From one Thursday to the next

Today officially marks my one-week point in Italy, and I still forget occasionally that I’m living in Europe. Let me explain… since arriving, I’ve spent most of my time at Camp Darby, where we speak English, use dollars, have Diet Dr. Pepper in the commissary and drive big pick-up trucks around base. Admittedly, I have had some “Italian” experiences, which I’ll detail below, but for the most part, I’m still in America, only with better weather and views.

All that is set to change this weekend, though! My friend and co-worker, Rachel, invited me to live with her in Livorno until I find a place of my own. I was set to check out of one on-base hotel (Casa Toscana) and in to another (Sea Pines Lodge) this weekend, so the timing was right as I was facing packing anyways. While I like Camp Darby and all the comforts of home it provides, I am so ready to BE in Italy. We have exciting plans lined up this weekend, thanks to Rachel, and I’ll even have a few chances to celebrate my 27th birthday.

On the schedule this weekend: drinks, more Italian food (finally!), wine tasting at an 11th century castle, sushi and Easter in Italy.

This week, I’ve stayed busy with settling in, which normally finds me running from one end of the base to the other and back again. I’ve managed to accomplish a few important things, including:

- Applying for my soggiorno, codice fiscal and ID card
- Taking and acing (!!) my driver’s license test
- House hunting – I think I’ve found THE place, so there should be some good stories to follow, I just want to do a little more comparison shopping next week before committing…
- Learning about each of the areas I’ll serve and my volunteers
- Setting up my new webcam (thanks, Dad!) and learning the wonderful world of Skype

I started my 2-week benvenudi class this week as well. We had a full day of briefings on Tuesday, and I comprehended about 25% of the information. I’m still having a hard time remembering military acronyms, ranks, titles, uniforms, paperwork, rules, etc. It all leaves me with a splitting headache at the end of every day. There are a handful of others, including Rachel, in the class, and it has been nice meeting other ‘new kids on the block.’ Camp Darby is such a small place, I run in to my classmates everywhere – outside of the commissary at lunch, in the mailroom when wrestling with my box’s combination, at the coffee bar picking up our morning cappuccinos…

I was supposed to attend language classes in conjunction with benvenudi, but I’ve had too many other work commitments and appointments. However, there are Italian classes on base every Monday during lunch, and I plan to start frequenting those. I need to learn some basic Italian fast! And, I’d still really like to be quasi-fluent by the time I leave. It seems like such a waste to be here for such a long time and not learn.

My benvenudi class is taking an early morning trip to Livorno tomorrow, and it’s getting late. So for now, I’m off to bed – my last night in the hotel!

~ Ciao