First off...in my excitement over Kelly's acceptance to UT I completely forgot to mention the other good news in the family, not because it is any less exciting, but because I found out on Saturday and I wrote the last post on Tuesday...how quickly my mind wanders. Anyway, Dad was offered a job with Southeastern Financial Credit Union! Woo hooo!!! He began working for them in February on a 3 month temporary contract. The three month contract kept getting extended month by month until finally he was offered a full time position in the business loan department. He will be working in the office 5 minutes from home (3 minutes, he says)! So a big congratluations to dad, he started the new job on Monday!
And I asked in my last for you to have hopes for a car and furniture...and you must have had high hopes! I didn't want to ask for prayers...because furniture and an extra car really aren't prayer worthy...just hopeworthy!! But the furniture arrived on Friday!!!!!!!! Woo hooooo! It was a crazy, but great day!
We have a cuboard that is issued from the military that was sitting in the basement when we moved into the house. The cuboard is not useful to me in the basement...but would be much more helpful in the kitchen to store food, a microwave, and serving platters. I've been trying to figure out for 2 weeks how to get the thing up the steps into the kitchen. It is so incredibly heavy I can hardly even slide it on the tile floors! Well a friend came over the other day and told me that her cuboard was brought inside in two pieces...so the beast DOES come apart! In the excitement of finding out our furniture was arriving, I decided we needed to move the cuboard that night! I informed Taylor, (he was thrilled) actually his words to me were, if you can get it apart, I'll move it with you. So I borrowed a screwdriver from our neighbor and went at it. I actually couldn't get it apart...but Taylor gave in and got the top half off the bottom. Sadly, the beast was STILL realistically too heavy to move. But it sure didn't stop me from trying. We muscled the top half up the stairs and I thought I was going to die. There was no way the bottom was going...I even tried taking out all the shelves to make it lighter...nope didn't help. I woke up the next morning with bruises ALL over my thighs (I'm talking 11-12 bruises!!!) from resting the top piece on my thighs on the way up the stairs because it was hurting my hands so bad. All that work and hurt and I just had to wait until the movers came the next day anyway with a rolling cart to move the piece up to the kitchen. All that for NOTHIN!
But I'm happy to say it is now in my kitchen and it is just as great as I imagined it would be! Not only is that in my kitchen, our house is now full of furniture! Most of it fits very nicely with a little room to spare...but our living room is a bit tight! Taylor and I have been arguing for about 4 weeks over the size of his living room furniture...turns out he was right. There...I said it.
I didn't remember it being as big as he kept claiming, but it is. It is an American size couch and chair in an Italian size living room...but it actually works. I freaked out a little bit at first thinking it looked ridiculous. And I know the Italian movers understood enough English to understand our arguing...I bet they get a lot of that in their job. Moving doesn't always bring out the best in everyone! But with a little moving and rearranging it works just fine. And at the end of the day we survived our first move and were still speaking to each other, actually we even still liked each other!
Now we're onto the unpacking portion...NO FUN! It is getting done slowly, but surely. The kitchen is done and our living room is coming together. It is really nice having the basement, because I can put everything I don't know what to do with down there until I'm ready to hang it, put it away, or throw it away. Mom has been laughing at me saying I am much more like her then I am willing to admit...and I see more and more of it coming out. It is much more noticable when we're not living in the same house together!
I have my portion of the closet organized and I have done more than half of the battle with Taylor's portion...I have no doubt he will have finished putting all his clothes away by the time I make it back home today-or if he was smart he would!!! And I swear, that boy has more clothes in his unaccompanied baggage coming from Korea, then I have in my whole wardrobe! There are still 4 boxes marked clothes in the basement that were stored in North Carolina all year! All he wears are t-shirts, work out shorts, and an occasional collared shirt!
Next we're hanging pictures...we really are having our second, first year of marriage! Mom says she can't hang pictures with dad because he gets too exact and picky about it...we'll see if I can hang pictures with Taylor, because I do it mom's style! The smart thing to do is hang them all when he's at work, but I don't have anyone to help me, so it makes it difficult. I already rearranged the living room furniture while he was at work, good thing he's not too picky!
I'll put up pictures when I can get the house put together!
Yesterday I went down to Nove with Jenni and her little boy Brandon. Nove is a city about 2 hours away where they make all of the ceramics for many of the major brands: Williams Sonoma, Tiffanys, Lenox, etc. They have tons of factories with lots of stores all over the town. Many of the stores are inside the factories selling the dishes for very discounted prices, it was really neat and we got LOTS of Christmas presents. I'm not sure why I bought dishes before I got here! It was a fun trip...minus the trip home when the GPS took us waaay out of the way. It's tough not knowing an area and depending solely on the GPS...I know...maps would be smart, but it's so tough in all these small towns!!!
