House Hunters International!

During our first week at orientation, the housing office notified us that there is a waiting list for our rank and bedroom preference. They suggested that we should aggressively look in the economy and consider living off base. We took it as a sign from God and that he was giving us his blessing to live off base. Luckily, our sponsors lined up a couple of houses to check out that weekend. I told you that we have awesome sponsors!!

There are so many variables with looking for a house. Unfortunately, you will not find all that you want in one house, but you have to prioritize on what's most important.

Here was our checklist:
#1 - SAFETY and a GREAT LANDLORD/OWNER!!!
- Alarm in house (with a call to your cell and polizia)
- Potable water (water here can be questionable) so most landlords deliver water in bulk.
- Garage (with steel doors)
- Locks on all windows and doors (must be steel too)
- Gated entry into Parco and into your villa (2 separate gated entries)
- 4+ bedroom, 3+ bathroom
- Kitchen - what size stove (American or Italian), can the kitchen handle an American size refrigerator?
-Wash room - is there washer and dryer capabilities. What type of dryer can we have (gas or Italian type dryer). Most locals don't have dryers, because electricity it too expensive.
- Ceiling fans in every room
- Air/heat in every room (there's no central a/c here)
- Screens on windows
- Internet capability (yes, some families live w/o Internet)
- Enough power to sustain multiple appliances at one time (for example...washing a load, using the toaster and watching tv)
- School bus stop location
- Close to the NATO base
- Neighbors
- How may liters does the gas tank hold?
-110AC plugs are a plus!!!

Last but not least...SAFETY, SAFETY, SAFETY!!!! Is this Parco safe???


Ok, enough of the list...here are some of the houses we looked at....

House #1

4 bedrooms, 4 bathroom.
This house checked off most of the list. Two of the most important, safety and awesome landlord. Those were instantly checked off at this location.

 

 

House #2

This house screams "Italia!" and it is just across from the NATO base. It is a great location and the owner is great. The street is a little busy and it is a 3 bedroom.

 

Mamma Mia!! I can look out this window ALL day!

Small kitchen.

 

You can't beat this...it is so close to the base!!

 

 

House #3

This house was a longer drive to/from base (2 miles). The rent was more negotiable. It's a 3 bedroom.

 

House #4

I didn't take pictures of this one because my mind was already set on what house I wanted. However, I thought this was a nice feature!

 

 

 

Well, that's all I have. We didn't see many houses because the town we selected is small. I am happy with our choice. Tune in for what we picked!!!

 

 

 

 

Shopping at Shoe Alley!

It has been quite the culture shock for me in regards to my easy going California attire. The men and women here take fashion very serious! I am too embarrassed to wear my flip flops and yoga pants in the area. It would be the equivalent to wearing pj's (or fleece pants) out to Target. It's not cool!!!  I had to part with my comfy clothes and put the flip flops and yoga pants away! Then I had to bust out the skinny jeggings and go boot shopping!!

Just to give you an example on how serious they are here...
Andy and I were at the kids' school...walking down the hallway and the school janitors were nearby talking. Just as we passed them, I notice the female janitor. She was wearing her uniform shirt with super skinny jeans and knee high stiletto boots (I'm talking 3" high). She walked away pushing the trash can with a mop.

My jaw dropped because I can't stand straight with boots like that and I am confident that Andy's jaw dropped because she was rockn' that outfit!

I have some serious leg envy! *Sigh*



Moving on...
The MWR and USO here offers awesome (daily) trips. Two gal pals invited me to join them for some harmless shopping at Shoe Alley. This trip was coordinated by the MWR. All we had to do was show up at the bus stop (on base), take plenty of EURO and be in the mood to shop!!

This was a sweet lady we met and she wanted us to take pictures of her purses and post them on FB. They also had beautiful leather belts there and they sized them for you on the spot. AMAZING!!

 

 My first pair of Italian leather boots for 30 EURO. They are more for the spring, but who cares?

 

 

 

This is such an important piece of info before you go shopping. 

Conversion chart! Ugh!!!

 

A tribute to our Asia!

 

After our first day attending church, we had a message from my parents about Asia. She was taking a turn for the worst and it was time to let her be in peace. It was not a surprise, but it still hurt.

 

When we received this assignment, we had a family meeting and decided that it would be best for Asia and Bummer to stay with Nana and Papa (the dog parents). They are too old and it is time for them to rest and be in peace. The week before we flew out to Italy Asia had a few seizures and we knew her time was getting close.

