Week 1: Getting Lost In Downtown Vicenza

January 18, 2015

    We finally went on our first sight-seeing trip.  We don't have our own transportation yet, and we haven't quite figured out how to get around on the bus, so we just started walking toward the base gate that leads to a bus stop.  We knew which number bus to get on, so we all 5 hopped on that bus and rode into the downtown area.  We didn't really know where to get off, so we just said, "How about here?"  and exited at a stop that ended up being very near the area I wanted to see.  We walked a short distance and found this really great spot for pictures.  A scenic little waterway, a neat building, weeping willows hanging over the bluish-green water.  Very picturesque.

It was getting dark and foggy, and suddenly we realized that the park had several large groups of young men, college-aged, standing around and listening to loud music.  I suddenly had a very bad feeling and we grabbed the kids' hands and high-tailed it out of that park.  We found that just by crossing the street we felt very safe.  There were women walking alone, a few couples with children, many people of all ages walking around, shopping, hanging out, and I don't know what else.  It was a very busy place.  But, we felt like we should start making our way to the bus stop to get home.  We found a bus stop, but it was for the wrong lines.  We checked the map, thought we figured out the way to walk, quickly decided the map was unclear about where exactly we were (several streets crossed at that spot), and went inside a hotel to ask for directions.  We figured someone there would probably speak English.  This assumption was correct, and we were pointed into a direction where "all the buses go."  As we got closer, we realized it was a train station, found another bus stop with a map, and found that only about 3 buses go through that station.  Thinking we knew where to go, we started walking a long distance around a huge park (a different, much safer feeling one) and failing to find the stop we were looking for.

After about 2 hours since the time we got off the bus, we decided to go back to where we started.  The kids were worn out and tired of walking.  When we arrived at the place where we got off the bus, we kept walking in the opposite direction from how we went from the bus the first time.  We were now walking toward the city center, the historic part that I had actually wanted to see in the first place.  But, we didn't think that was the direction we needed to go to get home, so we turned back and asked a policeman if he spoke English.  "No."  Ugh.  Thank goodness for Google Translate and smart phones!!!  Casey typed in our question quickly and asked in Italian how we get to the bus stop for the bus line to return to the base.  He told us to come with him and walked up to the bus at the place where we had exited before.  He tapped on the driver's window and asked him where we could get on to return the opposite direction.  The driver pointed straight ahead, and there was a bus sitting no more than 30 yards away.  If we had continued riding the first bus, we would have gone out of town.  At some point that bus comes back to the stop the driver pointed at and returns to the base.  So, we waited there and finally made it back to the base, then still had about a 3/4-mile walk from the gate to our hotel.  There were some 15-ish-year-old girls on the bus smiling and giggling over Jacob, this cute little blond-haired, blue-eyed, English speaking American boy who was dying to push the little red button to get the driver to stop.  So, we didn't get to see a lot of sights on this trip, but we certainly know how and where to go to find them!

     Today we were given a ride to church by a sweet girl whom I will call Lucy (until I know I have her permission to use her name) who then took us to her home for dinner with her family of 5 (soon to be 6).  Avery made a friend who speaks perfect Italian and loves Littlest Pet Shop, so of course we were already being begged for a sleepover by the time we were leaving.  Casey and I really enjoyed the conversation and learned a lot.  The husband (let's call him Cameron)  served his mission in St. Petersburg, Russia (even at the same time I was in Moscow), so we had a lot to talk about.  I felt like we had a lot in common, even many of the same interests.  They have been here a few years, so it was a great opportunity to ask questions and get real answers, especially about Italian schools.  The picture below is the beautiful view from Lucy's home.  The picture does NOT do it justice!

