I woke up and found myself in Italy...

When my alarm went off at 0500 I was going to scream, but when I realized I had less than an hour to be out the door to wait for the shuttle I didn't have that choice. After another rough night (thanks for all the facebook comments by the way) a quick chug of coffee propelled me out the door.

In the cool yet semi muggy morning, as the sun was just making its daily appearance I realized that I was actually awake. On the bus ride to base we passed strawberry fields which instantly transported me back to Davis Road and if that wasn't a happy enough moment for me we then passed the sign that made my entire day. On the side of a building I kid you not, it said "O.G Follow Me" with a picture of a horse next to it. {Side note time just so I can catch everyone up to speed. I'm called SB for Sea Biscuit by 2 of my friends- OG and GWB. There is more of a story behind it but basically at one point of my life when we were running together I'd go sprinting off like I was at the Kentucky Derby...some how post ACL surgery this name still stuck. Anyway, you're now caught up.} So the significance of seeing OG with a horse was probably just something that OG, GWB and I can relate to but trust me...it made my day.

Work was anything but....however I'm happy to report that my badge worked all but one time when trying to get to my office. And I was the first one there! It's always fabulous to be the first one there when you rely on everyone else to tell you what to do and you have no computer access, but you know, there are always DTS manuals to skim and coffee to consume. After a command picture & meeting with HR the sky basically opened and dumped all the possible water it could and even threw some lightning and thunder in for theatrics. I of course reported this back to my dungeon...er office since they were clueless about the weather change.

The highlight of "work" today was meeting with the big boss...who really isn't a boss but as a Navy Captain we're there to support him and he's a nice guy so it won't be that tough to do. At any rate, as we swapped stories and the inevitable "are you married?" question was asked I told him no. What was cool about this guy though was he actually told me about 2 other single girls around my age in the same group that I should link up with and one slightly older Italian speaking lady also in our group. I may be getting some friends before too long...assuming they aren't always TDY. And the best part??? I don't have to use 3948320947320 codes to go see them since we're in the same office space!

Okay, that's the boring stuff of the day, so if you made it this far- congrats! Now let me tell you about the Italy I actually saw today:

Today kicked off my housing search. I met up with Roberto, your stereotypical Italian male probably in his late 30s that works for the housing office. He's lived in the Naples area his entire life (with his parents for most of it until he was married) and he is looking to buy a house eventually in one of the communities before too long. We drove off to Pozzuoli to look at 2 places- one apartment and one single unit. First off, the views at both places were amazing from the hill, well volcano they were on. Seriously, check out that link and that view of the ocean and islands could be from my living room/front yard. The city has a Roman amphitheater used for concerts in the summer that was pretty amazing looking even now. The trash in the streets (freshly moved by all the rain rushing down the hills) didn't really sell the location...but I was assured that with the newly elected mayor of Naples change should happen soon.

It's not until you're actually here and looking at these places do you believe what you've been told about places: no closets, lots of doors, heaters in every room, more bathrooms than bedrooms. So some of these things are strange, but I'm telling you the tiles and colors are so beautiful! The first apartment I looked at was all blue and white in the living room and kitchen. The rooms (3) we a tad on the small side, even for the little furniture I have, but I was almost willing to over look that with the view! The second place, was also a 3 bedroom place on a vineyard property with 3 other houses and the landlords. Super safe...like 3 if not 4 gates to get to it, protected in the back corner on this hill and far enough away from the sulfur smell...but it had been built at an angle so the hall way almost made me sick when walking through it. Also, the master bedroom was more of a triangle than a square....just odd if you ask me!

After only feeling like I was going to die 3 times on the road....we made it back. After a fabulous workout in the gym (sporting my hot pink top in a sea of black) I was an ATP burning machine and ready for my first legit meal out with my coworkers and some of their kids at 7pm. When we got there we were the only ones there! Dinner really does start late and that's crazy since our meal seriously lasted 3 hours.

For those of you who haven't had the pleasure of dinning in Italy, let me share with you just how it worked:

We showed up, were seated and bottles of wine and water were delivered to us with basket of bread. Yum-o...No carb left behind right? While we were still working through introductions the table was filled with plates and trays signaling the kick off of our epic meal with glazed carrots, sliced zuchinni with garlic, proscuitto, eggplant parmesan, something fried with tomatoes and potatoes in it, something starch and fried, beans, mushrooms...and that's just what I remember! Apparently since we were Americans they brought all these dishes out at once, but typically they only bring one out at a time. That could easily add 2 hours to the meal. My plate looked like it either came from a potluck or belonged to a judge from a tasting competition. I think I liked just about everything...but the eggplant parmesan was the clear winner of this course. What can I say, I love my veggies!