Anyway, I have lots more to get done today...I'll post again later!
Ciao!
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
College bound...
Quick update...still have no internet...so I'm at the Airman and Family Readiness Center...
Sad, sad UT game on Saturday...little McCluster ran all over us right UP and DOWN the field. I thought the neighbors might be knocking on the door to make sure I was okay after all of Taylor's choice words for the television...clearly they weren't helping. Although his yelling was probably nothing in comparison to the drilling from one of our neighbors. I swear to you it sounds like one of those machines you see drilling into concrete on the side of the road. I'm not sure if he's doing a home renovation or if he has a carpentry hobby...we're hoping for the renovation because it means it will eventually end!!
But in HAPPY UT news, little Kelly Belly got accepted to Tennessee this week. And not only did she get accepted to UT, she got accepted into the Nursing Program!!! I am so incredibly proud of her because that is a VERY tough thing to do! When we went to our UT visit we talked to the Nursing representative and she said they began accepting freshmen into the program last year for the first time. They had about 600 + applicants and they accepted 100. So a BIG congratulations to my baby sister on her huge accomplishment, I couldn't be more proud and excited for her!!! (As a disclaimer...I know that doesn't mean she is definitely going to UT, but the acceptance alone is something to brag about!!)
So things at home are still going well. Taylor's unaccompanied baggage arrived from Korea (I didn't realize he could fit that amount of STUFF in that little room at Osan!!!) But he got it all put away into the correct rooms and we're still waiting on the furniture to come! We finally got all the armoirs moved into our "closet" thanks to some towels, rugs, and lots of sliding across the wood floors (no scratches, don't worry)!
I've attempted some cooking and baking, so far everything I have baked has come out overdone and dry, although in my defense I have a gas oven marked in Celsius...so it's going to take some getting used to. I did make a little cheat sheet of conversions, but apparently it's still too hot, so I will have to play around with the temperature!
The CMA's were just as great as I expected on Thursday. I laughed as my prediction in my previous post played out just as I had written...I sang along into the remote and Taylor rolled his eyes at me and attempted to take my microphone away thinking it would stop the beautiful melody! The CMA's did make me a little sad...especially when Daughtry and Vince Gill were singing some sad song about Tennessee with the Tennessee state sign in the background...it may have drawn a few tears from me.
But I improved greatly on Saturday when I finally got my laptop working in the library and got to talk to my mom and dad on Skype. That was the first time I have talked to them in over 3 weeks! I feel much better! Speaking of my parents, today is my mom's birthday, so a VERY Happy Birthday to her and I hope she enjoys her special day! A young 40 years old ;)
To occupy my days I come to base to use the internet, I've ventured into San Quirino (our town) to see about the shops and restaurants we need to try, I go to the BX or Commisary almost every day to pick up items we need, I go to a kick boxing or step class at 5pm every day, and I'm anxiously awaiting prints that I ordered so I can start scrapbooking! Sounds exciting, huh? Needless to say I'm really hoping for that job option to come through! I've applied...we'll see what happens!
Tomorrow night we are having dinner with Rosario, our 83 year old neighbor. He's going out to buy pizza for us from a shop in town!! I made some oatmeal chocolate chip cookies to bring over when we go...any excuse to bake, I'll take it! And I picked a great choice too, come to find out, Taylor doesn't like oatmeal, that meant I got all the extra dough and the cookies to myself! This could be dangerous!
Anyway, that's all for now...everyone hope for furniture and a car to arrive...any time now would be juuuust great.
Sad, sad UT game on Saturday...little McCluster ran all over us right UP and DOWN the field. I thought the neighbors might be knocking on the door to make sure I was okay after all of Taylor's choice words for the television...clearly they weren't helping. Although his yelling was probably nothing in comparison to the drilling from one of our neighbors. I swear to you it sounds like one of those machines you see drilling into concrete on the side of the road. I'm not sure if he's doing a home renovation or if he has a carpentry hobby...we're hoping for the renovation because it means it will eventually end!!
But in HAPPY UT news, little Kelly Belly got accepted to Tennessee this week. And not only did she get accepted to UT, she got accepted into the Nursing Program!!! I am so incredibly proud of her because that is a VERY tough thing to do! When we went to our UT visit we talked to the Nursing representative and she said they began accepting freshmen into the program last year for the first time. They had about 600 + applicants and they accepted 100. So a BIG congratulations to my baby sister on her huge accomplishment, I couldn't be more proud and excited for her!!! (As a disclaimer...I know that doesn't mean she is definitely going to UT, but the acceptance alone is something to brag about!!)
