G2 Invasion of Napoli: The Arrival

For anyone who has met my family- it's pretty easy to confirm they are amazing. Well, if you think it's just my nuclear family? Clearly you never spent a Thanksgiving with them, or spent time with them at a graduation/special event.

The Guffy Gals (G2) invaded this past weekend. With the arrival of my grandma and two aunts (my momma was the missing one) we had our schedule planned. Seriously. Have you never seen one of my plans?

(Now you have.)

With most of their time planned out, I took off from the office to pick them up at the train station. Downtown Naples. Friday afternoon. No problem.

Ha. When will I ever learn? This is Naples, land of the unknown, unexpected, and mayhem.

Slight problem- changed traffic patterns! Talk about putting a major glitch into your flawless plan. Some aggressive driving later, a frantic phone call to "mission control", and a scenic detour I finally was able to pull up along side the sidewalk to pick up my 3 guests that stood out terribly due to their pale skin and heights. Eh, it's for the best if you learn about Napoli time when you first get here rather than later. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. 

We made it to Casa di Nico without incident where he promptly ran and hid. Even when the intruders were sitting upstairs, chomping away on fresh mozzarella di buffala and fried yummy goodness pulled freshly from Joe's deep frier before we headed down to Mariella's for dinner.

The night ended relatively early, mainly on account that our bellies were full of all things deliciouso  and the morning held our next adventure- ancient ruins and the Amalfi Coast!

All Roads Lead to Rome

They say that "all roads lead to Rome," and on any given road trip throughout Italy, I'd have to agree with Roma signs pointing in various directions. I'm convince that there is more to the saying, and they left out the part about "...but some will take a lot longer." A lot longer.

Why? Well, various of reasons: the distance of the road, weather conditions, paved vs unpaved roads, traffic patterns, the speed of the driver, the mode of transportation, etc. Oh one more little one- if your co-pilot when so kindly already fighting the borrowed GPS unit for you inadvertently tells it to avoid toll roads.

Now, yes. I should have trusted my gut and proceeded on the tang as I always do, but hey, if the technology is nothing short of calling you an idiot for thinking about going any other direction? You do your best to put aside your control freak nature and listen.

Even when you realize you're headed to the port city of your least favorite ship ever that causes more headaches for you than Tylenol has pills.

Even when you keep seeing signs to the road you know you should be on.

Yes, even when you start to follow the signs you know you want through ity bitty towns.

Sigh. It's about the journey- right? This journey was beautiful through the green mountains on a rainy day, but sometimes you want to just reach the destination already! Needless to say, we finally reached our destination (a train station in Rome) to ride the rail into the city for our whirlwind tour of the Vatican, St. Peter's, the Spanish Steps, Roman Forum, and Coleseum. As I saw many of these places for a second, third, even fourth time I realized I had never really posted pictures or blogged on them. Oops. Guess it's time to do that? Domani. Dopo domani.

Go Figure

In the days leading up to my half way done with living in Naples, things got a little crazy. Not horrible crazy, more like the of course this is happening right now. Long story short- my car window got smashed in hours before I left for Munich this past weekend. I think the phone call to my extended family celebrating Thanksgiving in Napa went something like:

Hey mom! Happy Thanksgiving. Things are good, but my car was broken into. They grabbed my GPS and keys. The GPS doens't work most days so good riddance, but yeah, they have my keys. My gate clicker, the pedestrian door, my alarm sensor, and yeah, both keys to my house. Call someone? It's 4am out here. 

No dad, my home address isn't listed as home in the GPS and I'm pretty sure nothing had my address written on it...I don't even know my physical address most days. Already called my landlord in NJ to have him relay the message to his parents since I'll be on on plane when it's a decent hour to call. And yeah, my house is about 20 miles away from here. 

All I know is I now have another check in the box for my Naples check list. It's sad, but true, that pretty much we all head over here knowing that at some point we're going to get robbed. Guess it was my time. Poor Ravi has had a rough year, but in the scheme of things it wasn't bad. My car was still there. My purse wasn't snatched. I still have all my IDs (as in the various forms I have, not different names). And perhaps most important- all my locks were changed within 24 hours and my neighbors all took the time to watch (even more closely) who was coming/going from our "compound."

Another thing that I know without doubt is that my Naples family is absolutely (!!!!) amazing. From my first responders checking out the damage and driving me to the airport at o'dark-thirty, coworkers tracking down phone numbers for me while I'm in Germany, discussing repair options, offering transportation and lodging while it got resolved, changing out locks without even being asked, vacuuming all that glass out of my car (talk about giving blood), to my landlady giving me a hug as soon as she saw me. They have all kept the tears from spilling multiple times and never even hesitated to provide the help I reluctantly asked for.

Even today after meeting the famous Bulion, fabulous because he tracked down my window and replaced it in less than 24 hours, I still had issues. Go figure-right? The main driveway gate didn't want to open. After realizing that it was going to be an issued, I circled the block to try again. Lucky for me two guys were standing on the corner (same 2 guys I gave a look to on round 1 because a) I didn't recognize them and b)they were sort of blocking the space I need to get into the driveway) so when I tried again and failed, they realized I needed help. One went over to the door to "encourage" the slacker door. Several honking cars, my car partially in the "gate" and a stubborn door later, his buddy starts directing traffic through. I kid you not, I'm sure I'm known as la americana in these parts because at this point everyone has a story about me trying to get in my freaking driveway.

So (yeah, we're so not done yet) it's about this time that two neighbors that live downstairs are trying to walk out. Ha. Not happening with my car blocking the exit, and street. Then my landlady has a guest or 2 leaving her house. I kid you not, they say something about the door and then le americane...which last time I checked it's just me, but maybe I heard wrong because at this time I was just laughing at the situation, you know 5 Italians trying to help me and none of them spoke English and I'm an Italian level 4 drop out. So I follow the hand motions and back my car out and wait for the signal to get back into the garage. For those of you who know my drive way, you know that the t-intersection there is anything but fun and it needs to be approached just right. But you know, with full visibility back it's amazing how easy it can be after all these months of practice!