Once we did a fair amount of damage to those plates, in over an hours time span I was pretty full. It's amazing how eating slow really does fill you up & when you have to taste everything that's a lot of food- did you not just read the list? ...but we were just getting started!

Plates were cleared and I think that's when the pasta showed up. The first one was a shell filled with yummy goodness (I think it was a cheesy/meaty mixture) smothered in red sauce...squisito! The other pasta was linguine al funghi  (mushrooms and cream) but yeah, not so much a fan....next course please!

Um, I think at this point a green salad was brought out.
Yep. Salad.
Next! Er, I mean prossimo...well I think that still works in this case but maybe something is lost in translation....

Dishes cleared and more wine delivered.

My coworkers' sons got excited for this next round- it was time for steak, pork, sausage, and cubed/fried potatoes. By this time I was crying out for my bed, but my coworker's little girl (age 6) was so entertaining. She goes to an Italian school and I asked her if she'd be my language coach. In between giggles and bites of pasta she was my entertainment so I stayed awake. Also, since it was well after 9 at this time, a few other tables were filling up around us. I totally understand why everything shuts down in the afternoon for naps now!

After another clearing of the table a tray of chocolate cones and a bottle of limoncello to finish the meal...or so we thought. After our toast good bye to the interim director and the welcome to both me and the new director another plate was placed in front of us. It looked like gelato, but turned out to be a cream puff like pastry with filling and covered in a berry frosting (that was the prettiest blu ever).

Seriously at this point, around 10pm after a long day and not so much sleep the night before, I was contemplating what my reaction would be if another course appeared. Seriously. What would you do!?!? I mean we had 10339843 items prior so why not have more than one dessert? Actually that would sum up just about all the recent dinner parties I attended before leaving California :)

My prayers were answer though and the meal was over. Talk about an experience! I'm still not completely sold on Italian food, however I think I'll be able to find some dishes I like for the time being and then branch out.

Woohoo, you made it to the end of the post. Thanks for waiting the extra day... I tried to get through it yesterday but the food coma was too severe!

"You left Monterey?!"

One day down....365*3 - 1 to go.

No, it really wasn't that bad but nothing like starting from scratch at a new place. This post may be a little disjointed because I'm trying to figure out where my last 9 hours went since I didn't spend them sleeping in my bed. 

New Job Jitters
Last night the new job jitters got the best of me and even after taking some meds to help sleep, I was well rested and ready to go at 0030...as in I took the best 2 hour power nap ever. So after tossing, turning, dozing for 50 minute stretches my alarm went off and I was thrilled. Got ready in no time, even chatted some with friends back home before meeting the other person who interviewed me downstairs and we drove into work together. If you ever thought I was a morning person...wow oh wow, she puts a whole new meaning to the phrase. I think is was mostly due the fact that she's leaving this week but it was a tad too much for me in this zombie like state.

No Army man will find me now...
My new second home looks a lot more like a college campus than NPS with its yellow buildings, parking garage and open cobble stone paths. The sound of planes coming and going also reminded me of NPS since the airport is our immediate neighbor. After walking through one of the courtyards, we came across a rather official looking building with no windows. Before I even realized what was happening we were going inside this building. Yep. I gave up my beautiful window (with fabulous view) for a shared office with no windows. Only time will tell if it the experience gained will be worth the trade, but today something within me died as the 3490342nd door closed behind us and we were finally in our office. Okay, so there aren't that many doors but I assure you there are several all requiring my badge to be scanned and pin entered. Which raises one of my major concerns....how are my Army men supposed to find me if I'm being kept locked up in a basement?!?!?! 

The Meet & Greets
First day on the job means 2 things: a bunch of people are going to be introduced to you and you get to answer a ton of questions. I sure can't tell you the names of who I met today, but I know I met the engineer, director, lawyer, POA guy, and then a whole other office. It's bad when I remember the other office because 3 (if not 4) all told me how wonderful Monterey was and at one point or another had been to NPS for either a degree or conference. One guy even told me that he is really good friends with John Pisto and then asked what did I do to make me leave Monterey for Naples? Eek. Not what I want to hear this early on in the tour. This office also had some serious uniforms going on but they all looked they were 15 and yet somehow married? Yeah, I still get the "are you married" question from just about everyone I meet which I guess is a little better than the "did your husband get a job in Naples?" which was asked way too many times when I told everyone I was moving. 