So things at home are still going well. Taylor's unaccompanied baggage arrived from Korea (I didn't realize he could fit that amount of STUFF in that little room at Osan!!!) But he got it all put away into the correct rooms and we're still waiting on the furniture to come! We finally got all the armoirs moved into our "closet" thanks to some towels, rugs, and lots of sliding across the wood floors (no scratches, don't worry)!
I've attempted some cooking and baking, so far everything I have baked has come out overdone and dry, although in my defense I have a gas oven marked in Celsius...so it's going to take some getting used to. I did make a little cheat sheet of conversions, but apparently it's still too hot, so I will have to play around with the temperature!
The CMA's were just as great as I expected on Thursday. I laughed as my prediction in my previous post played out just as I had written...I sang along into the remote and Taylor rolled his eyes at me and attempted to take my microphone away thinking it would stop the beautiful melody! The CMA's did make me a little sad...especially when Daughtry and Vince Gill were singing some sad song about Tennessee with the Tennessee state sign in the background...it may have drawn a few tears from me.
But I improved greatly on Saturday when I finally got my laptop working in the library and got to talk to my mom and dad on Skype. That was the first time I have talked to them in over 3 weeks! I feel much better! Speaking of my parents, today is my mom's birthday, so a VERY Happy Birthday to her and I hope she enjoys her special day! A young 40 years old ;)
To occupy my days I come to base to use the internet, I've ventured into San Quirino (our town) to see about the shops and restaurants we need to try, I go to the BX or Commisary almost every day to pick up items we need, I go to a kick boxing or step class at 5pm every day, and I'm anxiously awaiting prints that I ordered so I can start scrapbooking! Sounds exciting, huh? Needless to say I'm really hoping for that job option to come through! I've applied...we'll see what happens!
Tomorrow night we are having dinner with Rosario, our 83 year old neighbor. He's going out to buy pizza for us from a shop in town!! I made some oatmeal chocolate chip cookies to bring over when we go...any excuse to bake, I'll take it! And I picked a great choice too, come to find out, Taylor doesn't like oatmeal, that meant I got all the extra dough and the cookies to myself! This could be dangerous!
Anyway, that's all for now...everyone hope for furniture and a car to arrive...any time now would be juuuust great.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Lots of hours of wash...
Quick update because I'm sitting at the base library using the computer while Taylor is working out. I did a cardio kick boxing class 2 days ago and I'm sore in places I didn't know contained muscles...no workout for me today!
And it is currently Thursday, still with no internet. Taylor correctly deciphered his text about them setting it up on Wednesday, but when they arrived they said we didn't have the correct line at the house and they would be back in 10-20 days to install the line. I have a hard time believing that because this is government housing and a Major and his family lived there previous to us...they went for 3 years without internet...doubt it. But the broken English of the internet guy was difficult enough to understand, let alone try to express my opinion.
So...just a few things I have found entertaining over the last few weeks of living here. These are the things Taylor thinks I'm crazy for even mentioning, because why does it matter? And it doesn't really, but I find it interesting so maybe you will too!
1) Recycling is required by law over here. You separate it into different categories before it is either picked up or before you take it to the dumpster (depending on your city). There are steep fines for not obeying the law. One of the previous commanders on base got fined after they went through his trash and picked out a bill with his name and address on it...true story.
2) All showers and baths are required to have an emergency alarm in them. If you are in trouble while in the shower you pull the string that is attached to a button up towards your ceiling and it sets off an alarm. Every hotel and house we looked at had the strings and we couldn't figure out what they were. At one of our hotels Taylor pulled the string in the bathroom and about 2 minutes later we had a guy at our door asking if we needed help because there was an alarm going off. I couldn't figure out what the alarm was coming from, but he flipped a switch inside the door and it turned off. Once the guy left, Taylor says, "I think I figured out what the string is...". Then the inspector at our house said it is Italian law that mandates the alarms in the bathrooms.
3) I've mentioned about the crazy Italian driving. It really isn't as bad as I expected. They just really like to tailgate, speed, and pass you. All the roads in our area are little 2 lane roads, some areas you are allowed to pass, others you are not, for Americans at least! Italians don't care! So, let's say I'm driving down the road and the car behind me decides to pass. They misjudged their space and ended up hitting the car in the oncoming traffic lane as they are trying to pass me. If I did not try to slow down or move out of the passing car's way, by Italian law, I too would be at fault for the accident. They call it the Italian 3rd lane...because they frequently create that invisible third lane to pass you no matter where you are!!
