Weve finally arrived in Italy and if you asked me today how I liked it, Id tell you I want to come home ASAP! Things are so different here and one of the main things is finding a home. Theres no base housing here, so youre on your own when it comes to finding a home. And homes here arent like they are in the states. Usually, most homes dont have kitchens (they have an area for the kitchen, but you furnish the appliances and cabinets). The Italians move everything when they move out of a home, except thats the thing, they rarely move out of a home. When they settle down, they settle down. So theres your other problem, its hard to find anything available that suits your needs. Weve looked at six houses so far and are still homeless. One that we looked at, we absolutely loved. It was a duplex, 4 bedroom, in our OHA budget (OConus Housing Allowance, which is also different because unlike the states if you find a house under your housing allowance you get to pocket the difference, but here you get a set limit and if you dont use it all then you dont see the difference..and for those wanting to know our limit is 1,009 Euros which is $1,350.34!! so yes living here is quite a bit more expensive), 2 bathroom, storage (which you also rarely find in Italian homes), and a extra "man-cave" room for Chance..why didnt we get it you ask? Because we had an appointment at 7pm and someone else had an appointment at 6:30pm (by the way, we are 6 hours ahead of the east coast and 7 hours ahead of central time). We got there early, at 6:30pm and the other people hadnt gotten there yet so the lady went ahead and showed it to us. Because we were the nice people we are and let the person who had the appointment at 6:30pm (who didnt show up til 6:40pm) have first choice, we didnt get the home. So were still on the search. We have more appointments lined up next week so Im praying we find something soon!
Driving here is also completely different. Although we still drive on the same side of the road as back in the states, the signs are completely different. Theres so many that look similar that you get them mixed up. You have to drive with your headlights on 24/7. If you come up on a car accident and no one else has stopped to help, its the law to stop and render assistance. MPH is now kilometers, which isnt to hard because most cars have the kilometer speedometer, its just the little numbers under the big numbers youre looking at. The interstate is called the autostrauda here, and you drive FAST! Over 80mph back in the states!! Ive been told most cars that are shipped from the states tear up because theyre not used to this type of driving. Theres minimum red lights, instead we have round abouts, which I have to say is better than red lights. When you are told roads are narrow here, its not a lie! Theres roads that are restricted here for govt. vehicles because they are so narrow. To hydroplane, slide, or wreck on these roads it takes nothing more than letting your car coast. Needless to say, Im terrified to drive here.
The base...ah, now this is something. This base is made up of 7 different sections. Im not talking about one big base that is just sectioned off like a house either, you literally have to drive off base from one section to get to another! Flightline has their own section, the hospital, schools, and the library have their own section, recreation (baseball, soccer, pinic area) has their own section, and to be honest I dont know what the others are. Yesterday they held a "Bazaar" (which is basically a big market where vendors from around Europe come and sale their stuff for bizarre prices), it was held in the flightline section in one of the hangers and were staying in TLF, which is also located in the flightline section. We decided to walk there since we had no other way...HAHA, it was 3 miles there and 3 miles back. Now that doesnt sound like a lot but when you have to walk around the entire base at 29 almost 30 weeks pregnant, with a 2 year old who wants to be carried 99.9% of the time, ey yi yi! Thankfully, one good Airman stopped and give us a ride back to TLF. That guy probably saved my feet and hips. I think its safe to say, we'll be buying bikes in our near future. Its not like we'd be odd balls or anything for riding a bike like you would be in the states, since the Italians would rather ride a bike then drive. Its crazy here, you see old people here just trotting along on their bikes like its no ones business, even going up the mountain, and its like jeeze Id be lucky to get a mile down the road on one.
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| Youd probably think this was a bike shop, but its not! Its all the bikes parked at the train station. Told you they preferred bikes over cars. |
We have cell phone service here, but Im still trying to adjust to going from a touch screen Epic to a little prepaid phone. They dont have international plans, so we still cant call back to the states without paying a pretty penny but as soon as we get a house and get a land line we'll get the unlimited international calling package and be able to talk to you guys as much as we want!
Most everything is smaller here, including their appliances. The washer in TLF takes 2 hours to wash a load half the size of a normal load in the states. Plus Im not sure Im using this one correctly because it keeps spewing water out at me =/.
Of course the wattages are different, so to use anything that plugs into the wall from back home you either have to have a transformer or adapter. Back in the states you use 110V, here you use 220V.
Food, well weve tried two different places since weve been here and Im still not impressed. Weve been to a famous spagetti house and I tried the "delicious" pizza everyone talks about..yeah American pizza is better, Digorno is better! Of course this was the first pizza place Ive tried so this conclusion could change. We also went to a hotel restuarant on our tour of Italy and it was okay, but lets just say the Italians need to "spice" up there lives with some salt and pepper. Man, those potatoes were so bland but the pasta and chicken was pretty good.
Ah, our tour of Italy...was amazing. Our first stop was this river type place that sat at the base of the mountain and the water was so clear and blue you could see the fish swimming around. Definitely one of the "romantic" places Italy has to offer. It was like you were on the set of a romantic movie, where a couple goes off to "get close" and swim in the water and start...well you know, Ill let your mind wonder. It was simply amazing though! Then we stopped at one of the markets, which most towns here have one once a week. They have all kinds of different things like clothes, shoes, flowers, fruit/veggie stands, and different odds and ends. While we were there we tried the Italians famous gelato (which is ice cream back in the states). To me it taste like dipping dots melted down and fluffed. Not something I could eat a big bowl of like I can our American ice cream. Then we stopped and walked around the town of Pordenone and seen some historical features. Next, we took my very first train ride. Then ate, then wrapped the trip up with a wine tasting. Of course I dont drink plus cant drink, so it wasnt anything big for me, but boy was Chance in heaven. He found some that he loved and some that he didnt love, haha. As far as he says, Italy does hold up to having the best wine.
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| The beautiful view of the mountains! |
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| Walking down the streets of Italy! |
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| This building has 220 steps! |
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| And from this, you get wine! |
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| Chance doing the taste testing |
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Another thing is we get a set utility allowance each month, except the Italians dont you bill you every month. So if you dont take that money out of your check and put it a separate account for when they finally do bill you (which can sometimes be as minimum as once a year!), youll be stuck with a $5k bill at the end of the year!
As far as us adjusting...were getting there. Our sleep schedules are already down pat, that could probably be thanks to the overlay in Germany on our way here. Weve learned a little bit of Italian. I think once we find a home and get settled in, we'll be able to adjust a lot better.
I have to brag on Gracie, as has literally everyone else who was either on the same flight as us, watched her at the CDC, or just come in contact with her while were wondering around told us...she has been nothing but phenomenal, and thats an understatement. To be 2 years old and going through this big of a transition, I couldnt imagine having a better, more well behaved daughter! Even with the sleep transition, shes done amazing. She adjusted just like we did and just as quick. Shes listened so well to us and hardly ever give us fits. I think alot of her listening and being so well behaved and mannered is me being able to stay home and work with her 24/7 and honestly, her not being around kids her age. I know kids will be kids, but shes so mature because shes hardly ever been around kids her age, which makes her more well behaved. She hasnt picked up all those "kid" things that kids do. So now when she does get around kids her age, she plays with them and all but she knows her boundaries or more less, her morals. The providers at the CDC couldnt believe that was the first time shes ever been in a child care facility.
I guess to sum this post up...
theres NO better place to live, than the great U.S.of A!