     Church was great, of course.  I think almost any Latter Day Saint will attest to feeling at home at church, no matter what country they are in.  It is one of the most beautiful things about this church.  It is the same EVERYWHERE.  The lessons we had today were the same lessons in Altus, Oklahoma; Zelenograd, Russia; and Puebla, Mexico.  It is such a comfort to have that consistency.  You know what questions to ask, like, "Which room does the Gospel Doctrine class meet in?"  and, "Does my child go to Sharing Time first or to his class?"   The gospel is true in any language, in any building, in any city.  There is no variation, and no confusion.  You don't choose where to go to church based on whether the preacher preaches to your liking, or whether Sister So-and-So wears a purple hat with birds on it.  You just go, and you follow the teachings of the Savior and His prophets. 
    I look forward to many more adventures!  Not necessarily to writing about them, though.  Haha  A necessary evil.  So until next time, good night!  (I still have to write about my new friend, Mary (name changed), who met me and Jacob for a play date and took us to a little pizzaria right outside the base gate on Friday.)

The Italy Adventure Begins

January 11, 2015   9:30 am

The adventure begins! 5 people, 10 checked bags, 5 carry-ons, 5 personal bags, one big trip from the drop-off to the ticket counter because they would charge us $25 per bag to check them curbside.





Casey's comments:

Here, we were waiting at gate 39 in the DFW airport on Sunday at about 11:00a.m. We left Cheryl's house after a bittersweet goodbye. Despite having to turn around for some medicine we forgot, we made it through with 15 suitcases and 5 "travel bags" big enough for just a few toys. Our travel documents didn't have TSA pre-check, so we had wait through a longer line and take off our shoes. We made it to gate 39 after which Avery remembered she forgot her juice from the food court at a shop that had cow mannequins. I went to get it and decided against buying a $35 Dallas Cowboys cap.

Shortly after this picture was taken we realized we were supposed to be at gate 35 and we boarded as soon as we got to the gate and went all the way to the back where we hid behind the engines.







We were both jealous of Jacob sleeping so quickly on the plane.





 
 


It's really exciting to see the fascination of a kid who flies for the first time.





 


The family, marveling at the high quality vegetation of Germany.

 









At Ramstein, we really didn't have much time to sit around as we thought.

 We would have gone to that hotel/mall in the background, but we didn't get enough time. I helped open the gatorade after this shot.

The kids ate a ton of junk food on this trip.

   




 

January 13, 2015   11:00 pm



We made it to our temporary home in Vicenza, Italy! We had a few small bumps along the way but everything worked out and we are here now. We are pretty worn out. Lessons learned on this trip: don't take anybody's word about anything! Ask at least three people about every check-in and flight departure time, double check, and go with the most conservative answer. Every step of the way we were given wrong times, wrong gate numbers, etc.  Even the guy at the AMC terminal who checked in our baggage and gave us our boarding passes and such for the flight from Baltimore to Germany printed the departure time on our boarding passes as the check-in time. We barely made it to boarding because a USO volunteer told us we were about to miss it.


January 14, 2015   9:00 am
It was difficult to wake up at 8:00 this morning, but we are determined to reset our internal clocks immediately. Priorities today: pick up the Saturn and Casey find out about taking the license test (just written) and get the car registered, get the kids registered for school, get phone service. The guys from the weather shop who picked us up at Aviano are coming to get Casey at 1:00. The first sergeant's wife is going to take me and show me around.


