Get Outside the Wire

I was semi joking about the parallels of this experience so far with my first week away to college but the more I live this week the more the comparison holds.

The day started off with me introducing myself to 2 other newbies (both active duty) as we viewed the booths of all the organizations here. I am now the proud owner of the class schedules for both gyms, the full chapel schedule, and even opened up a new bank account. Yeah, that took 10 minutes so I found myself over at the coffee shop. Hey, I  didn't finish drinking all my Navy Lodge coffee before sprinting out the door so this cappuccino was not overkill (I say at 2341).

Now that we knew about some of the clubs organizations available it was time for the CO's welcoming brief. The brief really didn't present that much new information, however the CO was very entertaining. He kept referring to the base as Mayberry (which of course got me humming Rascal Flats) because the kids all run in the streets and we're very well protected...shoot we've got 3 sets of laws covering us out here! He kept going on and on about how you have to get outside the wire. 

Okay, so I've been outside the wire a few times. I have my reasons for staying in- jet lag and lack of transportation seem to be the two I keep justifying things with but when it comes down to it, it's fear. I told you, I'm not really that brave of a person. I analyze until my brain hurts or I've rationalized everything to the point where often I've missed out on the opportunity that once was presented. Don't laugh. There are some simple decisions that require an intense decision process- have you not seen my white board? It's all about calculated risk....risk that I've evaluated...probably way too much.

I realize that some of you are thinking that I'm insane. I hear it now, "Katie you just left your hometown to move to Italy- how is that not brave?" I can't argue with that. In all honesty there are moments where I feel it took an out of body experience or a momentary lapse in judgement to sign those acceptance papers, but in the end I know it was divine intervention.

But the bottom line?
I'm here.
And I'm here for the next 3 years.
So now what?

Well, as I enjoyed a non-microwaved meal tonight at the base dinning establishment it hit me. I was sitting there studying for my driver's license test, drinking a Dutch beer (sorry mom- I caved in less than 24 hours of our chat!), while eating fries and chicken sandwich (yeah, it's really hard to find a salad when all lettuce has been recalled due to the E.coli breakout)  I was suddenly aware of my surroundings. The one time T.G.I.Friday's building was filled with Americans, speaking English, while Katy Perry tried to convince me that I'm a firework. There were no indications that I was in Italy. I could have been in Mayberry, North Carolina...had Opie been allowed to listen to such music. I sure didn't travel all this way to have an experience like that.

I'm in Italy and I want to see Italy...but let's ease into this okay? I'm not going to lie, it's reassuring, especially right now to be surrounded by English speakers and being able to rock out to Katy, Gaga, or Taio and laugh when I look over and see high school students doing the same. I know things will continue to fall in place, but I also know that if I don't start making these little modifications now I'll end up regretting my time over here.

So my action plan? I'm putting into effect something I was hoping to delay until I was a little more settled, but I think it will encourage me to put myself out there just a tad quicker because these nerves are getting the best of me and I'm not going to lose this battle. And yes, I'm going to need your help.

Send me questions about the area or things you want me to go explore for when YOU visit me or suggestions on how to get better acclimated to my new home...this is my new home so it needs to start feeling like that. I'll pick and choose from the suggestions and then write them up. If you're lucky we'll get some videos and pictures in there too. (Nick, I'm already fearing what you're going to suggest based on your new found language skills...Kim contain your husband!)

Okay, I've identified the issue and have a plan to resolve it. SEE? I think things through! Sorry for the seriousness of this posts. Tomorrow I'll quiz you on the Italian driving signs. Please keep your fingers crossed that I pass that with flying colors- I can only miss 2 and that's a little intimidating. On the plus side my car is still in the states (GA) so I guess I have plenty of time to retake it if need be.

Che cosa è esso?

Now it's time for a little game I'm going to call che cosa è esso? and pray that the internet translation is semi correct...but should I learn differently the game's name will change.

It's pretty simple: 

• I'm going to post a picture of something I've found over here in Italy that's made me take a second (or even 3rd) look before I figuring out what it was. 
• Make your guess on the what it is- using the comments here on the blog.
• I'll keep track of points and if you rock at this game I just may send a little bit of Italy your way! 

Item #1: Tell me what it is!

Major Adjustments: Week One Summary

The week was challenging, but I'm good at treading water so I managed to keep my head above water and week one is now in the books! Rather than another lengthy post I'm just throwing some things I've observed in my mere 7 days here (even less considering all the sleeping I've done).

I'm know I'm not in Monterey anymore when...

• You go eat dinner at 7pm and you're the only ones there and it's not because the rush is over, but rather because you are the first ones there and they opened early to accomodate. 
• Driving in traffic late Friday night you notice 2 guys in the car next to you looking your direction, yet when you turn to make eye contact you realize they are looking at the clothing display in the store window than you. 
• It's pouring rain but yet it's 80 degrees out.