4) I figured out how to work my German washer and dryer after having instructions from the warehouse. I swear when I get decent internet on my computer I'm going to take a picture of my program dial on my washer so you don't think I'm crazy! The washer and dryer are about 1/2 the size of a normal washer and dryer in the US which I thought would be a huge pain...turns out I can live with the size...it's the time that is unbelievable. I start reading the picture graph instructions for my washer...get this...For a normal wash cycle it takes 135 minutes...yes you read that right...ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY FIVE MINUTES!!! If it is heavily soiled it is 150 minutes! So as far as I'm concerned, I don't care how many stains are on the clothes or how bad they smell...from here on out all of my clothes are LIGHTLY SOILED and they will be for the next 3 years. One hour and 50 minutes for the lightly soiled cycle! The dryer takes just as long...
So while that is a huge difference from the US and a rather large inconvenience, it could be way worse. I'm actually very thankful because so far the power at our house has handled all of our appliances running at once. Last night we successfully ran the washer, dryer, and tv all at once...that's a little unheard of over here. I didn't push it with the microwave...that would just be getting greedy.
But seriously, when you rent a home you begin with 3 watts (probably not watts...actually I don't know what the correct term is for it...) so I'll say level 3 power for the house. For a one time fee of 130 Euro (about $190) you can upgrade to level 4...this will allow you to run more appliances at once. You have to be sure your house can handle the level of electricity because some houses are only wired to handle 4-5 watts, but the max level is 6. In GHRP housing (Government Housing Rental Program) all houses are wired and have their electricity at level 6 without having to pay the necessary fee for every level you move up. Huge bonus!
We have yet to trip our circuits...I can also run my hairdryer and the tv at once as well, so we have been very lucky!!! As it was explained to me...in the US usually each room is wired on a circuit so if you are running two hair dryers in one room obviously you will probably blow a fuse. In Italian homes, the whole house is on the same circuit, it is not divided by room, so a washer and dryer at the same time especially combined with a TV would easily blow a fuse. Anyway, you take it for granted in the US, but not everywhere runs quite as easily and freely as it does back home! Appreciate your washer and dryer that take 16 minutes to run a cycle and 45 minutes to dry!
I am really excited for tonight because at 7pm on AFN (Armed Forces Network) Prime the 43rd Annual Country Music Association awards are on!!!!!!!!!! It's a great night! And if I knew enough people who loved country music I would invite them over for a party, but I don't, so it will be Taylor and I on the couch singing into the remote (well I'll be singing...Taylor will be rolling his eyes at me). I saw the first ad for this last Thursday and I have been looking forward to it all week! I'm going to be real sad if they start playing songs I haven't even heard yet...I'm sure it's possible considering we get two Armed Forces radio stations over here and I haven't even heard those for a week since we turned in the rental car! Taylor's car has no radio...he's desperately looking into adding one ASAP!
Taylor's unaccompanied baggage should be delivered tomorrow (he finally gets winter clothes now too) and he was told his household goods from North Carolina should be arriving on the 20th. No word on my HHG, but at least we'll get part of the stuff. I'm tired of scooping my icecream with my plastic measuring cup...yay for real silverware coming soon!!
All for now!
Later Gator Hater!!
And it is currently Thursday, still with no internet. Taylor correctly deciphered his text about them setting it up on Wednesday, but when they arrived they said we didn't have the correct line at the house and they would be back in 10-20 days to install the line. I have a hard time believing that because this is government housing and a Major and his family lived there previous to us...they went for 3 years without internet...doubt it. But the broken English of the internet guy was difficult enough to understand, let alone try to express my opinion.
So...just a few things I have found entertaining over the last few weeks of living here. These are the things Taylor thinks I'm crazy for even mentioning, because why does it matter? And it doesn't really, but I find it interesting so maybe you will too!
1) Recycling is required by law over here. You separate it into different categories before it is either picked up or before you take it to the dumpster (depending on your city). There are steep fines for not obeying the law. One of the previous commanders on base got fined after they went through his trash and picked out a bill with his name and address on it...true story.
2) All showers and baths are required to have an emergency alarm in them. If you are in trouble while in the shower you pull the string that is attached to a button up towards your ceiling and it sets off an alarm. Every hotel and house we looked at had the strings and we couldn't figure out what they were. At one of our hotels Taylor pulled the string in the bathroom and about 2 minutes later we had a guy at our door asking if we needed help because there was an alarm going off. I couldn't figure out what the alarm was coming from, but he flipped a switch inside the door and it turned off. Once the guy left, Taylor says, "I think I figured out what the string is...". Then the inspector at our house said it is Italian law that mandates the alarms in the bathrooms.