And then there is insurance, housing, and more touring...
After coming out of the dungeon and realizing that there really was a beautiful day happening on the other side of the walls, the tours continued. Mind you after sitting in a cool office, left alone for a while I was fighting off the urge to pass out in between yawns and did all I could to pay attention to the information being given to me. After a super short drive back to my hotel the tour continued with meeting the auto insurance lady...who basically told me buy a "beater" for my day to day commute and leave Ravi in the garage for weekend and longer distances. (Dad-I'll be calling you about this one soon). 

The last stop on our tour was the housing office....where once again I sat and waited so long that by the time I met with someone I could barely string 4 words together. After searching the database (which really has no structure other than region and # of rooms) I found 4 places that seemed reasonable and I'm checking them out tomorrow. Yes, no worries- these places have spare rooms but there won't be any moving until my car gets here...or I buy another one?  

Today in a nutshell was the beginning of putting together the pieces of normal I was in dire need of yesterday but that doesn't mean this process is not overwhelming. The little part of my job that I saw today won't be tough at all- especially since my coworker is extremely organized in a way not too far off from my own and for the most part I have some experience with most of this. The lack of people my age that I'll be interacting with daily is my major concern so I guess it's time to start contacting all those people that you all know out here and creating a social network of real people because coming home and looking into this computer screen isn't the life for me. 

For now I'm off to the gym. I asked and received this morning's workout and although I'm about 13 hours after my normal workout time, I need to go pound the pavement and throw some weight around in hope of getting a good nights sleep.

Troppe cose nuove

Several of you have already asked out what it's like out here and I'm going to be honest-after checking in late Saturday night I only first left my hotel room this afternoon, and no, I haven't left the gates yet.

Yeah. I've done more sleeping than I've done in a long time and despite trying to get adjusted, 2pm just seems like the right time to wake up. Why 2pm? That's 5am back home. The worse part about waking up in the middle of the night is that I realize it's not really the middle the night, but mid afternoon for all of you back home so then I start the "I wonder what mom and dad are up to" and the "oh, I'm missing the Fresno BBQ."

Fighting the urge to crawl back into my bed this afternoon I decided it was time to go check out the gym, so with my running shoes on and my favorite workout mix motivating me to move I left my hotel room. I think I put the housekeepers in shock when I removed the "do not disturb" sign from the door, well maybe just startled them.

First shocker- the sun was out and it was warm! Like in the 70s warm. As in, oh wow, maybe it is summer. I will be happy as this continues- I don't think you all realize just how many summer dresses I have in my wardrobe that I've had to wear jackets and sweaters over to prevent from freezing to death in Monterey, in the middle of "summer."  And hey, with all this sun (even with my SPF50) I just may discover a new tone of beige for my skin :)

My gym rat sense kicked in and I was able to locate it again after it being pointed out in passing in the dark Saturday night. It sure wasn't the gym I'm used to, but after a few more days I'm sure I'll get to chatting up the workers behind the counter and actually figure out just where everything is. Nothing like a little AFN to motivate you while you stare out into a parking lot of people coming and going and hold your breath to prevent from gagging on the cloud of cologne passing by. Not quite the lake with all the birds acting as traffic hazards but again with time it will be my new normal. 

New Normal...whatever that means. I actually was contemplating that while grocery shopping earlier (see, I went out 2 times). There is so much newness going on right now- new time zone, new language, new country, new people, new job, new temperature scale, new places...new, new, new. New doesn't necessarily mean that it's that different but it's still new.  In fact, had I arrived here in Naples and found it just like Monterey, I may have been inclined to fly back. I'm excited about all things new, but it's still nice to pull some familiarity into my schedule- gym trips, chatting on Facebook, grocery shopping.  I know that as time passes, more things will fall into place creating a better sense of new normal but we all know I'm not the most patient of people so it's a good thing I start work tomorrow.

So yeah, tomorrow I'll brave outside these gates and go see a little more of my new home. The view from my window is very promising, but requires a zoom much higher than my camera is capable of to be impressive so you're all going to have to wait.

Getting to Naples

I wanted an adventure so of course that's what I got.

When checking in at Monterey the system "timed out." Apparently this is when the system just doesn't want to work so it won't let them issue boarding passes. After a second of sheer panic and crazy thoughts that somehow the ghosts of NPS had messed with my reservation, the lady behind the counter asked if I had a visa. My response of yes made her day and I got a high 5 (Anna take note).  I showed her that lovely pic but spared her the story of how that visa delayed me nearly 2 weeks....boarding passes issued and line started to move again.

Monterey had never looked so beautiful to me than from the air. I'm sure I'll love the view next time I fly in, but as I flew over the zip codes that were the locations for so many of my memories over these years, there wasn't a doubt in my mind that I made the right decision to take this job Yes, it was tough to leave but once I was in the air it felt like just the start of another adventure....a long one with my 3 suitcases in tow. 

