3 large bags of rice. Thankfully the computer is functional; there is only a little bit of water damage on the right side of the screen. However, just as I thought I was out of the woods, my camera decides to die on me. I had a bit of a conniption and may have taken it out on the broken camera. So 99 Euros later, I have a new camera. You simply cannot be in this city without a camera; it was worth every Euro cent to replace the broken one. At this point you are probably asking what the point of all this is. I don’t know. There’s a new lesson around every corner, I could be a Positive Polly and say that this was a lesson in resourcefulness or an adaptation tutorial. I guess it was both of those things… but it also sucks. It sucks when things go wrong. Yet, who the hell am I to be complaining? I don’t believe in being positive just for the sake of being positive but I do believe in having a little perspective in life. When my coordinator said, “let it dry,” it was really a reminder to take into account the entirety of my situation. If my most pressing problem in life is that I’m stuck in one of the most beautiful cities in the world with no computer to distract me and a brand new camera, I really shouldn’t complain.