As I drove through the gate, the guy who had been so patient with me passed off my telecomando and I gave him my best grazie and sorriso.

Uffa. As frustrating as these things can be I love the fact that when in Italy, you always know you're going to have an audience and if you're lucky enough they just may be willing to help. Okay, maybe if you're rocking the skirt and boots your chances increase and a smile can never hurt, but what I'm saying is for as much commentary/teasing/whatever you want to call it us Americans have about the Italians, I have yet to meet an Italian that I just don't like. Well, should I ever meet the person(s) who crushed Ravi's window  I may not care for them but we all know I had a hate/hate relationship with that GPS...I probably would have just handed it over if given that option and spared the nightmare of Ravi's repairs. Oh well, guess I have to have a few challenges for all the amazing adventures?

Who wants to bet that I won't have gate troubles tomorrow when I'm leaving for work???


 

1 August Notice

To the crazy, wonderful, unpredictable Italian drivers:

Thank you for the last 11 months filled of sudden 3 lane transitions to make your exit. Thank you for your creative interpretations of what those white lines mean (you really are supposed to drive between them). I've enjoyed our time spent at standstills on account of you wanted to have a conversation with a friend on the sidewalk.

Scooter drivers, this one is also for you and your weaving at excessive speeds through traffic; halting to turn your bike 90 degrees to change lanes in stand still traffic; horn toots notifying your presence.

Buon viaggio e visto en setembre! And thank you for the open roads. Come to think of it, if you want to take September off as well I don't think many would complain.

This Isn't My Life!

This week while driving home after a run I had one of those "this really can't be where I am in life right now" moments.

Why? Glad you asked since according to one of my coworkers I spend a lot of time "introspecting" so I'm glad to be able to share some of the conversations that take place in my head.

Within one afternoon I went from driving Ravi, my fabulous little car that has taken this single girl on many adventures, seen a ton of miles, and just perfect for my carting around whatever gym bag, houseplant, or dog that needs transport....to this:

This freaking huge Volvo station wagon like thing with room for way too many car seats, the family dog, and 10 bags of groceries. Sure the technology on it is fun (once I figured it out) but it's not me. I seriously feel like it's lacking the family decals on the back window. Nothing to make you rethink multiple kids than having to drive something like this around.

Here I am day 3 and am counting down the hours until my Ravi is returned to me. Oh. Guess I owe you the rest of this story right?

In early February I was in an accident. All the people involved were okay but both Ravi and the car that hit me (a Volvo) had damages...the Volvo that hit me was in much worse shape than my car. (My body was sore but the ER doc checked me out and banned me from running for a while.) So there were 3 cars, mine was in the middle and most of the impact was between me (car #2) and car #3. Parts were ordered since they need to replace the entire back door and 3 bumper portions. I didn't realize it until the shop guys came to get their estimate, but I was hit so hard that the back left floor board buckled and the panel was popped out of place from the frame. But even asking 3 times he assured me it was okay to keep driving until the parts came in. The picture above is actually post accident, but after my coworker's husband pounded the bumper back on since while it was hanging off I really couldn't get in/out of my driveway!

So this week the parts came in and I traded in my car for that loud, obnoxious, diesel burning macchina. I don't think it's really as big as I think it is...but you all have heard the issues I have getting my own car into my driveway/parking spot so this is an unwanted challenge. Just how much of a challenge?

Since trading cars, I've been taking the round-about back neighborhood route so it's more of a straight shot into the driveway. Today I learned that the day care gets out at 4. The day care on the already narrow street and leaves only inches of clearance when cars are parked as i bambini get picked up. (Yesterday's added challenge was a large flatbed truck but I could at least pull over and wait for him to get out of my way.) After dodging kids and cars there was some traffic behind me and I really only had one shot to get the correct entry into the garage.

Have a mentioned that Italian drivers aren't the most patient of people? I needed to back up about 3 feet but 3 feet weren't there since I had a car practically on my back bumper and cars waiting in both directions on the main street.

Fortunately the driver behind me realized that no car could really move so he left his car to guide me in to the garage. I think he's my new hero. But yeah, this would be the reason that I refuse to take more than one trip out per day. Tomorrow and Sunday should be interesting when I'm making my escape during hours that people are actually awake. Ugh. Why did I let my "no plans" weekend turn into one with several?

The lesson learned on this one? Traffic accidents are just par for the course here in Naples. Hopefully I've checked this one off and I'll be good from here on on. Just in case though I need someone to teach me how to drive a manual transmission! I think I've tracked down a coworker willing to assist in that since as he put it, "If  I didn't kill either of my kids while they were learning to drive I think you'll be okay." Way better than the other offer that was amended by "you better have thick skin because I'm not patient." It's time I learn and it actually was on my 12 for 2012 list so nothing like a little motivation to get cracking on that one. This way I'll be able to rent some cute tiny car on my next adventure and not have to wait for the automatic to be "special ordered." Yeah. How ridiculous is that? It's like I'm living in Europe or something!

Ah, Italy

I was once again reminded today that as much as I love Naples, there are still things that drive me crazy. These are the things that often throw my day off and have me saying "ah, Italy."

Over the past few days I've missed seeing yellow packets of Splenda in the cafes. It's frustrating not always knowing what's being said. The lack of options in one store still triggers my need for a Target. But all these things are just part of being in a foreign country and let me tell you, all the things I love about it far outweigh these pesky little things. Yes. Even though I really REALLY miss a garbage disposal.

But that doesn't mean I don't have my moments.

Take today... when I realized the front gate to the base was closed due to construction. Since moving out of the hotel I never use the back gate anymore and come to think of it, I never even bothered to learn how coming from this direction. Nothing like realizing this 10 minutes before you're due in the office.

I took one look at the narrow road that I'm sure was the one that ran parallel to the base, but I've heard one too many horror stories about meeting cars heading the opposite direction. Granted, it was still early so most of the traffic was probably folks also trying to get to the base, but I'm still adjusting to driving a "large" car in the tiny streets here. So back into the freeway I went, heading away from the base with the goal of following signs to Ikea. Not, I wasn't playing hooky from work to shop but I thought that if I could get myself there I'd be able to navigate to the back gate.