Unfortunately, that day did come.  My parents took her to the vet and put her to rest. The doctor did confirm she was suffering and that my mom was doing the right thing. We really felt bad for my parents because we knew the feeling of loosing Steven resurfaced and once again, we lost another family member. 

 

I know my brother was at the Rainbow Bridge with Stinky welcoming Asia into heaven.

Asia Barraza-Katz

a loyal and loving mother, wife and family member

 

 

 

 

First Family Drive!

Driving in Italy is very intimidating. There are a lot of rules that you need to follow but not many drivers follow them, so all you can do is just "go with the flow!" Anything goes on the road and there is no such thing as driving the flow of traffic because you will easily drive at 90+ mph. We stick to the safe speed of 70mph and that is REALLY slow. It's a little embarrassing.

It is strictly defensive driving with a touch of offense. For example, if you give eye contact, you are giving the right of way, however, if you just press the gas and drive you are at risk of being in an accident because someone will always try to squeeze by (they will "share" a lane with you). It's crazy and somewhat Indescribable.

Anywho...just giving you a little bit of a background on why it took us a few days before we put the kids in the car and took a drive around the area.

We have desperately been trying to find our church. If there was anything that was going to help us feel at home...it was going to be our church because God is always the same wherever you go.

It was a little bit of a challenge to find the church. We didn't have the coordinates for the church so we had to start off with heading out to the Pozzuoli area, then switch over to google maps on our iPhones to reach the approximate area of the church.

It was not an easy find. The church is on the rim of a volcano (Solfatara) and it is in a narrow side road that looks like an alley.

Driving down from the crater of the volcano to church.

 

 

 

Solfatara Crater

 

 

 

 

It felt soooo good to see this sign!!!

 

Yay...we found our church!!

 

 

Taking this from Andy's FB post...

"Our church is located directly above the city Paul visited in the Book of Acts in the New Testament...Acts 28 Verse 13..."And from thence we fetched a compass, and came to Rhegium: and after one day the south wind blew, and we came the next day to Puteoli"...today that town is called Pozzuoli.

 

 

Our sweet girl!!!

 

 

Drive back to base...Mt Vesuvius is ahead.

 

After the long drive, we decided to stop at a local restaurant and eat some Italian food. I ordered the spaghetti and red sauce and the kids ordered Margherita Pizza!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

First Week (prima settimana)

We hit the ground running when we landed! First, I need to mention that we have a wonderful sponsor family. Flo and Lenie are one of the few AF families at NATO and they have been so good to us!

There was a quaint little AF welcome party at the airport with a mini van ready for our luggage. We traveled to the Naples Support Site (where our lodging is located) and we were welcomed again by some NATO spouses. To be honest, I was really embarrassed because I looked like I just came out of a 14 hour flight. On the other hand, it was nice to be welcomed right when we arrived. It gave a lasting impression!

That evening, we quickly went to the NEX shopping center to get our cell phones activated. It was helpful that we unlocked our iPhones in the states so we can quickly get our international line set up.

Cell phones....check!!

TLA Livin'!!!

Temporary housing is rough and an adjustment for all. We didn't know what to expect and we were very blessed to have a sponsor that was on the ball and reserved a Villa for us. It was great, as we have plenty of room and at least have apartment living space.

This was a different feature in the bathroom. The kids didn't know what to think of it.

Leilah suggested that we could wash our face with it or use it as a drinking fountain.

Andrew thought it was cool because he thought he could have his own urinal.

We explained to the kids what it is really used for (an how to use it) and that was it.

There was no more talk about it!

Wifi was one of the biggest demands when we arrived. Unfortunately, the connection is really bad here in the TLA. The kids slowly stopped using electronics and I have slowly pulled away from television. I don't know what's next...giving up the Diet DP? Ummm, no!

The Adjustment

The Commissary is pretty much like any other in the states. For shopping cart control, you need to insert 1 Euro to release your cart from the other interlocking carts. Also, shopping bags are a must here. Didn't think I would become so green!

The kids just think this is hilarious! Capri Sonne anybody?

Never thought I would need my google translate to do a simple wash of clothes. Mamma mia!

I enjoyed our daily walks to the NEX and commissary. I couldn't resist taking this picture! It is the simples things that make our family time memorable.

A really cool find at the NEX and Commissary.

Roman remains dated back over 1,000 years ago (at least that's what the NEX employee told us).

It's time to start driving!!!

*Yes I am that goofy girl that wears an AF sweater in a Navy base. ;-P

Our car...Citreon C3!

First time driving on the road!!!