Well, I'm feeling better.  Mostly.  I still sound terrible, but isn't it always that when you sound terrible you feel okay?  We have some unexpected houseguests who are in some convoluted way either realted to or friends of someone who is related to Gabry.  Anyway, our small appartment is now home to five of us.  I'm not fully understanding why this woman and her son need to stay with us, but I'm trying really hard to not be cranky about it.  

I tried to cash some traveler's cheques today, which had very poor results.  At the only bank in Ferrara that seems to cash them (I tried three others first), they told me I needed a contract from the bank at which I purchased them.  Having not recieved any such contract, I couldn't cash the checks.  What a pain.  I feel like calling the company that makes the cheques (american express, I think) and telling them that their checks are, in fact, NOT accepted vertually everywhere as they claim and that they are actually way more trouble than they're worth,

Hapily, I did get my mail-in ballot yesterday and mailed it priority mail back to the states.  In other happy news, Gabry offered to let me borrow her old bike whenever I want provided that I pay for the tire to be fixed and provide a lock and promise to lock it always.  Seems like a pretty good deal to me.