Argh.

Please excuse this post, as I will be using it as a means to vent.

Last night was my fifth night sleeping here, and I must say, the nights seem to be getting worse and worse. My room is comfortably sized, has decent lighting, nice furniture, TV, my laptop, and a bathroom right next to it. So, what are the problems, you might be asking? First of all, what some of you may not know is that many homes in the Miami area do not have carpeting (one of my huge thrills about moving back to Orlando was the return of carpet at home). This means the entire home is covered in large white tiles. And when your host family has a guest, and small children in the home at 7 a.m., their words echo into every nook and cranny of the house.

Every morning I have woken up with a tension headache, possibly due to the very old pillows on this bed. I bought a brand new one to take with me but it isn't doing the job, either. Purchasing a new comforter may be in order too. The one they've given me is kind of a crinkly, faux satiny-thing and all of the stuffing is clumped up on the insides. That means the corners are filled with huge chunks and it pulls itself off the bed in the middle of the night.

I apologize for all the complaining, but it's so difficult for me to be in someone else's home and then feel awkward that the accommodations are not, well, very comfortable. My friend in Orlando reminded me that I don't have to feel as if I'm walking on eggshells, because they are technically not doing me any favors - I'm paying them monthly rent, so I DO have a right to be here. I just feel like it would hurt their feelings if they saw me coming in with shopping bags of all new stuff to replace what they've laid out for me. Am I wrong in complaining and feeling so uncomfortable? Or is it ok to make myself at home without worrying about what they think?