3) I've mentioned about the crazy Italian driving. It really isn't as bad as I expected. They just really like to tailgate, speed, and pass you. All the roads in our area are little 2 lane roads, some areas you are allowed to pass, others you are not, for Americans at least! Italians don't care! So, let's say I'm driving down the road and the car behind me decides to pass. They misjudged their space and ended up hitting the car in the oncoming traffic lane as they are trying to pass me. If I did not try to slow down or move out of the passing car's way, by Italian law, I too would be at fault for the accident. They call it the Italian 3rd lane...because they frequently create that invisible third lane to pass you no matter where you are!!
4) I figured out how to work my German washer and dryer after having instructions from the warehouse. I swear when I get decent internet on my computer I'm going to take a picture of my program dial on my washer so you don't think I'm crazy! The washer and dryer are about 1/2 the size of a normal washer and dryer in the US which I thought would be a huge pain...turns out I can live with the size...it's the time that is unbelievable. I start reading the picture graph instructions for my washer...get this...For a normal wash cycle it takes 135 minutes...yes you read that right...ONE HUNDRED AND THIRTY FIVE MINUTES!!! If it is heavily soiled it is 150 minutes! So as far as I'm concerned, I don't care how many stains are on the clothes or how bad they smell...from here on out all of my clothes are LIGHTLY SOILED and they will be for the next 3 years. One hour and 50 minutes for the lightly soiled cycle! The dryer takes just as long...
So while that is a huge difference from the US and a rather large inconvenience, it could be way worse. I'm actually very thankful because so far the power at our house has handled all of our appliances running at once. Last night we successfully ran the washer, dryer, and tv all at once...that's a little unheard of over here. I didn't push it with the microwave...that would just be getting greedy.
But seriously, when you rent a home you begin with 3 watts (probably not watts...actually I don't know what the correct term is for it...) so I'll say level 3 power for the house. For a one time fee of 130 Euro (about $190) you can upgrade to level 4...this will allow you to run more appliances at once. You have to be sure your house can handle the level of electricity because some houses are only wired to handle 4-5 watts, but the max level is 6. In GHRP housing (Government Housing Rental Program) all houses are wired and have their electricity at level 6 without having to pay the necessary fee for every level you move up. Huge bonus!
We have yet to trip our circuits...I can also run my hairdryer and the tv at once as well, so we have been very lucky!!! As it was explained to me...in the US usually each room is wired on a circuit so if you are running two hair dryers in one room obviously you will probably blow a fuse. In Italian homes, the whole house is on the same circuit, it is not divided by room, so a washer and dryer at the same time especially combined with a TV would easily blow a fuse. Anyway, you take it for granted in the US, but not everywhere runs quite as easily and freely as it does back home! Appreciate your washer and dryer that take 16 minutes to run a cycle and 45 minutes to dry!
I am really excited for tonight because at 7pm on AFN (Armed Forces Network) Prime the 43rd Annual Country Music Association awards are on!!!!!!!!!! It's a great night! And if I knew enough people who loved country music I would invite them over for a party, but I don't, so it will be Taylor and I on the couch singing into the remote (well I'll be singing...Taylor will be rolling his eyes at me). I saw the first ad for this last Thursday and I have been looking forward to it all week! I'm going to be real sad if they start playing songs I haven't even heard yet...I'm sure it's possible considering we get two Armed Forces radio stations over here and I haven't even heard those for a week since we turned in the rental car! Taylor's car has no radio...he's desperately looking into adding one ASAP!
Taylor's unaccompanied baggage should be delivered tomorrow (he finally gets winter clothes now too) and he was told his household goods from North Carolina should be arriving on the 20th. No word on my HHG, but at least we'll get part of the stuff. I'm tired of scooping my icecream with my plastic measuring cup...yay for real silverware coming soon!!
All for now!
Later Gator Hater!!
Friday, November 6, 2009
Lost in Translation...
Alright, well it's official, we are moved into our home! And when I say moved in, that's a very loose statement! We have moved in what we have so far which is not much. Our bags are in the correct rooms and our groceries are unpacked. I just received my unaccompanied baggage yesterday, so I'm happy to report I now have some winter clothes...it was a good day! We did recieve our temporary furniture and it is ROUGH!
