Getting Caught Up!
Wow! I have been GROSSLY NEGLIGENT in maintaining this blog. We have been here for 3 months now and although I had managed to find the time to set-up this blog within the first two weeks, I obviously haven’t touched it since! At least Joe has been keeping everyone up to date and entertained. So, I’m going to quickly get caught up with an abbreviated version of the past 3 months, and will then be able to stay a bit more current as things progress.
FLYING INTO NAPLES
Flying into Naples on the morning of December 30th was a quick reality check. I had been told that Naples is the most densely populated city in Europe but I didn’t actually think that was true. I would no longer question that information. The city is ENORMOUS! From the airplane you get a view of buildings as far as you can see. The buildings spill out from the city center and spread out everywhere, all on top of each other, each one a different color. If you get a chance to fly into Naples, make sure you get a window seat!
Of course we really didn’t know what to expect once we landed, but lots of people have told us that Italy is “law-less” in the sense that they do have laws but nobody follows them. I thought of this as we walked into and out of the airport without any customs inspection at all. Nothing. No one questioned our visit, no one looked at our bags. We just wandered through. And it seems that most things here follow that same sort of careless attitude. It’s not necessarily bad, just different.
NEW YEARS EVE
New Years Eve was quite a site – apparently Italians LOVE fireworks. Who knew?! I certainly do now. We were very jet-lagged and pretty beat up from our travels so we didn’t stay up to ring in the New Year. I think we went to bed around 11:00ish but the deafening noise from the millions of fireworks woke us up. I was so tired I didn’t want to get out of bed, but after over 30 minutes had gone by and the noise was still going strong, I just had to get up and look out the window. The entire sky was filled with sparks and smoke. If all of the fireworks I have ever seen in my entire life were put together and shot off at one time, that still wouldn’t compare to what I was looking at outside my window. And the fireworks went on for about an hour. It was ridiculous. I’ll be prepared for next year.
JANUARY – ORIENTATION & REHAB
We spent our first month on the military base (which I call “Little America”). We did not like being there since we were very isolated from all the fantastic treasures Italy has to offer (eating at Applebee’s instead of una trattoria – yuk!). We spent the first few weeks in orientation, learning our way around and house hunting. Immediately after orientation Joe tore up his knee and then we started the medical rehab phase of this adventure. Fortunately he has not needed surgery and is doing fine.
FEBRUARY – MOVING & INSTALLING UTILITIES
This was a major pain – absolutely unbelievable. It amazes me that Italians just accept the fact that things will take weeks to get done and things will just randomly stop working with no explanation. It was a big and important lesson to learn up front. I also started Italian language immersion classes in February - that is going to have to be a separate blog.
MARCH – PICKING UP THE DOG & FINALLY GETTING SETTLED
That about sums it up. The dog is finally adjusted and happy – back to her normal spoiled self. I finished school and have been finding lots of random things to occupy my time – again those items will have to be a separate blog. And we are loving Italy and ready for visitors – so come visit!
Wow! I have been GROSSLY NEGLIGENT in maintaining this blog. We have been here for 3 months now and although I had managed to find the time to set-up this blog within the first two weeks, I obviously haven’t touched it since! At least Joe has been keeping everyone up to date and entertained. So, I’m going to quickly get caught up with an abbreviated version of the past 3 months, and will then be able to stay a bit more current as things progress.
FLYING INTO NAPLES
Flying into Naples on the morning of December 30th was a quick reality check. I had been told that Naples is the most densely populated city in Europe but I didn’t actually think that was true. I would no longer question that information. The city is ENORMOUS! From the airplane you get a view of buildings as far as you can see. The buildings spill out from the city center and spread out everywhere, all on top of each other, each one a different color. If you get a chance to fly into Naples, make sure you get a window seat!
Of course we really didn’t know what to expect once we landed, but lots of people have told us that Italy is “law-less” in the sense that they do have laws but nobody follows them. I thought of this as we walked into and out of the airport without any customs inspection at all. Nothing. No one questioned our visit, no one looked at our bags. We just wandered through. And it seems that most things here follow that same sort of careless attitude. It’s not necessarily bad, just different.
NEW YEARS EVE
New Years Eve was quite a site – apparently Italians LOVE fireworks. Who knew?! I certainly do now. We were very jet-lagged and pretty beat up from our travels so we didn’t stay up to ring in the New Year. I think we went to bed around 11:00ish but the deafening noise from the millions of fireworks woke us up. I was so tired I didn’t want to get out of bed, but after over 30 minutes had gone by and the noise was still going strong, I just had to get up and look out the window. The entire sky was filled with sparks and smoke. If all of the fireworks I have ever seen in my entire life were put together and shot off at one time, that still wouldn’t compare to what I was looking at outside my window. And the fireworks went on for about an hour. It was ridiculous. I’ll be prepared for next year.
JANUARY – ORIENTATION & REHAB
We spent our first month on the military base (which I call “Little America”). We did not like being there since we were very isolated from all the fantastic treasures Italy has to offer (eating at Applebee’s instead of una trattoria – yuk!). We spent the first few weeks in orientation, learning our way around and house hunting. Immediately after orientation Joe tore up his knee and then we started the medical rehab phase of this adventure. Fortunately he has not needed surgery and is doing fine.
FEBRUARY – MOVING & INSTALLING UTILITIES
This was a major pain – absolutely unbelievable. It amazes me that Italians just accept the fact that things will take weeks to get done and things will just randomly stop working with no explanation. It was a big and important lesson to learn up front. I also started Italian language immersion classes in February - that is going to have to be a separate blog.
MARCH – PICKING UP THE DOG & FINALLY GETTING SETTLED
That about sums it up. The dog is finally adjusted and happy – back to her normal spoiled self. I finished school and have been finding lots of random things to occupy my time – again those items will have to be a separate blog. And we are loving Italy and ready for visitors – so come visit!
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