January 14, 2015   7:00 pm
So, two big things were accomplished today! The two older kids are registered to start school on Friday morning at the American school on base, and we got a mailing address (PO box). Oh, make that three. I bought a new broom and dust pan for our hotel room. Haha. We are still working on getting our new phone service, so stay tuned for that. There are several steps to complete before we can pick up the car, so tomorrow I am going to find out how to get around by bus. Everything on this base is a short walk away, so as long as the weather stays decent, I am getting some much-needed exercise. It was about 50 degrees today so I am loving that! Casey went to work and started some of his in-processing. Or, he got the list of things he has to do.
So, my feelings about today are quite mixed. I woke up excited to get started and get some things going, but the excitement dipped to despair the moment I realized I had no way to get around and no way to contact anyone to ask questions. For just a flashing moment I had a panicking thought of, "Maybe this was a bad idea." I was grateful, though, that the wife of one of Casey's co-workers had offered to come pick me up and show me around at 1:00. She picked up the kids and me and about that time a headache started coming on, so while she was driving around pointing out everything on base I had a hard time concentrating. I was so grateful but at the same time wishing we could do it another time. But she took me to the school (which would have been a lot more work and a couple more days for me to find out how to get there and then actually make it there), and she sat with the kids in a little play area while I filled out paperwork. It was very difficult to remember dates and other information with my head hurting worse by the minute, and the kids were really rambunctious because their internal clocks are screwed up and we have been traveling for three days. So, as embarrassed as I was, I was also extremely grateful.
The school counselor remembered me immediately from the emails I sent her a few months ago, asking about how the kids would be placed into their grade level and asking about the curriculum the school was using. It was refreshing to finally have someone actually do what they had told me they would previously, because she gave me no problem at all about them going into 5th and 3rd grade where they belong (YAY!!!!!!!!!!).
After registering, I asked my new friend to just drop us off at the PX (I have to get used to Army terminology now) so we could eat some lunch. It was about 4:00 and I was not going to be able to take medicine for my headache without eating, and we didn't have anything but a few leftovers from breakfast and a sandwich at home (for now, I will call the hotel "home"). I was so relieved that the familiar restaurants in the PX have English speaking cashiers and take American money on a debit card, since I have not had an opportunity to get euros and there was no way my pounding brain would function enough to say the few words I know in Italian. After eating, I took Jacob to the restroom and had another "hallelujah" moment when I returned to find Casey standing by the other kids at our table. Again, having no way to call him, I didn't know what time I would see him again, and I just figured he would eventually show up at the hotel. I have become so used to always having a way to contact people by cell phones that I feel really isolated, lonely, and almost afraid without that communication. I had not realized just how much of an impact my phone had on my life.
The food (and a few DP's) relieved my headache considerably, so Casey took the kids home and I walked over to the commissary to get a few supplies for dinner. . . . OOPS! Writing that reminded me that I had meat cooking on the stove. LOL! All is well. Nothing burned. It is just ground beef for spaghetti so we are good. OK, back to the commissary. I had not taken inventory of cooking supplies in the hotel kitchen, so I decided to keep it simple and just do spaghetti. I could not remember if I had seen an oven, but I did remember a 2-burner stove range, so hoping that there would be at least a pot of some kind, I went with it. Fortunately, I have a saucepan and a 6-inch-or-so skillet and a spatula. Score!
While standing in line at the commissary, I was in despair again, wanting to see just one familiar face or talk to someone I know but having no way to do so. I was in la-la land feeling sorry for myself when I noticed a baby in his mother's arms in front of me giving me the biggest smile. This was a heaven-sent emotion for me. I suddenly was reminded of the love of my Savior, and his nearness overwhelmed me. Great, now I am tearing up and can't see the screen. The baby and I smiled back and forth at each other for the next three minutes until it was his parents' turn to check out.
The walk home with my groceries was nice and chilly, which felt great for my head, and gave me a few minutes to think about what to write about tonight. The sad moments today have surprised me. I have thought a lot about how I was wrong thinking that the mission in Russia had prepared me for this. It is very different not having an experienced missionary companion who knows how to get around and speak the language. Having kids for whom to be responsible and brave and clever adds a whole new level of stress to the situation. Not that anything has been bad. It has been a great day. I am sure we have accomplished more than most would have on their first day. And yes, I am surrounded by English speakers and haven't even had to think about how to get euros or use them, so I am very grateful for that. The most important thing that happened today was the moment that baby smiled at me and how it showed me the love that Jesus Christ has for me and that He knows me, knows where I am, and that I can talk to Him any time. I will end this day on my knees talking to Him and thanking Him for this amazing adventure He has allowed us to experience.