We have a couch...I kid you not, it is the exact same couch I had in Andy Holt (University apartment style dorm at UT), a coffee table, a kitchen table, chairs, 2 night stands and a bed that is harder than our wood floors! I seriously sat down on the bed when they moved it in and just started laughing. We went to the store when we moved in to buy some essentials like 1 towel, some plastic plates, and silverware, toilet paper, sheets, a blanket, pillows, groceries, and a TV. Yes, a tv. Taylor about wore me out trying to get that thing set up as soon as we moved in so we could get the whole 7 channels they offer on the Armed Forces Network (AFN). It took 3 trips to the BX (Base Exchange...our Wal-Mart) just to get the right cords and plugs and then a visit to the Piernick's to get the correct adaptor for the plug because the plugs are not standard over here and not all European plugs fit all outlets and appliances. Why make it easy, right? I was doubtful and betted that he wouldn't get it set up that night, but he won...he got it all set up and working the first night. Point for Taylor.
There was one minor detail we went without the first night and that was HEAT! The inspector said the pressure was high on our hot water tank (or some kind of tank that controls heat in our house) and he didn't recommend turning on the radiators until someone could come look and see what the problem was. So we had hot water, but no heat. The highs have been in the low 50's to high 40's for a good 2 weeks here...it was a little chilly! I slept in 2 pairs of socks, leggings, flannel pants, a t-shirt, longsleve shirt, and my fleece and I was quite comfortable that night.
I also mentioned that all of our windows have shutters on them. Taylor is in heaven because he loves to sleep in the dark, but it totally throws me off to not have any sunlight in the morning because I ususally start waking up a few times before I need to wake up. Well our first morning I set my alarm to get up for Spouse Start (a welcome/informational type program) and at 7:45 Taylor's alarm went off. I don't know if I set my alarm wrong, or disabled it, or what but I had to be at Spouse Start at 8am! I woke up completely disoriented and threw myself together enough to make it to the program only 15 minutes late...not too bad! So I'm figuring out ways to allow sunlight through so I'm not so disoriented in the morning.
Our heat was fixed the next day and on our second night as we went to bed Taylor turned off the heat downstairs, or at least he thought he was turning off the heat. It is Italian law that you are only allowed to run your heat or air conditioner 14 hours a day. So the next morning I wake up and shower to wait for my unaccompanied baggage to arrive and I walk downstairs into an absolute oven! It was SOO hot down there and we have yet to figure out how to turn our heat on and off. We're still messing with it and can't figure out which way is which. I know that sounds really silly and that it should be really simple, but I'm telling you, NOTHING is simple in this country! Oh, I also misreported in an earlier post. Our house is heated by radiators, but our heat comes from our floors. How cool is that?? And it is so great because we have all tile and hardwood. That tile gets so cold, but with the heated floors I can actually walk around barefooted without freezing my toes off!
Another appliance we have yet to figure out is our German washer and dryer. Aside from the German words telling us how to work it, it is full of symbols that don't mean a SINGLE thing to me. Again, it sounds so silly, but it is nothing logical at all like blue for cold, red for hot, nope, nothing. So after I finish this I'm heading over to the warehouse to pick up instructions for my washer and dryer...what do you want to bet it's all in German?
I attempted to top off our rental car with gas before I turned it in on Wednesday. I went to the gas station, just as I had with Taylor the day before. I waited for the guy who pumps it to come over and ask what I needed (most stations do that here)...no one came. I waited awhile longer...no one came. So I drove down the road to the next station and I waited...and no one came. So I realized the station was on its siesta (actually that's Spanish and I can't remember what the Italian word for it is...) but basically most business close for about 2 hours in the afternoon to have lunch and take a nap. So I had learned about this in my Spouse Start that morning and I learned how to work the machine. So I got out and went to open my gas tank and it took me about 5 minutes just to figure out how to unlock the top of it. When I finally got it unlocked I then went over to the machine to pay for my gas and sure enough in the little Italian I could figure out...it wouldn't take credit cards, only Euros. Well I had no Euros and needless to say the car never got topped off. I just laughed at my situation...well after I got my frustration out and I'm just glad no one else was there with me to see my struggle with the gas station. You know, it's these little things that you don't think about and no, they're not big deals...but they're annoyances and little adaptations that I just have to get used to!
And speaking of...Since we do not have internet I am currently sitting at the Airman and Family Readiness Center on base using their wireless. My battery is about to die because I brought my charger, but not an adapter and my plug won't plug into the outlet here! Good news though, Taylor thinks our internet will be set up on Wedneday. He got a text in Italian and from what he could decipher, he thinks that is what it was telling him...I'll let you know!!!
Bye for now!!
