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!
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