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As a solo traveler, it is not wise to look for problems, but you are not wise when you are asleep, are you? As part of a mini tour of Italy during my exchange, I visited the land of the “original Ital-ian accent” (quoting 90% of Florence natives when you first speak with them). I am a student, so instead of a five star room I got a five bed room in a little hostel. When I travel, I don’t allow myself any mode of transportation aside from my own two legs. As a result, I walk around 20 miles per day. I might end up with my foot crying, but morally and economically this allows me to eat all the pizza and gelato I want. I went to the duomo which is the heart and brain of the city. As a heart, it is a lovely sight to see, there’s artwork in literally every spot you look. As a brain, standing there side by side with the white and green lines, you can see that it is the battery of a colorful, genuine, and vigorous city. I strolled around the city, perceived the creative street art, and witnessed the astonish-ing sunset at The Ponte Vecchio, where every change in the light around it made it seem like it was a different bridge. You can keep your foot on the same rock for an hour while visiting multiple places in your mind; reflecting on the fortune of not just being there, but also being alive. In that magical state, I came back to my little room to share the night with three more solo visitors. We shared our stories, talking about our experience in Italy and how beautiful Florence was. After maybe two hours of needed sleep, the fifth solo traveler made his return. We all listened to him trying to change his clothes, put everything into his bag, and struggle to get into bed. I saw the time (3:00 AM) and thought, it’s ok, he just came back from a good night, I must sleep if I want to survive another 20 miles. Two hours later an annoying sound appeared: the terrifying alarm. Everyone, except the alarm owner, was awake. “He will wake up, it’s impossible that he doesn’t.” “He is ignoring it.” “Please, someone stop it!” After five minutes I decided to wake him up by moving him. Nothing. I looked around and every single head encouraged me to keep doing it. I put my finger on the screen and stopped the stormy sound. I tried to move him again, to no avail. For sure he forgot to turn it off. I better get back to sleep. The next morning, after a nice courtesy coffee, I came back to the room to put my ten-nis shoes on and leave the hostel. The alarm guy was just waking up. He saw his cellphone, started saying multiple “no’s”, and paced around the room for a while. Then, as humans are wont to do, he looked for the guilty party of his disgrace. “Who turned my alarm off?” he said in broken English. After a big silence, knowing that everyone had agreed on it, I claimed responsibility. “You owe me 15 euros,” he alleged, “you made me miss my bus!” I calmly explained what happened, thinking he would understand. The result? My luggage fly-ing through the air, his eyes searching for my wallet, everyone else evacuating the room, and his fist aimed at my head. He was out of control. After a few minutes where I imagined myself bleeding around Florence while he was threatening me, the owner came to the rescue. He knew I was planning to go for a walk and he told me in Italian what I understood to be: “Don’t worry, I got you.” I never discovered what happened, but at night, when I entered the room afraid of be-ing punched, I found a nice letter which I keep now as a reminder that most of humanity’s problems are just failures of communication. It said, “I´m sorry for reacting like that, next time, wake me up :),” and, dear reader, I am excited for the next opportunity.