We have a couch...I kid you not, it is the exact same couch I had in Andy Holt (University apartment style dorm at UT), a coffee table, a kitchen table, chairs, 2 night stands and a bed that is harder than our wood floors! I seriously sat down on the bed when they moved it in and just started laughing. We went to the store when we moved in to buy some essentials like 1 towel, some plastic plates, and silverware, toilet paper, sheets, a blanket, pillows, groceries, and a TV. Yes, a tv. Taylor about wore me out trying to get that thing set up as soon as we moved in so we could get the whole 7 channels they offer on the Armed Forces Network (AFN). It took 3 trips to the BX (Base Exchange...our Wal-Mart) just to get the right cords and plugs and then a visit to the Piernick's to get the correct adaptor for the plug because the plugs are not standard over here and not all European plugs fit all outlets and appliances. Why make it easy, right? I was doubtful and betted that he wouldn't get it set up that night, but he won...he got it all set up and working the first night. Point for Taylor.
There was one minor detail we went without the first night and that was HEAT! The inspector said the pressure was high on our hot water tank (or some kind of tank that controls heat in our house) and he didn't recommend turning on the radiators until someone could come look and see what the problem was. So we had hot water, but no heat. The highs have been in the low 50's to high 40's for a good 2 weeks here...it was a little chilly! I slept in 2 pairs of socks, leggings, flannel pants, a t-shirt, longsleve shirt, and my fleece and I was quite comfortable that night.
I also mentioned that all of our windows have shutters on them. Taylor is in heaven because he loves to sleep in the dark, but it totally throws me off to not have any sunlight in the morning because I ususally start waking up a few times before I need to wake up. Well our first morning I set my alarm to get up for Spouse Start (a welcome/informational type program) and at 7:45 Taylor's alarm went off. I don't know if I set my alarm wrong, or disabled it, or what but I had to be at Spouse Start at 8am! I woke up completely disoriented and threw myself together enough to make it to the program only 15 minutes late...not too bad! So I'm figuring out ways to allow sunlight through so I'm not so disoriented in the morning.
Our heat was fixed the next day and on our second night as we went to bed Taylor turned off the heat downstairs, or at least he thought he was turning off the heat. It is Italian law that you are only allowed to run your heat or air conditioner 14 hours a day. So the next morning I wake up and shower to wait for my unaccompanied baggage to arrive and I walk downstairs into an absolute oven! It was SOO hot down there and we have yet to figure out how to turn our heat on and off. We're still messing with it and can't figure out which way is which. I know that sounds really silly and that it should be really simple, but I'm telling you, NOTHING is simple in this country! Oh, I also misreported in an earlier post. Our house is heated by radiators, but our heat comes from our floors. How cool is that?? And it is so great because we have all tile and hardwood. That tile gets so cold, but with the heated floors I can actually walk around barefooted without freezing my toes off!
Another appliance we have yet to figure out is our German washer and dryer. Aside from the German words telling us how to work it, it is full of symbols that don't mean a SINGLE thing to me. Again, it sounds so silly, but it is nothing logical at all like blue for cold, red for hot, nope, nothing. So after I finish this I'm heading over to the warehouse to pick up instructions for my washer and dryer...what do you want to bet it's all in German?
I attempted to top off our rental car with gas before I turned it in on Wednesday. I went to the gas station, just as I had with Taylor the day before. I waited for the guy who pumps it to come over and ask what I needed (most stations do that here)...no one came. I waited awhile longer...no one came. So I drove down the road to the next station and I waited...and no one came. So I realized the station was on its siesta (actually that's Spanish and I can't remember what the Italian word for it is...) but basically most business close for about 2 hours in the afternoon to have lunch and take a nap. So I had learned about this in my Spouse Start that morning and I learned how to work the machine. So I got out and went to open my gas tank and it took me about 5 minutes just to figure out how to unlock the top of it. When I finally got it unlocked I then went over to the machine to pay for my gas and sure enough in the little Italian I could figure out...it wouldn't take credit cards, only Euros. Well I had no Euros and needless to say the car never got topped off. I just laughed at my situation...well after I got my frustration out and I'm just glad no one else was there with me to see my struggle with the gas station. You know, it's these little things that you don't think about and no, they're not big deals...but they're annoyances and little adaptations that I just have to get used to!
And speaking of...Since we do not have internet I am currently sitting at the Airman and Family Readiness Center on base using their wireless. My battery is about to die because I brought my charger, but not an adapter and my plug won't plug into the outlet here! Good news though, Taylor thinks our internet will be set up on Wedneday. He got a text in Italian and from what he could decipher, he thinks that is what it was telling him...I'll let you know!!!