At this point I called my boss- "forgot about the gate, trying to find my way to the back gate...booting up my GPS now, but it's normally a power struggle so hopefully I'll be there in 10." He laughed, we had the discussion of how to leave via the back gate just over 15 hours prior, but why didn't we think about the opposite?  Oh well. GPS, lead the way.

Ha. I always love hearing what direction I'm told to go and then seeing more than one roads that would satisfy the vague "exit right" instruction given. Needless to say we had a miscommunication and before I knew it I was headed back towards my house. Crap. Not only do I travel via toll road every day, but also exits/onramps are not the same as they are in the states. (Yes, I know I've mentioned this before, but I figured that it was worth repeating to fully understand my frustration.) So I head to the first exit where it leads me a good mile off into Naples. Where traffic is coming to life. Where I'm beginning to debate calling in and saying sorry- I'm taking a day off. At the first round about I did a 360 and got back on the freeway, headed back towards the office. Well, I think that's what I did.

Taking the same exit as before, this time I picked the "middle right" lane and curved around another direction which apparently the GPS was happy with. Even better? I saw signs for Ikea. Sweet. Following the signs/listening to my GPS I kept going further and further away. Which you do take some serious back roads to get there, but I was looking for the main back road since the base, not Ikea was my true destination.

I must have done 3, maybe even 4 loops between the 3 exits and roundabouts. Finally, the last combination I picked spat me out to Ikea. By this time I was seriously confused, how did I miss the main road? Sitting in Ikea's parking lot I realized that I had a few GPS coordinates in the glovebox and the back gate should be listed.

It was.

After inputting them incorrectly once, I learned that I was only a few miles away.

Within one turn I realized where I was...maybe the sunlight just shed its light one everything so I could get a better idea of the roads next to me and my landmarks? AT any rate, there it was, my road I had been trying to get on for the last 35 minutes. Relieved (and seriously late) I saw the gas station with the dog, the grassy field, and the poster plastered concrete pillars along the side of the road. Funny how this route when I first got here looked seriously sketchy and yet today I was beyond happy to see it. Come to think of it, it still looks sketchy, but it's a familiar sketchy road and I had a fully charged phone, nearly full gas tank, and it was daylight.

Walking into the office I made the decree that I'm changing careers; after my adventure I decided that Italy needs another (okay, maybe a lot) civil engineer. They laughed, teased me about the whole ordeal and then we got on with the day. But seriously?! I think it's time to add stuff to the GPS.

*Refusing to let this route get the best of me and in preparation for the next time the gate is closed I took the direct route the next day. It should only take 5 minutes more...when done properly. Good to know.

Reverse Culture Shock: Driving

I've only been in Italy for a smudge over 6 months yet since getting out off that plane at LAX last week I feel like I'm a visitor here in the Golden State. Today I finally got behind the wheel as my brother lent me his car to drive into Salinas for an appointment and shopping...


Stop number one was to get gasoline. I had a momentary memory lapse when I couldn't recall my zip code associated with my VISA card to pump the gas! This of course was after I pulled out my book of NATO gas coupons. Oops. And although he said he only need a few gallons, I filled it up since poor Ravi hasn't had a full tank since before leaving Oakland and I figured Cami would appreciate a full tank. Hey, it's been a while since I've pumped gas...go big right?


Merging onto the freeway I quickly realized that I could use the big numbers on the speedometer rather than the itty bitty ones. Best part? I actually got to see the needle go past my normal 50mph mark. One good thing about driving on the tangenziale all these months makes 65mph seem fast! And yes, I do obey the speed limit to/from work since the cameras still make me paranoid! 


Somehow I managed to remember to pick a lane, stop at red lights, and watch out for cars in front of me rather than watching my rear view mirror for those flashing lights telling me to speed up or move over. Shocking? Yep. Another shocker were the size of parking spaces- they were so large! 


Yep. Perhaps the most foreign thing  of my entire driving experience today was the fact that it took me even less than what I have estimated for my travel time. In 20 minutes I was able to get to my destination. As in for the first time in months I was not only on time, but early! I was able to get there without gridlock, without cobblestone roads, without potholes the size of craters, and without ancient ruins along the side of the road. 


On my way home I had to smile as I saw a tractor on the road ahead of me, fields on either side of me, and a beautiful blue sky above. Not quite Italy now is it? 

Another Thing I Can Cross Off...

...my "well, I never thought" list.

This morning when I was already running a smidge late, I saw something I didn't want to see as I came out of the curve along bamboo road: the red lights indicating the guard rails were down over the train tracks. Well, as I slowed down to see what was happening the car in front of me crossed.

Turns out the guard rails were down, but seriously out of whack. This is the same crossing that several months back the rails were down but no train for ages (they don't even run at this hour of the morning) but since they were down I couldn't cross so I had to go the wrong way down a one way to get back on the main road....remember?

So after making sure that no train was coming down the track I too crossed between the rails that were running somewhere in between parallel and perpendicular to the road. My guess is a car went plowing through them in the night...unless some of these CAT4 winds messed them up. No lo so. Some things just can't be fully processed that early in the morning, before several shots of espresso.

All I know is I may just head that way tomorrow morning on my way to work to see if I can't get a picture, however with my luck they've already been repaired.

Driving the Italian Way

I'll be the first to admit- I'm not the world's best driver. Not the worst, but definitely not near the top. Sometimes I can't help but praise God that I haven't been in a serious accident or have a trail of speeding tickets.

I really do.

Of course this doesn't have my foot ease off the gas pedal and if a deer crosses the road in front of me it has most likely seen its last day. (Not like I try to mow them down, but if it's another car or me vs the deer? Bye-bye Bambi.)

