We have been here for a week and the time is flying. We are staying in temporary housing until we get moved into our house. It is actually pretty nice and is in walking distance to many things which is very helpful since it took us several days to get our car figured out and I still have to get my license so I can drive over here. Although, I don't really know if I want to because it is SCARY! The roads are so small and people drive really fast and pass you all the time. There are roundabouts everywhere too. So for now I will let Dave do all the driving and don't even get me started on the parking situation. Speaking of Dave driving, we were driving around our neighborhood yesterday and ended up on a bike path! The road kind of ended and then split off, next thing we know people are walking toward us and we both were like, "umm is this a bike path?!" He turned the car around then we saw a parking lot where we were supposed to turn off. So I guess we won't do that again but the area looked really nice so I think we will have to go back and check out the bike/walking paths.
My initial thought on Italy, after the fog of jet lag went away, is that it is absolutely beautiful. The mountains are gorgeous and remind me of Utah. The weather has been nice and the area outside of base is so cute! I have seen pictures but to see it in person, it feels unreal. When you drive around it is old buildings everywhere and old ladies hanging out of windows with wooden shutters. Other than the man at the phone shop, everybody has been very nice. The language seems so difficult to learn but we are determined to at least be able to order gelato and pizza before we leave! Quinn and Leo are already really good at saying "ciao" and it is too cute.
Everybody has had a pretty difficult time adjusting to the time change but I think Leo and Finley have had it the worst. There have been several sleepless nights in our little 2 bedroom apartment and I feel sorry for our neighbors. It has been a stressful week because of the lack of sleep and the amount of things that have to get done as soon as you get there but overall I think we are all handling it well.
Right outside of our building are 2 really big playgrounds and we have spent many evenings outside letting the kids get their energy out. Our friends are staying in the building across the way from us so it is nice to meet them out there and let the kids play and talk about all the things we have to get done!
I knew it would be busy when we got here but I didn't realize how busy!!! We had to do a lot of paperwork, etc. in order to get the car picked up and then it has to be inspected and THEN you have to get gas coupons (so you can pay $5 for a gallon of gas instead of around $8) but not before you find the post office and pay the road tax. Then there is the house situation. We went to look at the house and get the contract signed. Our landlord doesn't speak a lot of English (much more English than we do Italian) so that was challenging at times to get what we needed to communicated. He seems very nice and we are excited about the house! And that is just a little bit into what we need to do.... temporary furniture, coupons for gasolio, international drivers license, the list goes on. Plus on our second day, I fried Dave's hard drive on his computer and he had to get a new one (whoops)!
Other than the not sleeping issue, the kids have been very good during all of this craziness. They are sleeping on the pull out couch because the second bedroom has twin size beds without rails and they will fall off in no time. I think they like sleeping in there together plus there is a TV so they are happy. They have been such big helpers and always go outside with Dave when he takes the dogs out. The elevator is fun for them and they love pushing the buttons (and in Italy ground floor is zero and the second floor is actually floor 1).
Dave and I attended a class on base to help get us set up with everything we needed to do upon arrival and the kids went to the daycare center on base. Quinn was so excited about this but Leo, not so much. He screamed and cried so much on the first day that I had to go get him about 2 hours early. He refused to eat and wouldn't even go to the table during meal times. The second day he went was better but he still cried a lot and refused to play when they went outside. His last day was yesterday and he screamed before we even got in the classroom. Dave and I went on an all day tour so there was no going to get him early, he was there all day. They called before we left on the tour to tell me his tonsils seemed swollen and wondered if there was anything they should do about them. I told them they always look like that (I know what they were talking about because when he screams you have a pretty good look down his throat). I think it was one last effort to get me to pick him up before they were stuck with him all day!! They said he did better and did eat some of his lunch. When we picked them up Quinn said he stood at the fence (between the big kid and little kid playgrounds) and cried because he couldn't get to Quinn on the other side. That made me so sad. But we all survived 3 days of daycare and hopefully Leo will continue to get better about being away from me. Finley only went to daycare the first day and she had to take a bottle but they said she did "ok" for her first day. When I picked her up she wasn't crying but was doing this breathing thing that she usually only does after she has been screaming pretty hard. She ended up falling asleep at dinner that night so I am guessing she wore herself out.