Next stop- enemy territory (LAX). I met a nice guy headed to Bangladesh and a group of middle aged New Zealanders and Australians as we tried to figure out which bus we needed to get to the international terminal. They were entertaining, so I trusted them that terminal 2 was where I should be....and then took a nice walk to terminal B. (Stanley was happy to move some.)

After asking 2 more people for where I should be going I found my way to the departures and then security. Ha. I took up 3 bins and then had 3 things not in bins. They guy asked if I was moving- why yes,  I am! Well, turns out that my little carry-on wanted to shut down the entire security line since the computer kept wanting to scan it. No, they never did open it up but I was there for a while. Yep, I was that person.

I'm not exactly sure what took place from LAX to MUC- mainly because I slept. Before take off I had a quick flash back to my Kenya trip earlier this year when my fabulous roommate had to keep giving "how to" lessons to our row...I helped this guy turn off the over head light. Seriously, that's about all I remember. I started to watch the Tourist but woke up to credits. Oh, the landing into MUC was the most perfect one I think I've ever experienced- no loud noise, no force pulling me forward into the seat in front, no jolting.

After going through customs (another stamp from Germany---boo) and security where this time we actually got to sort through the green suitcase and get a secondary search...I rocked out in a fairly empty terminal to a play list prepared by Andie just for me. Luckily, my coworker's son had not yet figured out who I was...we didn't do that until the plane (he was across the aisle from me). Tried as I did, I wasn't able to stay awake the entire flight but what I saw was gorgeous! Lots of of rocky mountains, some still with snow, but in the late afternoon shadows it was a great view.

So yeah, eventually we landed and collected our baggage and then I was delivered to the my lodge. This place is seriously large---puts NPS to shame and that's only the little section I've seen of it in the dark. Tomorrow will be an exploration day but right now I just found a Giants game on TV so I'm going to stay up and show the guys I still love them a continent away.

Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers for my trip! And yes, I've FINALLY left the 831 :)

The Final Countdown

CHECK LIST
Passport
Visa
RAVI to Richmond
Travel Itinerary

Looks like this move is actually going to happen not only by the end of the month, but by the end of the weekend. My current itinerary has me arriving to my new city late Saturday. I've been accused of not being excited about this development but c'on....I've been dealing with this rather rapid move for what? Nearly 2 months now? I'm not sure how anyone can keep up with all of the crazy emotions associated with such a big life change for that length of time without being checked into the local mental asylum. Yeah, I know what some of you are thinking- I did come rather close a few times along the way, but luckily I have lots of people saving me from that white jacket.

My last hours in the dreaded 831 will inevitably fly by and no matter how much sleep I sacrifice there will never be enough time to say all the goodbyes that I need to, so let me apologize in advance if you feel shorted. It's not like I'm going away forever, but I assure you, I really am leaving this time! I'll be back (in just a few months) since I can't imagine a December without tamales, the cookie competition or my family...besides they need to have outside lights put up on the house :)

Thank you everyone for an amazing last few weeks. The meals, lodging, rides, parties, cards, information on Italy, sanity checks, patience, reassuring words, visits, crash course Italian, late night chats, and providing humor at just the right time have not gone unnoticed and to be completely honest- making it even more difficult to leave. 

Please be patient if I go "off the grid" for a while. Translation: Don't freak out if I'm not posting on Facebook every 2 hours. I'll do my best to check emails, get out new contact information, and update Facebook as soon as possible. To help you pass the time while I'm working on all of that, start planning your trip and saving your Euros to come and visit me please!

Okay, the next few days are going to be hectic so don't be shocked if the next post comes from an airport or from my final destination----ITALIA!

And now we...er, I wait.

Two weeks ago my passport finally arrived and I signed it before sending it off for my necessary visa. This same day, was also my last official day at the office.

So what exactly have I been doing for the last 2 weeks? Mostly wandering around NPS and the greater Monterey area looking for ways to spend my days. It's actually been rather nice to be able to hang out with friends, enjoy lunches out, and sleep in (just a tad) before heading to the gym. As nice as it's been, it's really time for me to move on (I know, OG, you don't want me to go but really- it's time).

Please keep your fingers crossed that my passport it back in Monterey on Monday and I can finally make the request for my travel arrangements and finally Flee Monterey.

Another Step Closer

It's move out day.

As I type, three amazingly fast guys are packing, wrapping, moving everything Italy bound. It's nerve racking, exciting, stressful, emotional, and thrilling all at the same time. I'm thrilled that I'm another step closer to this next adventure- well I am 9 out of 10 times when asked.

Well, my things will be on their way...now if only someone has seen my passport!