At any rate the last week has been rather adventurous with following other cars to places none of us have been, not paying attention which road I'm on, and even being somewhat adventurous when I saw traffic I did not want to sit in. After the latest installment of "I wonder where this road takes me and since I don't have the GPS with me..." I decided that driving in Naples is a blast. I mean where else can you*:

• Flip a u-turn from an off ramp to an on ramp
• Make a 3rd (or even 4th) lane on the shoulder while merging
• Flash your lights a ways back to make the car in the fast lane get out of way
• Use painted divisions as another lane
• Park on a sidewalk
• Split a lane with another car because you're making space for the car merging
• Hear honks that mean "hey I'm here" rather than "what the #$@! are you doing?"
• Treat Stop signs as optional (even if other cars are heading your way)
• Ride your scooter down the side walk
• Go the wrong way on a 1-way street
• Reverse down a street for a significant amount of time
• Double park (totally acceptable if your blinkers are on) and pretty much blocking traffic

*"You" is being used in the generic sense here. This list is a compilation of things I've witnessed. Honest. But when in Naples...

Don't worry- passengers also get to have a blast while driving around Naples (assuming hands, head, feet, arms are kept inside the vehicle are all times). It is the passenger that gets to try to figure out just what that darn GPS is really telling you. (Side note, any GPS that says Oropeza "or-ap-eh-sa" really should not be trusted.) From the passenger seat you are truly able to enjoy the piles of trash (kitchen cabinets, couches, beds, misc car debris) and just may catch someone taking out their trash Sunday morning. The passenger also gets to take in the views of at a much finer level than the driver as s/he aren't navigating cobble stones placed by the ancient Romans.

No seriously. It's fun. A little stressful and still requires a pep talk before leaving the safety of the base or my apartment but fun. It's what you make of it. Which reminds me...I need to write the powers that be and suggest that painting the lines on the tange  was probably a waste of money since everyone is still driving where they please. That money could have been much better used by say, trash clean up? I realize that the paint probably doesn't cost that much, but when you factor in the wages and equipment I may have a case here.

It Happened Again...

You brought home another kitty? Nope.

You got caught laughing at a man’s purple out fit? No.

Traffic was ridiculous? Um, that’s always the case.

You drank coffee too late in the day? Often the case, but totally worth it.

I took a scenic route on the way home.

After getting wine recommendations from Tony at the store I decided it was time to start my trek home from the SS. I decided it was time to take a break from Blake Sheldon and flip on my Italian radio station- you know the one that only every 3^rd song is in Italian? It must have been 8:30 because the news updates were going and I actually understood some of it. Feeling confident I started practicing my Italian by both repeating the radio and also reading road signs out loud.

Well, this continued on for some time and then I realized that the road was pretty empty, recently paved, and the speed limit was higher than normal. Eh. Whatever. Then I realized that I never made my turn. Crap. Well, given the amount of driving around I’ve been doing I saw signs for Napoli and decided to press on; worse case I end up back tracking the long route.

It turned out better than this if course (probably because I had a full tank of gas and fully charged cell phone) and I ended up hitting the road I should have been on miles prior, near Lago Patria. Phew.

Yes I’m directionally impaired here. You will be too! I’ve said it before- roads are not like back in the states. You can’t just exit and get back on. Well, you can but it requires a U-turn if you’re lucky…not like I would know anything about that though. But again, of my one triangle that I make routinely I think I’m beginning to figure out just how it all connects. I think. A map would still probably be a good idea though.    

Running on Fumes

You know how sometimes when you wake up in the morning you catch yourself mapping out your day? Well somewhere in between finding the snooze on my alarm and realizing that Signore (Still Needs A Name) doesn't have a snooze button I realized that today's list was a tad longer than normal. Granted I'm juggling the new commute, kitten ownership, and still figuring the house out but my mornings (well, late night for some of you) are just the warm up for what seems like an ultra marathon...the kind where you have to keep running them on back to back days.

Needless to say that today was no different, but the fact that I don't go into work tomorrow & Signore Giuseppe (formerly known as Ed in Monterey) arrived I somehow made it through the normal gym, work, class, and traffic. Well, more on the driving later.

I'm happy to report that I have another friend to hang out with now, although I'm not sure if he's going to be my friend next week after he helps out with the move in tomorrow and the fact that I registered him for a total of running 22K (it could have been 27) this weekend. I'm also happy to report that the "new back route" from Capo to Lago Patria wasn't nearly as stressful as I thought it would be & I found my first two destinations without a problem. Dinner was yummy and it was almost like we were back in my Bullard office wasting time taking a break. Turns out he knows my N7 coworker so my Navy circle just merged again (2nd time this week).

Feeling guilty that I'd left Signore alone for way over 12 hours and the fact that I was getting sleepy after our Italian dinner (aka not eating until after 8) I headed home.

Or so I thought.

Despite clearing the first hurdle in avoiding the scary back road that apparently I should not be driving at night since it's so dark  & narrow I missed my turn to head in the direction I needed to. I was headed towards the Navy Lodge. Go figure. Apparently after 90 days your internal compass realigns? Since this is Italy and it's NEVER as easy as getting off at the next exit and turning around, I let the GPS recalculate. I had a feeling that I was going to end up on the road I was trying to avoid and after getting there via a different route than before (I saw some town I don't think I've driven through before) I ended up on said road. I guess it's all my late night driving on HWY68, Reservation Road, and Carmel Valley Road but this road doesn't really bother me. Granted, it's barely a 2 lane road and the shoulders are overgrown with bamboo and/or mini trash heaps and it's pretty dark...and bumpy, but I find it sort of entertaining to see just how I'll get to my house. *Parent Unit- if you're already worried about me driving on this road, please skip to next paragraph* I think the part that puts me on edge is I always seem to find myself in uncharted territory with my gas gauge is below 1/4 tank and my cell phone has 1 bar left in the battery.

Once I was more or less somewhere I knew, I was good.

Again, so I thought. Finally reaching my driveway at 11pm I clicked the clicker to open the gate. And then tried again. And again. Despite multiple attempts I couldn't get the gate to open, so I had to park  in the piazza and walk around. Luckily there is a pedestrian door in the gate so I could get in and try to figure the issue out. Well I guess between my heels up the stairs, the wind slamming the door shut, my phone ringing really loud or maybe it was just a crying kitty when he saw me walk back out the door, my neighbor (the old man) came out. I was able to show him that the clicker wasn't working. He grabbed another one but then slammed mine on the tile which apparently solved the problem. After motioning it me to drive the car around he walked down the stairs to make sure it stayed open.