Finley has been eating so much new food lately, she really loves black beans and is getting quite the taste of Italian cuisine. She is going to be spoiled when it comes to eating Italian food.
We were so lucky to have a house lined up when we got here and that helped keep some stress down. We did a walk through with the landlord and then got the keys a few days later. We aren't moving in until next week and will have temporary furniture from the housing office until our stuff gets here, hopefully in the next 2-3 weeks. We went over one evening this week to take a few suitcases and to walk around the house again. The kids love it and Quinn says it is "beautiful." They love their new bunkbeds (I am more than a little nervous about the ladder) and the yard space is really good too. There are going to be some challenges with this house (like the kitchen being on a different floor than the living room and play room, laundry in the basement, etc.) but overall it is a great house and we are pretty excited to get moved in and Quinn really wants our couch! She keeps asking when we will get our couch back. I guess of all the things she has lived without for the last 2 months, she misses it.
There are several outdoor terraces which I am excited about. It also has the prettiest windows and wooden shutters. Quinn and Leo are going to share a room, at least we are going to try that in the beginning and see how it works out.
We went and tried the gelato place in our town and it is oh so good and so cheap! We all got gelato for 5 euro. Our electric and gas bills are going to be outrageous but at least the wine (1 euro a glass), pizza (8 euro for a delicious pizza!!) and gelato (about 1 euro a scoop) are cheap. We can offset the utility bills with cheap food! Quinn has been wanting to eat gelato in Italy for a very long time now and she loved it.
This might be one of my favorite pictures of this little guy. Eating ice cream with his spiderman shirt.
Dave's sponsor (he helps get us settled in Italy and does a lot of things for us before we get here, it was super helpful!), Tim, took us to his favorite pizza place that is near our house. We loved it and have already been another time. The kids got pizza with french fries on top and I got the house wine which was amazing. We have sat outside both times on this beautiful stone patio that over looks a creek, it really is beautiful! I think we will be visiting this little pizza spot many more times. Hopefully, our Italian (at least some of it) comes quickly because we were having trouble figuring out how much to pay the cashier (you don't pay at the table, you go up to the register and tell them what you had) so he just handed us the receipt. We have some learning to do for sure!
The nice man (I think he may be the owner because he has been there each time we were there) gave the kids suckers and they loved it. They even told him "ciao" as we were leaving.
I didn't get any pictures but one evening we went to a pharmacy cookout and got to meet most of the people in the pharmacy. Quinn got snapped at by a dog and Leo scratched at by a cat so within the first 10 minutes both of my children were screaming. I think we made a great first impression. Everybody seems very nice and I think we will enjoy our pharmacy group here!
When we woke up the other morning they were cutting the field outside of our TLF with tractors and that was the entertainment for the morning. Leo woke up this morning asking where the tractors were. I think he is missing papaw and his tractor.
We went on a tour with our class to help us get some information about the area and probably a day to destress since this whole moving to another country thing is no joke. They helped us learn how to use the train in our area and we went for a walk in one of the city centers. The towns are all very cute and we stopped at a chocolate shop for some samples. I had to grab a chocolate croissant because I love them, it was delicious! We went and saw the church which was amazing and over 800 years old. They took us to a market (where there were a lot more clothes than I expected) and then we went to lunch. It was a 7 course Italian meal and the food was great. The first course (I think because we were not sure what all counted as a course... ) was bread, then we had lasagna (best I think I have ever had), followed by penne with red sauce and bacon, then the main course (I had stuffed turkey and potatoes), then we had an ice cream/vodka drink, followed by ice cream and finished the meal with espresso. It was a great experience but it was very hot. We are going to have to get used to the lack of air conditioning! We finished the day with a trip to a local winery which specializes in red moscato (rosa moscato) which happens to be my favorite wine! We learned a lot and bought a few bottles to take home, I will be visiting this little place many times!! The day was really great but we were all so tired last night after our busy busy week!!
Chocolate croissants are my favorite.
I swear she likes it in the carrier, this picture just makes it look like she is breaking her neck!
Overall, week one in Italy was wonderful with many learning moments. I have a great feeling about this place and am looking forward to many new memories.
Italy is good, life is good.
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