In this letter, written on September 19th, 1991, Jack Vigliatura shares a lively glimpse of college life at the University of Florida. With warmth and humor, he recounts the challenges of studying in the Florida heat, managing a budget, cooking for himself, and finding comic relief amid the demands of school, before closing with an encouraging reminder for his friend.
September 19, 1991
Mary,
How’s everything? Everything is going well here. I have a German test tomorrow (Thurs.) so I keep slipping into Deutsch – I mean German, because all I’ve been doing is lessen, I mean reading.
There is no air conditioning here and all I do is sweat! I did laundry yesterday and I think I passed out. I was sitting there reading my economics and I said out loud to myself, “Boy, I am hot.” Then the next thing I know it’s an hour and a half later and my head is on my economics book. I picked my head up and my book was soaked! I don’t know what happened but I think with all the heat from the dryers going and it being the ground floor with the door closed, I just lost it. Pretty smart, huh? No one is in there, but all the dryers are full. I figure, “Good, I’ll get some studying done.” DUH!! It’s only 150 degrees in here, what could happen? Anyway, needless to say, I drank about 40 gallons of water from the bubbler (while smelling like Bo Jackson’s socks) and then took a COLD SHOWER.
I think I’m going to come up about $160 under my budget. I’m allowed to spend $300 a month on food, laundry, haircut, etc. and I only spent about $140 this month. Pretty good, huh? I would love to save up for an apartment. Me, Trav and Bill hope to be getting one next fall semester. It would be a lot better than this place they call “a room.” It’ll be easier in the winter, though.
My roommate’s phone that we use is a portable one and a girl on the 4th floor has the same one and sometimes our phone will ring and I’ll pick it up and I can hear her conversation but she can’t hear me. Anyway, this guy (I guess her boyfriend) keeps calling and saying, “please make love to me or I’ll die” and she says “I can’t, I have to study” and he says “Oh, school comes before me?” and she says “Yes, of course!” He starts CRYING!
This one time I started yelling to him, “Pal, get a grip – get a life” and I didn’t think he could hear me, but I must’ve come in as clear as day because he goes “Hey, who is that?’ She says, “I don’t know!” He says, “Who is with you?” (at the top of his lungs). She said, “No one – we must have just crossed lines with someone” as she tried to calm him down. So, I couldn’t resist. I said, “Aren’t you going to tell him about us?” I never heard such a loud bunch of screaming in my life. He’s screaming “I hate you! I’m coming over there and tell that (swear word) to stay there so I can kick his A_ _ inside out.” She’s screaming “Who is on the phone? Who’s on the phone?” He hung up, she hung up, and laughing hysterically, I hung up. It was a nice break from studying. I’ve since heard they don’t even speak to each other anymore. Well, they weren’t doing the right things any way, so – oh well (Ha! Ha! Ha!).
I made the best spaghetti tonite so I’m sitting pretty. It makes me so happy when I eat good. I don’t know why, but since I’ve been here, eating is like a huge thing in my life. Oh yeah, I now weigh 357 pounds and I’ve shrunk to an incredibly stocky 4’11” frame, so don’t be surprised when you see me.
I miss you, Mawee! God Bless!
Love,
Jack
P.S. When you don’t feel like studying, read Proverbs 10:5. Think of school as your job (harvest).