Um yeah, my car doesn't/can't make that turn so after having him hold up traffic so I could do a 30 pt turn into the driveway I was finally done with today's marathon. Actually I'm pretty sure that I was told to ring their door bell if I have any other issues. I just feel bad making all that noise and having  "technical difficulties" at 11pm. Shoot. I just want to be sleeping. Oh well, just another reason I really need to start working on the Italian. I think there is hope for me...class #3 today for sure was an improvement although I'm not sure that we can have a conversation about how my name is Katie, I'm from Monterey, I'm American, and I am an accountant. Bambino steps- I know but having a grasp on basic Italian by December is looking like a no-go.

*Sigh*

Time for my beauty sleep. Although I'm not getting up at 0400 (that's in 3 hours- are you kidding me?) I still need to get up by 0700 so I can try to get my 9 hour window down to 2-3 for my HHG delivery and maybe even get a sunrise walk in around MdP since I can. Also, I was told about a fresh pasta place today that I just may need to check out. Hey, despite being told that I'm "going native" tonight I know I have a long way to go but it's good to know that after a mere 100-something days progress can be identified.

It's kind of like...Mr. Toad's Wild Ride

....every day out on the roads of southern Italy.

Today I drove to work, all by myself, without a GPS. I had warned my coworker last night that if she didn't see me by 0700 to send out the Search & Rescue Team.

In all honesty getting out on the road this time of year is perfect because it's not so crowded. You see, August is the summer holiday month here in southern Italy because it's so stinkin' hot. Um no, it's not August yet but apparently this is one thing that Italians like to be early for? Also, it's not hot at all compared to the temps I experienced in Virginia but I have a feeling that's about to change with my calendar in just a few days.  (I'm okay if it doesn't though!)

So driving into work wasn't half bad- most cars on the road were headed to the same place I was with the exception of delivery trucks. I even made all my correct turns and made it to the parking lot where I only had some issues. Go figure right? I can find where I need to go but not the parking garage?

Heading home was a little different. I found myself stalling when it was time to leave the office because I wasn't quite yet psyched up to deal with the demands of driving. It's not that the driving part is tough...but it's the "head on a swivel" that requires attention which means no rocking out with the radio. Fortunately I still haven't found  my country station (ha, I just need one CD to get unpacked and I'll be happy) so it's not too hard to eliminate that distraction.

What kills me the most about driving here is that fact that it really feels like Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. Not so much the driving through brick walls and then escaping hell but more of the not committing to a single lane. Most driver's straddle two lanes (or the shoulder) and move over just enough to allow someone to pass on the left or pass whoever is driving super slow in the right lane.

I know in the past I've been accused of being a tailgater and a zooming in/out of traffic driver but I now think it was just in preparation for living here. Don't get me wrong- I was in the slow lane (traffic was moving at 40mph) most of the time just because I didn't want to miss my exits.

You know how I've talked about "just going with it" in the past? I think driving in Italy best illustrates why I gotta "just go with it": there is no use fighting the flow of traffic and lack of rules. I'm not the first to say this (and I've probably said it before) but the roads of Naples really are controlled chaos. I for one will be trying to maintain some order out there but if I ever hope to enter a round-about I'm going to have to get out there and pray I get out of the mass of cars with Ravi in the same condition he was when we entered it.

Stay tuned for more updates, but I think the best way to really know what I'm talking about is to come out here and hit the roads with me. Or you know, I'll try to get some video footage next time I have a passenger.

Driving in America

Earlier this week I was able to hit the open road and head to Dalhgren (AKA Middle of Nowhere), VA to see the Fox family. Okay, well maybe departing the Norfolk area and heading the same direction as a bazillion work commuters after braving some tourist traffic doesn't exactly equate to "open road" but seriously- even with the 4 lanes of traffic I had to laugh when the thought of "in Naples there would be 6 lanes" crossed my mind.

Since it was quite the drive (and worth every mile) I had lots of time to stare out at the road in front of me and study the license plate parked ahead. In between rocking out with 4 different country stations I quickly realized that apart from the sounds of air moving through my window, my backup singers and my awesome lead vocals the road was rather quiet. Quiet during the work commute? Crazy right? Several more miles up the road I finally realized what was missing- any guesses?

Got anything?

No? It took me a few minutes too.

Motorcycles and scooters were not flying out of nowhere violating my personal space! Come to think of it, there were no cars flying past me. No mom, I was not the one doing the flying...I was always driving the speed limit which just happened to be my favorite 70 MPH. I did however want to flash my lights at a few cars to encourage them to move over. (I'm so ready for this driving in Naples thing but I have a feeling I'll be the one being passed once out there.)

Once I figured out what was missing the rest of the drive was rather uneventful. I kept thinking I was almost there as I made it through forests and passed a ton of historical markers but that GPS disagreed with my opinion. When I passed Polecat Creek (I wonder if they say creek or crick in these parts) and then Hog Heaven I knew it would be only a few more miles before reaching my destination. After going through some Army country, I was outside the oh-so familiar looking gates waiting to be invited on...don't worry- they let me on.

At last I was united with one of my favorite NPS grads and one of my many assistants from the years I spent at NPS. As I sat on the floor arranging train tracks with the girls and chatting with the adults about the joys of TLQ, moving, and chatting about new our new jobs I realized that I really miss all the interactions with people. I was transported back to Bullard 102A where Jason and I used to chat half asleep in the quiet building while holding big ole mugs of coffee in our hands. Granted, it was warmer at 11pm than Monterey ever was and it was beer rather than coffee but you get the idea- once again I was reminded that it's the people of the 831 I miss...not so much the location.

