Mantieni l'Italia Funky

 Keep Italy Funky!

This view from my (Shane) office building never gets old. Il Vesuvio, my sometimes grumbly cubicle neighbor, is quite the sight to behold. He is just one part of a large visible mountain range. Napoli isn't the cleanest city, but when you step back and look at the bigger picture, you see just how beautiful l'Italia is.

We are finally making progress on life here. A home has been selected and the month+ long process to get in it has begun. Home rentals here go through a whole turnover process after a tenant vacates. Think painting rooms, fixing items, updating, and in our case, opening the pool. It also has to go through an inspection by the base housing office to ensure it's up to their standards, along with rent negotiations, which also adds to the timeframe. At the moment, we don't have any more of our stuff than when we first arrived (still living out of suitcases hooraaaay...), so there's no real rush other than just wanting to get into our own space (and have a yard to more easily let the dogs out in the mornings!). I know you're excited to see it, but the big reveal will have to wait for a future post. Don't want to jinx anything!

Shane has settled on his commuter car for over here. It is a 2015 Mini Cooper, but the 4-door variety so the kids have a TINY bit more room. It is a manual transmission, so Sara will continue practicing her shifting skills, awful as they may be. Unfortunately, some snafus with funds transfers have kept us from picking it up yet, but everything is ready now and just waiting for Shane to get back from Germany.

Wait, what? Germany?? Yep, first business trip is already underway! Shane headed to Sembach, Germany on Sunday April 21 for a week-long training with all of his fellow DODEA Europe IT colleagues. It's everything his little mountain-loving heart could wish for, views of the Alps included, but maybe not the freezing temperatures. 

And now for a segment (hopefully recurring) that we will title "Napoli è Strana" (Naples is Weird)

This is in no way intended as a bad thing. We LOVE weird! Weird can be actual odd-ball stuff, something uncomfortable, something goofy, or something just plain different than we are used to in the US. Some of these might be unique to Naples, all around Italy, or might be found throughout Europe. We honestly don't know enough yet. So here goes, our first round of Weird.

- Traffic lights are BARELY a thing. We have driven through many areas of the city now, and I think we have seen a total of 2. No, I didn't leave off a number. That is, indeed, TWO. Which brings us to our second point...

A lonely traffic light outside the NATO base in Lago Patria

- Driving in Napoli is INSANE. With barely a traffic light in sight, and you can pretty much forget stop signs, driving is a very INTERESTING situation. Cars just sort of slide/cut/glide/butt in wherever they need whenever they can. As a result, it does seem like most people drive a little more slowly, or at least are constantly prepared to hit the brakes, to accommodate other drivers jumping into the flow of traffic. And people barely bat an eye at what we would consider being "cut off." I think we will simultaneously be both better and worse drivers whenever we come back to the states. We apologize in advance. 

- Clothes dryers, or asciugatrici, are not the air-heating, quick-drying machines we are used to. The model we have in our apartment does warm up a little, but mostly dries clothes by pulling the moisture from them and condensing it into a bin on the door that needs to be emptied. It takes 2-3 hours to fully dry a load of clothes, and these are much smaller loads than we're used to. It sounds like the units the base supplies for housing will be similar. Which just means we'll likely get back to some more eco-friendly roots and hang dry a lot of things! 

Maybe we'll get some fish to make laundry more interesting...

- Kitchens (cucina) typically move with people. I'm talking cabinets, appliances, everything! Luckily, there is a very big rental market around here because of both the Navy and NATO bases, so most rentals come fully stocked or just missing a fridge and stove, since the base will provide those. 

- Another fun kitchen feature is that most have cabinets above the sink that contain drying racks! It's likely to make up for less counter space, and it has been one of Shane's favorite features. Unfortunately, the house we have chosen is the only one of all of our favorites that doesn't have that. Oh well! 

- Commas and decimals are completely opposite of what we're used to. If somethings costs 10 euros and 50 cents, it would be written €10,50. Whereas if it costs ten thousand five hundred, it will be €10.500. This has been yet another very weird mental shift to work on. 