-By the Numbers-

Pizzas consumed: 2

Apartments viewed: 3

Hours spent completing paperwork: 8 (but it seems like a million)

Bad ID pictures that I have to live with for years: 1

Okay, well that's all I've got. I need to go work up the motivation to go learn some Italian and start figuring out what all these road signs mean for my driver's license test on Monday.

Video Update: "My Dorm"

WARNING: This is repeat post from Facebook the other night! I just wanted to make sure that everyone who misses my face got to opportunity to see it. Also, I think in the interest of time there will be a weekly video blog post...I mean, how much reading do you all really want to do?

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.

Senza bagaglio (Without Baggage!)

I never want to eat again. Seriously. Well, maybe not never again, but at least not for a few more hours and I'm thinking string cheese and crackers. Water on the other hand, I don't think I can get enough of it...funny how I'm already changing over here. But seriously. I think my aversion to water may come from the fact that Monterey was always so cold so I had no motivation to drink water, hot coffee on the other hand...

Getting to work and hanging out in my office are becoming fairly routine. Today when I walked outside to check out the weather and make a phone call to track Jessica down, I saw a friendly face- Mark! I knew he was in town but never figured I'd run into him. Then and there I realized that it's the small things like running into people that have known me for more than 4 days or seeing a sign for a NPS workshop that are motivating me to press on.

It's also a great reminder that all of them were once strangers too (you know, back when I was 23) and only after a little effort and a whole lot of work days and/or late Tuesday trivia nights did I get to know them. It's a good thing that the new group did the dinner last night to get that clock a-ticking.

Oh. I think I got so tied up in the food summary that I forgot to report in on what we laughed the most about. When the dreaded "do you have a boy friend back in the states" question was asked I gave one of my 3 standard responses: "no, I tried rather hard to keep those Army and Navy officers away for 5+ years." (Shush up right now peanut gallery...it's all about picking the correct response for the audience!) They all said I'll find an Italian man in no time, rather he will find me and I won't be able to keep him away. That's when I raised my right hand and assured them that I will be heading home with no baggage. Yep. I told the new people. So basically everyone has heard my statement, the lawyer present at the dinner may have even notarized that on 1 June 2011 I made that statement. And yes, they are going to start an office pool. Seriously though, the only thing that's caught my eye was a tabby kitty around the picnic tables at lunch today.

Oh. So I did end up eating lunch today- but it really did take several hours (6+) to  even think about food. I headed down to the pizza place on the base with 2 coworkers because they said it was really good. It looked authentic enough and it was cooked only after it was ordered. The menu was a little scary- but on the flip side if you feel like you need pizza with hotdogs and fries on it, I know where to go. Check it out for yourself- the crust was yummy but the middle a little (or a lot) gooey. Jarrod, I totally thought of your pizza preferences and I don't know if you can justify them anymore...pizza was kind of invented here!

The apartment hunt continued today with my coworker. Her speculation is the only reason Roberto showed me 2 places yesterday is so that I have to keep going back and spending afternoons with him. Oh how things are different over here. At any rate, after trying to leave the office for over 3 hours we headed to Lago Patria to check out the middle floor apartment in what can only be described as a family compound. I'm finding it normal to have multiple properties within a large plot of land where the landlords live in one of the houses and the other buildings are rented out. This was was not on a vineyard like yesterday but there was a pool, pizza brick oven by the pool, and a paved area where the owner's teenage sons were playing soccer. It was like a park- complete with fruit trees. The apartment  was a 4 bedrooom/2bath, yep, I did just say 4 rooms huge floor plan complete with two balconies. It was much more typical of what you'd see in the states...as in there were closets in 3 of the rooms and in the master room there was a walk in closet! Yeah, I haven't had one of those since college. The owners mainly spoke Spanish, but you know I feel like if I can come back from this tour speaking any language other than English I'm doing good.

Still haven't made up my mind...it was gorgeous but something within me just can't go with living in a 4 bedroom place when it's "just me." Also, I still want to go check out the Monte di Procida area since it comes so highly recommended.

Well, if things sound like they are coming together- I have to agree! My days are beginning to have some predictability and this jet lag is nearly gone (well, so I claim) and that makes the world a much happier place for me and those interacting with me. Tomorrow kicks off a 6 day orientation but even better, I've got plans to hang out with my favorite NSA professor from NPS which will be fabulous. Kinda funny that we only seem to meet up in Europe, but normally I'm watching her cat while she's off on adventures! Yep, we'll have to have a picture because she may earn the title of my first visitor*. Yep, I see that asterisk too :)

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!