Finally after hours of chatting it was time to head back down (I think it was south...I'm telling you when there is water in every direction my internal compass is kaput) and the full moon helped light the road. Another successful reuniting with an awesome family! I can't wait to visit again so I can see the "big guns" and turkeys. Thanks again for being flexible with schedules and making it work :-)

Let's Talk...Road Signs!

If you've been following along with my adventures you probably read that I didn't pass my driver's license test the first time around. Yeah, not my finest moment especially after I learned yesterday that it spent the last 4 weeks sitting somewhere waiting for me to rescue it. No slaying dragons required, but a score of 48 correct questions out of 50 was.

Well, the phone call notifying me my car was in kicked my motivation up from "eh, I can't even drive right now" to "I need to rescue my car before going TDY" in a matter of minutes. With the computer shut off for a while I actually got a good study session in- amazing right?

I want to share some of these hilarious signs with you. I think I've already told you about some of these because I was laughing so hard when I saw them for the first time. (Yeah, I was jetlagged- so what?!) I want to hear your guesses for all of these signs- let's number them off, starting with the car driving off into the water and then making your way left to right, down the 3 rows. (So the tank looking one in the lower right is the last one, being #14.)

Have you seen enough? For the few of you already "fluent" in Italian road signs don't go showing off- okay? I know a few of you have some different names for these songs so feel free to share!  (Yes Alida, I'm talking about you.)

I'll leave you all to this test- I've got some prep to do before I take off tomorrow. (Packing would be one thing.) Good luck! And yes, I did pass today with a 100%! Unfortunately the computer system was down to actually register my car, but I have insurance that kicks in on the 22nd & know what my license plate number is so overall today was productive!

Life Without Ravi: the daily work commute

After the recent posting about chalking many things up to “I’m in Italy  now” I realized that it doesn’t give you the best explanation of what I’m actually experiencing out here on the day to day basis. For this reason, I’ve decided to talk you through my typical commute for work and just some of the sights that I see from my window, when I’m not trying to get a few more minutes of sleep or taking an afternoon nap.

Immediately outside the gate (since we never stop at the stop sign) the bus heads over Suicide Bridge. As if the name doesn’t give you an idea of just how narrow it is, let’s just say you really don’t want to meet the bus heading the opposite direction if you are in a car larger than a Fiat. If you’re a runner or biker- you better say your prayers and look for the best place to jump the rail as you head into the curve should you meet 2 cars traveling in opposite directions. Don’t worry- the vegetation is pretty lush right now so the landing wouldn’t hurt too much.

After merging onto the hi-way (which let me tell you, reminds me of driving in Salinas from time to time and I’m not even the one doing the driving) it’s pretty straight shot and little traffic since it’s 0615. Like I mentioned before, there are agricultural fields, some stores, and lots of half built buildings. The basically look like parking garages with the outer walls complete but all windows and doors left off. They started off to be (and maybe one day will become) houses or stores. I’m still not sure on the story of these- I’ve heard two reoccurring explanations. The first being that property taxes don’t have to be paid on buildings still under construction- which I’d believe considering the number of practically finished places I’ve seen with one random room still being built. The second explanation is that construction is happening without permits and the government (read Comorra AKA the mob...well maybe I'm killing the spelling/name but the Mob is what I'm going for here) are going in and shutting it down until payments are made. Again, completely plausible as where I’m living is pretty close to the highest known population of Comorra members.

There is one particularly open area of fields that I just love watching the sun light up in the morning as birds fly through the sky. Mount Vesuvius is among the topography in the backdrop and much closer, old brick/stone buildings are over grown with green vines. It is pretty- even the small amounts of liter along the road side seem to fade away.

Of course as we head closer to Naples the signs of a crowded city increase: road signs, commuters, stores, garbage, on ramps. The IKEA sign is my marker that we’re almost exiting to the sketchy part of the drive. I’ll still never forget driving in the first day, sleep deprived and all, thinking where in the world is this lady taking me and do I have my cell phone with me. Through making this drive practically daily, I now realize that it’s not so much scary as just industrial. Yes, the garbage does seem to find its way to this stretch of the road in great quantities, but it’s often off in a side street. The road we take goes under the hi-way and the cement pillars are plastered with various ads and posters. Billboards line the street and even the middle of the round abouts.

Two things make me smile when I see them on this stretch of road- two dogs. The first one is at the gas station- seriously, his dog house in tucked away by the office door. Most mornings he is sniffing around the property while his owner sweeps away debris near the gas pumps. The second dog is often spotted on a soccer field enclosed by a chain link fence, just sitting near the center basking in the sun. He has the option to explore the rest of the patio design store, but I guess he just likes the grass.

Time to take the turn down another alley with a crazy curve—but there is a mirror to look for oncoming traffic. After this last curve around a tall concrete wall, plastered with posters and a little graffiti thrown in for good measure we come across the dry cleaning man. I’m pretty sure his sign says his name is George and apparently he is the best. I’ve been told that he just takes clothes, cleans them, and then returns them to the proper person without ever taking down names or phone numbers. I know- sketchy right? Well, my coworker is among his customers and she’s had no issues.

So that’s the typical morning commute. From time to time though, like this morning, there are still things that make me do a double take after rubbing my eyes to make sure I really am seeing what I’m seeing. This morning I saw a horse pulling a middle aged man on a cart looking thing right before we turned down the last alley. Yep. A horse on a paved street. I’m telling you…a few more months here and nothing is going to surprise me anymore. 

Oh and yeah, Ravi did arrive just yesterday but for now, he's gotta stay in the lot. Why? I need to let the Italians know that he is here, get my insurance switched over, and pass that stupid test so they can hand me my license that is already made....apparently I'm in the 10% that doesn't pass the first time. Nope. Nothing is ever easy with me. 

Semi-Filtered Thoughts on Naples

The one bad thing about me living in the future is I often have these random thoughts and really can't text them to anyone since you're all asleep! I've been keeping a list of some of the random thoughts I've had and decided it's time to share. Don't judge me. These are things that pop into my brain during the commute to/from work, while on housing tours, watching tv, or just observing my environment. Granted, some are my theories but you know what...come visit and I bet you will have some of the same thoughts!