Please also acknowledge the weirdness that my activity app has become since I changed my region.

- In the grocery store, eggs aren't kept in a refrigerated section (the horror!!!) 😂

- Less weird and more wonderful; recycling is a requirement rather than a suggestion, and curbside organic waste pickup (to be taken to a commercial composting facility) is a normal part of trash sorting! Unfortunately you can see the lack of recycling mentality on the base. There are plenty of trash and recycling bins, but the "trash" bins are overflowing and you can clearly see cans, glass jars/bottles, paper and other easily recyclable items chucked in with everything else. We need to do better! 

To close, we'll leave you with our fortunes from the incredible sushi place we visited last weekend! 

Questa non è Naples, FL

When randomly searching Facebook for groups to join and having to remind my brain this is Italy, not Florida... 

Almost 3 weeks in Italy, 153+ to go! It doesn't feel like we have accomplished a lot because we lack on-demand transportation, but we really have. We have settled into a temporary routine; work for Shane, school for kids, house hunting for Sara and sprinkle in some car shopping for good measure.

The last time we checked in was the week before Easter. The kids were on spring break, so it was a great opportunity for everyone to rest up and get acclimated to the new time. I have no idea how someone flies to Europe, spends 7 days seeing sites and flies home. It took a full week to feel normal again, much less be a tourist. Pretty sure there is a lot of running on adrenaline and caffeine (not that we haven't done plenty of that as well)!

Side note: Being the nature-loving nerds that we are, we have already geeked out over some of the (probably totally common-place) critters that we've encountered. For your viewing pleasure, I present the ginormous garden snails and Italian wall lizard/ruin lizard. 

We had area orientation at the end of week #2 to get all the important info, housing applications, Sojourner's permit (necessary to live here for the next few years) and Italian drivers licenses. It culminated in a day visiting downtown Naples! Abbiamo passeggiato, abbiamo mangiato, abbiamo visto e abbiamo mangiato un po' di piu (We walked around, we ate, we saw, and we ate some more!)

We spent the day before Easter Sunday (Pasqua) enjoying egg (candy) hunting in Carney Park, which is (no big deal) inside an extinct volcanic crater! It is a 96-acre recreation area run by the US Military. It has a golf course, swimming pool, softball/baseball fields,  football/soccer field, tennis courts, batting cages, basketball & volleyball courts, horseshoe pits, and picnic and camping areas. It's close to the area we are primarily looking in for a home, so I'm sure we will be spending a lot time there!

The kids started school on April 1st and are settling in great! No surprise there, these kids love school and get along with just about everyone. Not to mention most of their classmates are used to moving around, which makes for a very welcoming, understanding environment. 

Also, no big deal, Audrey has a field trip to Mt. Vesuvius on May 8th... 😱😱 Is this real life???  

Second side note: The history here is amazing, but just part of everyday life. Stores have random viewing panels in the floors so you can observe the ancient ruins that run underneath. They explained in orientation that installing things that need to be anchored more deeply in the ground (something as random as pole lights) take A LOT of time and permitting because everything deeper than about 6 feet is deemed archeologically important and has to be carefully worked around. We are looking forward to the quick weekend trips to Rome, Pompeii, Herculaneum, and the Amalfi Coast!!

 Lastly, house hunting is EXHAUSTING. I mean, when isn't it? But being in an entirely different country with different standards and expectations along with zero concept of the area makes it even more so. We have seen a couple of houses that we LOVE, but are waiting to see a few more and decide on neighborhoods. Which, by the way, are not like the neighborhoods you're picturing or used to. Houses are mostly surrounded by walls and gates, even within a gated neighborhood, or parco. There are no sidewalks and everything is paved outside the gates. So making sure we find a property with a good yard for the doggos is important as well! On the upside, there are citrus trees EVERYWHERE. Nearly all of the properties we have viewed have lemon and/or orange trees that smell divine! Did I mention the views...

