June 22nd: Trapped

Whoa, that was the scariest thing that's happened to me in a long time.

I came downstairs about ten minutes ago to use the wireless, and on the way I stopped in the bathroom. As I went into the stall, the door slammed shut behind me, and must have gotten jammed, because it wouldn't open. (The handle is weird too -- it's like fat and short with a button on the top to press when you're ready to leave.)

This wouldn't normally have been a dire situation, except that in these bathrooms, there's solid stone walls dividing them -- not like the swinging hinge doors we have with the space underneath to slide through if it locks. It's solid stone all around, and the walls are about ten feet high. Seriously, there is NO way out of this thing.

So after I fiddled with the handle for a minute longer, I used the emergency cord on the wall above the toilet, there because I had chosen the handicapped stall. I rang the alarm several times, but no one came up. I doubt they could hear it at the desk downstairs, since it only sounded througout the hall and this convent is freaking huge. So I started yelling "Help!" and "Is anyone there?" in both languages, hoping someone would pass by.

And of course, this is the day that everyone except me took a field trip to Siena.

The drawn-out scenario replayed in my head: I'm stuck for the rest of the day, no one comes by, my roommates wonder where I am but figure I'm just at the bar and decide to go to sleep without me, no one misses me until tomorrow night, by which time I'm lying on the floor crazed and half-starved.

Ok, so I was only in the stall for 10 minutes. Eventually I figured out that the doorknob (or whatever the heck it is) was just jammed, and when I banged on it extra hard it clicked open.

But it was still really scary. That's the last time I ever use that stall. Ever.

More in a minute,
-Al