• Everyone is skinny here because they sip (or down) an espresso on an hourly basis. When they aren't consuming the glorious shot of caffeine and sugar there is a cigarette pressed between their lips. My lungs aren't quite used to all this second hand smoke and I still don't endorse smoking, but I may need to re-evaluate my coffee consumption and step it up to the levels of the locals!
• Driving. Still not sure if I'm willing to attack this one. Why? Well today on the way to lunch we couldn't figure out why the lady was still driving on the shoulder after the massive pot hole on the on ramp. Then we see her waving a cell phone with her right hand. As we pass we notice there is another one in her left hand and up to her ear. Somehow she was still talking with both of her hands too. Alida suggested that this is how they 3-way call out here. (I think it's one reason why their driving is so sporadic!) 
• In Italy people watching is hilarious. Well, entertaining but also a lot different than in the states. The fashion alone is hilarious. Um maybe that's the wrong word. Maybe I'm supposed to be in awe of some of the statements made? Yeah I don't know. All I know is I need to step up my high heel...literally, about 2 inches!
• Another very different thing to learn is to how to deal with the eyes that seem to follow you as you walk by. I may have told a few of you about my first experience walking into the gym here on base. As I walked in I swear every guy had their eyes on me. And yes, you know I try to avoid all eye contact when at the gym so this was insane. Well, I thought it was insane...until I realized that the game of racquetball had all but stopped as the 4 younger Italians were looking at me. Now that was insane. I don't tell you this story to remind you single guys you missed your chance while I was in Monterey (HA! I can't even keep a straight face and I'm the one typing) but rather to provide examples of just how things are different. We've even noticed this phenomenon at the mall by men with their families who just feel the need to watch us. I'm just as guilty as the next person of glancing over to see someone but I'm pretty sure that 80% of the time it goes undetected...

Okay, well I think that's more than enough of my fabulous observations at this time.  One thing is for certain, as my adventures will continue so will my observations. I really don't list them to categorize them in good/bad/indifferent but rather it's just part of my new life out here. I'm sure by the end of my stay I too will have some of these characteristics that seem so different and even odd at times. Please, please, please make sure I assimilate properly back into the American culture-okay? Thanks!

Somethings Never Change...

Yes I find it rather ironic that after yesterday's post about talking how I need change today's post is going to talk about how no matter how far away I travel there are just a few things that won't ever change. Why? Well, as I'm sometimes reminded by my mom (or was it Clint Black?), "where ever you go there you are." Hey- it's true. So often we try to escape a situation or change the outcome but when you get down to it, until you modify yourself the outcome won't change.

Example #1: Some of you may recall my Facebook status about a month back when I gave up my run at the beach for the hills behind my parents' house....then run that quickly became a hike to Laguna Seca? At first I thought I was going to appreciate the change in terrain until I kept jumping and getting freaked out by (dead) lizards and "stick snakes." So I don't like scaly things things! I've tried to work through this (watching Iggy the classroom iguana over break, interacting with the various anoles we had as pets, even taking herpetology in college which required a field trip to the desert to trap the nasty critters) but alas, it just may never happen. 

So last week on a sunny afternoon I headed through central park  on my way to the gym. Well, there were lots of little lizards scurrying back under the cover of the plants as soon as they saw me. No big deal. I knew there are over here and it was nice to see a new species rather than the blue bellies and alligator ones back at home.

Fast forward a few days as I'm walking back over to the orientation via the same paths I use to get just about everywhere. As I was moving along all of sudden I saw something. After my feet stuck the 10 point landing and I was a foot behind where I started, I had to laugh because in front me was a really pathetic looking, 2D, tail-less, torn up, dried out lizard. Epic fail Katie.

Worse part? Just on my way back- thinking about how I was going to confess my lizard run ins, knowing that they'd be out sunning themselves I still managed to jump (and more than once) when I saw them. See? Something never change.

Example #2: As you may have read it was driver's license test day. I spent some time (an hour or so) reviewing and learning the signs. Should I have spent less time blogging, tracking the Giants game, or talking with Andie? Probably but that's where my priorities were yesterday/this morning.

Yep. I missed a few too many. Again, not a huge deal but when he told me my results or rather I helped him spot where they weren't lining up, I was transported back to when I was 15 and was told I missed my permit test by 1 lousy question. The quick video montage then went through my head left me with further confirmation- I'm not a test taker. Real tests are fine but as soon as you give me a standardized test or something as simple as a multiple guess test...forget about it. I consider myself so lucky that I've never had to take one for my career because I'd be stuck forever. FOREVER.

So those are my 2 "case studies" that I had to chuckle about today because really....it's funny to know I can always count on some things to stay the same (especially when it's due to my character flaws).

1 week ago I was at MRY awaiting my plane...

...well, maybe I was still running around the house and my parents were forcing encouraging me to eat some of the tofu dishes they picked up from our favorite Chinese place before dashing off to catch a flight. Funny how it seems like so long ago and a world away but at the same time it's one of those memories that seems so recent.

At any rate, I'll focus tomorrow's post on what I've learned in this past week since technically I arrived Saturday night. Tonight I want to talk about my first Friday in Naples!

This morning I started orientation. I have also decided that this whole experience shadows Cal Poly's WOW (Week of Welcome for you non CalPoly folks). Rather than being a wowie though I'm a newbie, but just like WOW there are a whole lot of other people going through this process with you. My hotel room feels like a dorm room. I have to walk over to the food court (or the restaurant or market) to get meals. I rely on others for rides and/or the shuttle. The forms for processing the various things are just as long. Today I applied for my Italian SSN equivalent, filled out the paperwork for my driver's license, and filled out a housing request. Exciting? Maybe not, but you didn't have to sit through all the lectures so consider yourself lucky. Oh and should you write me a letter PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do not write Italy in the address...it screws everything up.

The fun stuff- I finally went exploring! After a short bus trip over to Capo I finally saw Jessica! Yay. After a quick discussion, we decided to head to Casertavecchia as it had been recommended to her. Keep in mind this was 5 o'clock on an Italian holiday (or perhaps a day of rest after the real holiday) so we didn't know what we'd find up there but did know we wouldn't find a place to serve us dinner for several hours so we put ourselves at the mercy of the GPS and headed north. Well, I think it was north.