   

 

Until next time...

 

 

La Nostra Prima Settimana

 La Nostra Prima Settimana - Our First Week

Well friends, we're here! We are IN ITALY! It's still sort of hard to believe, because at the moment, it doesn't really feel like we're in another country. There are moments, of course, but we're pretty limited in what we can do right now, so we are mostly just hanging out on the base. 

Our travels to get here were amazingly smooth. Of course having everything packed up and living like nomads is never easy, but it really could not have gone any better. After many wonderful farewell gatherings with family and friends and saying arrivederci to Mobile, we stopped in Atlanta overnight to drop my car off for shipping and then headed to Virginia for our flight.

We were very lucky to have a direct flight from Norfolk to Naples. Total time in the air was a little over 8.5 hours, during which we barely slept, of course, and landed just before 7am CET (that's Central European Time). Several of Shane's new coworkers met us at the airport and helped us load up our MANY suitcases, plus the dogs/crates, and get us to our temporary home at NSA Naples Support Site. We are currently in a 2 bedroom apartment directly across from the schools on base. It's in Gricignano (gree-shin-yan-o) di Aversa, which is actually in the province of Caserta, just north of Naples. Justin (based in Germany), Saji and Mark (based in Vicenza in Northern Italy) helped us navigate our first few days and walked Shane through some job basics. They are all part of the DODEA IT group, and Saji was here in Naples before moving north, so he was a great resource for the area! They all headed back to their home areas on Friday.

We did go out to a little Italian restaurant our first night here and had the most delicious pizza EVER! Truly, nothing compares to how fresh the tomato sauce or mozzarella tasted. With transportation options limited, we picked up some goodies from the gourmet market on base on Friday and chose to be adventurous Saturday and walk into the Gricignano town area. It's a little over a mile one way and it's not the most pedestrian-friendly. We won't be doing that too often, but it was possible! We had a tasty little late breakfast, complete with sfogliatella and cappuccino, and then visited the local supermarket for a few tasty items. We can't wait to go back and get more produce and cheese when we don't have to walk it all back! I almost bought a gorgeous wedge of parmeggiano reggiano, but then remembered I don't have a cheese grater here yet! First world problems, for sure. 

The kids are on spring break next week, so Audrey and Olle will start school on April 1, but they are registered and ready! We have area orientation next Wednesday - Friday and should be ready to get our Italian drivers licenses and sojourners permits after that so we can start driving and house hunting! 

The dogs are settling into their new surroundings just fine, and Luna is thrilled to still be able to "watch over her domain" from the large balcony. 

We still have so much to do, but we're here! GRAZIE MILLE to all of our family and friends that we were able to hug, love on and celebrate with during our last few weeks stateside. Our hearts were overflowing when we left! VI AMIAMO E CI MANCATE TUTTI! 

Benvenuti

Benvenuti nel nostro blog e nella nostra avventura!

Welcome to our blog and our adventure! 

Lagniappe in Italia is our way of sharing our move to Naples, Italy and all of the adventures we hope to embark on once we are there. The name is a nod to our roots in Mobile, AL and our new home base, Italia! 

There's not much to report on at the moment. Life is a big ball of chaos as we wade through 20 years worth of things, sorting out what to take, what to put into long-term storage and what to sell. The house looks like every closet, drawer and hiding place have ejected their contents. Mad respect to military families that do this on the regular! 

Our flights are set and a moving company is being arranged for early March. They will pack up the house for us and make sure everything gets to Naples safe and sound. We have hotel accommodations for when we arrive, and we'll hit the city with a realtor to find a house that hopefully has room for guests. We're working through health checks and other hurdles with our vet to make sure the dogs (Luna and Pax) have their necessary travel paperwork and certificates. Passports are ready and visas are being processed. In short, things are full steam ahead. 

The blog will be pretty quiet until we get over there and things really get going. At that point we will try to post updates and photos weekly so everyone knows how life is going. 

Alla prossima!

Shane, Sara, Audrey and Oliver