After my sudden
eviction, I went back to the place that I just left
telling my former landlord exactly what happened. He
offered me a glass of wine and laughed so hard that I
began laughing too without knowing why we are laughing.
After he let me in on the blunder that unknowingly I had
just committed with the landlady, I felt extremely bad
but at the same time I could not help but laugh at the
whole incident. From that moment on, I never extrapolated
Romanian words into Italian without checking them first
in the dictionary. I learned my lesson in a really hard
way. Eventually, with the help of the landlord, I made an
attempt to apologize to the landlady, but she did not
want to have anything to do with me. I left it at
that.
After recovering
from all this, I decided that instead of paying for rent
in Rome, I would go away and take a small "vacation" by
visiting some other parts of Italy. My eyes were focused
on Bologna, Florence, Pisa, Venice, and perhaps Milan.
Since at that time hitchhiking was relatively common, I
ventured into the unknown. I had a wonderful time, saw
all those places and felt in love with Italy and its
people.
Returning home
(back to my old landlord), I got a postcard from the
American Embassy in Rome that I needed to contact them
for arranging to take a Chest X-Ray and a Blood Test as
part of the compulsory medical records that were
required.
Taking the Blood Test was a major problem for me as I
always fainted. I was horrified by the prospect of having
blood taken out of me. From my father (a cardiologist), I
had a notarized statement stating that whenever blood
needed to be taken from me, I needed to be in a place
equipped with emergency facilities because my heart could
stop beating altogether. I went to the American Embassy
and asked if I could be granted a waiver from taking the
blood test on the grounds of the horrible adverse
reaction that I could develop. I was told that they never
had such a request before and that they would submit my
request to the State Department in Washington, DC for the
final disposition. I was told the answer may take as long
as two (2) months.
Having this
available "window", I decided to make a short trip south
of Rome to Naples (Napoli) and its surroundings. I stayed
in a Youth Hotel there and somehow in a few days I
contracted Hepatitis-B. I was extremely ill like never
before in my life. I stayed one month at the University
Hospital in Rome.
A few weeks later,
the American Embassy informed me of the answer received
from the State Department: no exceptions were allowed, no
waiver to the blood test was permitted. However, I was
told that the blood test need not be taken at the
American Embassy but could be taken at any hospital in
Rome equipped with the necessary emergency facilities. So
because I was familiar with the University Hospital, I
went there for my blood test.
On the first floor
of the hospital there was a Lab room where only blood was
taken. At that time my Italian was fluent, and I went to
explain to the woman that took the blood of my situation
with the adverse reaction that I could develop. Upon
learning of this the woman refused to have anything to do
with me:
"Are
you crazy! I have two small children at home ... I
do not need this! Go to someone else to take your
blood!"
From that room of
the hospital, I was referred to go to another room, and
then still another, and still yet to another and another
until, after some three hours, I reached the third floor
of the cardiac intensive care unit. The chief
cardiologist after learning how I ended up there, with a
broad smile, said:
"This
business of fainting is all in your head as there
is nothing wrong with you. I have my method to take
care of all this. You will feel no pain and you
will not faint. I want you just to relax as I
assure you that nothing bad is going to happen to
you."
Not long after
receiving those assurances, a beautiful young lady
entered into the room and begin having a conversation
with me. Minutes later, a nurse came to take my blood.
Everything took only seconds, my blood was taken into a
vial and the nurse left the premises. In the meantime, I
was still being engaged in the conversation with the
young lady. Eventually the young lady also left. The
doctor then raised from his chair and, with a smile,
stated:
"You see, there is nothing to it. Everything is in
your head. This is your blood (showing
me the vial with my blood in
it)."
After I left the
doctor's Office, in or prior to reaching the elevator, I
collapsed on the floor. After that I do not remember what
happened except that when I woke up I was hooked to a
machine of some sort and breathing through an oxygen mask
with an oxygen tank lying next to me. Before releasing me
from the hospital, I stayed several more hours under
observation. I was happy when finally this was all over
and I could leave the hospital. All my hurdles appeared
to be behind me.
And indeed, in
early October 1969, I got the long awaited notification
from HIAS that my immigration to the United States was
approved. Also I was informed at that time that the
Jewish Organization of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania was my
official sponsor to the US. The date of my arrival in the
United States would be October 28, 1969. I was
tremendously excited and happy by the news. A new chapter
in my life was about to begin.