After some creative driving by both Jessica and other Italians, several narrow roads, and lots of mountain driving complete with switchbacks, we realized we'd climbed rather high. How high? High enough to get this view:

The picture doesn't even give you the first idea of how amazing it really was. Trust me. We pulled over on the side of the road, then crossed it to take these pictures. Crazy? Maybe but we're trend setters- another car did the same thing!

We finally made it down a road and parked the car and got out to find this castle. Jessica was cracking up about my shoes, but seriously....I'm in Italy so I need to be sporting the shoes. Cobble stone paths? No big deal for my Nine West peep toed shoes. I figure after being one of my few pairs with me at this point they will be retired by the end of the summer, so they may as well sight see while they can. On top of the hill we found a chapel and so many amazing windows. Yep, my official windows of Italy folder has been started in iPhoto. We walked around the streets, up and down for a while. Soon I was able to figure out where we were by the cats in one street, dogs in the other, and old men sitting along one. So my landmarks moved some but we had no issues navigating. Finally after 7 we both needed something to eat, but nowhere was open. Nowhere but the dessert bar. Coffee and pastry before dinner? Yes please.

After being caffeinated and feeling accomplished that we interacted with the cafe owners without any English (well, we used it but they didn't- yay for Italian phrase books), Jessica took on her biggest task of the day up to this point- turning her mini SUV (think CRVish size) in the right direction back down the hill. Added challenge? It was a manual. A little patience was all it took but within minutes we were headed back down the hill as the sky turned pink from the sun beginning to sink into the clouds.

Next stop- Pozzuoli! Sound familiar? Yep. I did talk about it earlier this week from when I first looked at apartments. We took a new route to the town, through Naples. Did you know there are high rise buildings here? There are! I've seen them with my own 2 eyes. The tunnels through the hills were rather entertaining getting there too. At about the same time, Jess and I looked at each other and said how it looked like a video game...Mario Kart to be exact. You know that level right where I think it's called Tokyo something? Bombs, motorcycles, crazy driving in a tunnel? No bombs and traffic wasn't too bad by there were a few bikes with helmet-less drivers flying by.

Pozzuoli looked a lot different at night. After parking the car and paying a few Euros to a young kid to "watch it" we headed down the pathway to hear "scusi" and turn back around. Somehow side lights were on but we couldn't figure out how they turned off. Again after a few minutes of car charades, we decided to leave it, although AAA couldn't have jumped the car if the battery was dead and come to think of it I canceled my roadside membership earlier this week.

The downtown area wasn't too crowded yet but way more people that downtown Monterey! Best part? I didn't go to high school with any of these people and I definitely didn't see anyone I recognized from work. So, so, so many new people. Dinner was yummy- pizza Friday of course! We also braved a caprese salad that had fabulous mozzarella and provolone cheese. Also, I tried a fresh green olive and discovered that I like them that way!  Yummy fresh food shared with a friend is always the best. We had some great table conversation too. I think the illustrations below are from my favorite topic...any idea what we were talking about?

After dinner we walked around a little more and I was in shock of just how many more had flocked to the downtown area for dinner. It was now 11pm and people were still just showing up. For supposedly being the place for younger, single, Americans I sure saw a lot of early 20 Italians. I also saw some beautiful shoes and one pair of hideous plaid pants on a guy. Our last planned stop for the evening was gelato. I figured it only appropriate that the first flavor tried was coffee. So happy on my choice. We took our gelato filled cones and sat out on benches by the water and watched more cars pour in and park. I think we saw one car get "tapped" over 4 times while a Smart car backed out and another much larger car moved in. It was very entertaining watching the cars being parked but also nerve wracking. Oh well, I'm going to tackle one thing at a time and since Ravi won't be here for weeks, driving will be addressed at that time.

Finally we headed back to the car. The same kid (I really wish I remembered his name) I think was explaining to us how the lights that were now off were used to find things on the ground? The world may never know what he was really saying...well any Italian speaker would but we won't. He started to talk to us and when he found out Jessica was from New York started asking about sharks and dolphins. More charades and trying to guess what he was saying in Italian. It was fun and he was really interested about if we'd ever seen sharks.

Were our adventures done yet? No. Why would we call it a night at midnight? Our last adventure involves the GPS unit, me not knowing an address, and lots of closed gas stations. The objective was to get back to the support site and sometime in that process top off the rental car's gasoline. Long story short (because I'm getting sleepy) we picked the town name near where I'm staying but kept letting it "recalculate" every time we'd try to get gasoline at a closed place. Gas stations are off to the side of the roads here...kinda of like rest stops back at home...where you exit then just get back on but without ever being able to actually get off the freeway.

Turns out that the gas stations on the side of the road we were one were closed, but the ones on the other side appeared to be open. Some how during the course of this (well, maybe the way we were being routed) things started to look anything but familiar. We weren't too concerned since we were purposely ignoring some directions in hope of finding a gasoline place. When Ms. TomTom said we were at the destination and we were in the middle of town/a place I'd never been before I really wanted to know where "my home" was. After a loop I started to look for my contact info to see if we could get a real location of the base. Realizing it probably wasn't the best idea to pull over, Jessica started to follow the signs for "US Navy." I still wish I recorded some of this adventure but I have a feeling I'll be doing the same thing when I'm behind the wheel so there will be other chances. All of a sudden I saw some of my land marks (the more permanent kinds- towers) so I knew she had found it. So happy to see it right around 1am!

In summary: Visitor #1*, Jessica, proved to be an excellent travel buddy and a great person to start doing some of this exploring with. I knew it was going to be a great visit but you never know just exactly how it's going to go...but that's what makes it fun. Thanks for a great time out and about (and lots of around too!) today. Can't wait to see you next time when I'll be speaking the Italian (well, trying to) and driving to the sketch looking karaoke place with torch and blue neon lights.