My Italian Appliances

Should I ever forget where I live, all I have to do is try to cook something in our kitchen. Our stove-top and oven are gas operated. The oven also operates in Celsius. Thank goodness for modern technology and the Internet. I found a website that converts Fahrenheit cooking temperatures into Celsius temperatures. Needless to say, it's been interesting! I am thankful for having lived in Ghent in Norfolk, VA in which most of the stoves in the older apartments were gas. However, I have never used a gas oven. It's pretty much the same concept as the stove top.

The dryer is also gas operated, but it runs just like a regular dryer. Our dishwasher is another story. Since the water here in the Mediterranean is hard water, we have to put water softener in the dishwasher to cut down on calcium deposits. There is a chamber for the softener in the bottom of the dishwasher to put the softener. The softener is just a mixture of water and special rock salt that you buy at the grocery store. Don't even get me started on how the hard water has affected my hair! It seems to be more limp at times. I also find myself using more lotion here as well. I'm not sure if it is due to the hard water or due to the climate.

I see that I have so much to learn about living in Italy! At least I haven't see a gecko today!

An interesting guest for breakfast

I had to write about this because it is sort of funny. I got up this morning and headed towards the kitchen for breakfast and coffee.

Afterwards, I went into our living room to check email and drink my coffee. As I was sitting at the computer desk, I was distracted from my emails by the sound of rustling papers and/or scratching noises. As I turn my head, I see a medium sized green gecko sitting on the arm of the couch looking at me.

I jumped up and screamed and the gecko jumped up and ran to the other side of the couch. In a way, it almost sounded like it screamed too! (After some research, I found out that geckos are the only lizards that make a "barking" throat noise.)

I yelled for Jeff. When Jeff came downstairs his reply was, "Well, I'm not sure what to do." We stood there for a minute staring at him and he stared at us. Jeff had left his camouflage jacket on the couch. This became the gecko's hiding spot in the pocket. We could see his beady little eyes and little head staring out at us. We tried to scoop him up, but he ran too fast. We didn't want to harm him, we just wanted him out of the house. He was actually kind of cute for a lizard.

We finally captured him in a plastic container and got him out the front door. I guess I'd rather have a gecko over for breakfast than a snake. Jeff tells me that geckos are common in the Mediterranean area. They supposedly eat bugs and are harmless, but the thought of him sitting on the couch with me isn't that appealing. Who knows, maybe he wanted to use the computer since he came to visit me at the desk!

What a morning!

A week in Sicily

I have been here in Sicily for a week and I have to say that it's quite lovely. I arrived last Monday morning to find Jeff waiting for me at the Navy Airport. It was so great to see my husband again!

Jeff showed me around the base on Monday. On Tuesday, Jeff and I moved into our house with a loaner bed and a loaner table with two chairs. Then our furniture came Wednesday. It was so nice to see our household goods, even though it would mean a lot of unpacking and organizing.

We started unpacking Wednesday night and are still in the process of doing so now! Luckily, our Internet and phone service were connected the next day. So we are up and running to a certain degree.

Our living situation is similar to a townhouse or a duplex. Our house is connected to one other house.We have a carport and a small fenced-in backyard. We are blessed to have a lot of space! Downstairs you will find our kitchen, dining room, living room, and laundry room with a half bath. Upstairs we have three bedrooms and two bathrooms.

Our neighborhood is in a small town. We are in the middle of the beautiful Italian countryside. This is new for me! I've never lived in the remote country side before now! The base is about thirty minutes from where we live, therefore we have a small grocery store, gym, and community centre in our neighborhood. Since it is "good hike" to the base, we try to do everything we need to do when we "go to town" or "go to the base."

We have been pretty much been staying at the house or at the base this week, trying to set up our household. However, on Sunday, Jeff and I decided to venture out into the economy. We took a drive to Catania, and went Auchan. Auchan is the Italian equivalent to Walmart, Target, etc. We thought there was an Ikea in the area, but it turns out that it is much further away in Northern Italy.

Auchan was amazing! There was fresh bread, cheese, fruit, and all sorts of neat European goodies. There were clothes, household goods, books, cleaning supplies, etc. We were overwhelmed. Since we had not had lunch yet, we decided to eat lunch before entering back into the shopping area. Auchan also has a cafe in which we tried some authentic food. I ordered a calzone with spinach, olives, and mozzarella cheese, while Jeff ordered four cheese pasta.

As we waited for our food, we soaked in the environment as it was evident we were one of the few Americans there. It was neat listening to people talk. Several people were crowded around a TV and were watching a local soccer match. Finally our food came. (By the way, Jeff did a great job talking to the waitress with his limited vocabulary. He knows more words than I at this point!)

We laughed so hard when our food came because we did not know that our dishes were going to be SO HUGE. My calzone was the size of a medium pizza....and speaking of pizza...Jeff got a four cheese pizza, not pasta. We're not sure what happened there, but it was very good. We shared our food, and then ended up taking most of it home in a take-out box. (That was another test: trying to communicate that we needed a carry-out box!)

After eating, we went back into the shopping area and bought a few items for the house and made our way home! We were very proud of ourselves for being so adventurous! Jeff had driven to Catania before, but had never gone to this particular store. We had so much fun! Next time, I have to tell you about driving in Italy--UGH!

At last!

We found out yesterday that the paperwork had finally been completed so that I can fly to Italy. We were both so excited after such a long wait. It is almost surreal after such a long state of anticipation.

I fly out of Norfolk at 1pm on Sunday and will arrive in Sicily the next morning. In the meantime, Jeff has secured housing for us. We will be living in a 3BR, 2.5 BA townhouse. I am looking forward to unpacking our wedding presents and other goodies and setting up house. It will be so nice to have a home after living out of a suitcase since November.

The neatest thing about leaving this Sunday, February 18th is that our first date was last year on February 18th. Who knew that a year later after our first date that I would be flying to Italy to live with my husband. Life is full of unexpected surprises...

Still here!

I am still here in the states. We think I may fly out next week, but we will see...??? Jeff has been getting acclimated to his new home. He went out in town and had an authentic Italian meal with his orientation class. It sounds like the food was delicious! Can't wait to try it myself!

The saga continues...

Well, I'm still in the states. The paperwork STILL has not been processed in Italy for me to come. We were both disappointed as we really thought I would leave this past Sunday.

In the meantime, I've been hanging out with my family in NC. Boy, I could drive the trip between VA and NC in my sleep! So the saga continues as we hope and pray that this week will be THE week!

Besides, I need to actually get to Italy so that I can tell you about all the groovy stuff there!

Note: We have now been separated for 40 days as Jeff left on December 27th. I can attest that absence does make the heart fonder.