Bye for now!!
Saturday, October 31, 2009
Venezia
So I forgot to upload these pictures until after I had started writing and I can't copy and paste and move things around on here for some reason...so it's a bit out of order. But here was our fearless leader finding where he THOUGHT we were on the map. I'll give him about a 20% accuracy rating. And that's not due to his lack of skills, but due to the crazy roads of Venezia.
Here is a close up of the map...I encourage you to click on it to see what I'm talking about. The white are the "roads/alley/hallways" Good luck following them anywhere!! The water is the Grand Canal which flows all the way through the city.
We just happened upon this after going through many alleys and hallway size streets. There were beautiful buildings and cathedrals hidden on small streets through out the whole city. I could NEVER find this again!!
Sitting down by the water outside of San Marco Square on the bay (I suppose).
The cathedral in San Marco Square.
Part of San Marco Square.
The gondolas all tied up on the bay.
I don't know what the building was out in the middle of the bay, but it was sure pretty!
I just like this picture of Taylor. This was at dinner on the Grand Canal sitting right by the water. We learned lots of lessons from our trip...don't eat a meal right on the Grand Canal...we paid for it big time...literally!!!!
My birthday dinner in Venezia!
This is Venice at night...it didn't come out quite like it looked through my camera. We'll have Taylor's camera soon and hopefully get some really good pics...but it's still kinda cool.
Here is a close up of the map...I encourage you to click on it to see what I'm talking about. The white are the "roads/alley/hallways" Good luck following them anywhere!! The water is the Grand Canal which flows all the way through the city.
NOW THE POST STARTS... sorry for the above mix up out of order, but I had to include it!!
Here are some pictures from our adventure in Venezia (Venice). We had no real plan for our day, we just wanted to check out the city and see what we could find. I went online to look up some suggestions of things to do or to see just so we could have some kind of frame of reference. The website I found told me that if we did nothing else, the number one thing we needed to do was get lost in the city. Well...that was easy! I don't know how you could ever learn the city...it was seriously like a massive corn maze (without the corn, obviously!!) It was unbelievable! We bought a map and stopped everytime we thought we were at a big enough church we could locate it on the map to have an idea of where we were. I think we only found our exact place about 3 times all day! Our goal was to make it down to San Marco Square (Piazza San Marco) so we headed in the general direction and just wandered. It took us about 3 1/2 hours (that included a lunch stop) to finally make it to our designated destination! Taylor and I loved the city, we both thought it was beautiful! We had gotten mixed reviews about the city from various people, but we both thought the city was very clean and there was no smell at all. Although we were told that often the smell comes with the heat in the summer...so you're good to go in the fall and winter.
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Below are various pictures from our trip. I don't know what any of the cathedrals or buildings are, I just thought they were pretty. Next time we go, I'm buying a guide book that gives historical details about important places...then I can take more informed and educated pictures.
We just happened upon this after going through many alleys and hallway size streets. There were beautiful buildings and cathedrals hidden on small streets through out the whole city. I could NEVER find this again!!
Sitting down by the water outside of San Marco Square on the bay (I suppose).
The cathedral in San Marco Square.
Part of San Marco Square.
The gondolas all tied up on the bay.
I don't know what the building was out in the middle of the bay, but it was sure pretty!
I just like this picture of Taylor. This was at dinner on the Grand Canal sitting right by the water. We learned lots of lessons from our trip...don't eat a meal right on the Grand Canal...we paid for it big time...literally!!!!
My birthday dinner in Venezia!
This is Venice at night...it didn't come out quite like it looked through my camera. We'll have Taylor's camera soon and hopefully get some really good pics...but it's still kinda cool..
We have our last night in a hotel tonight. WOOOOOOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
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I have been living out of my 2 suitcases since September 28th when they picked up all my stuff to ship! On Thursday I will recieve my unaccompanied baggage, so I will finally have some winter clothes, besides the one white long sleve shirt I've worn for a couple days now (I know, gross...good thing I'm across the world from you all. And good thing I have a washer/dryer in our hotel...the 3rd one of our trip so far!!) So tomorrow we move in, on Wednesday I have a program called Spouse Start, and on Thursday my stuff is delivered! Taylor's stuff from Korea has arrived on base, but for lack of better explanation, it's caught up in military bureaucracy and guidelines and we have yet to recieve a definite delivery date.
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We are also experiencing our first example of "slow pace Italian living" we had been warned about by so many. I mentioned that Taylor bought a car on Thursday (well technically he didn't pay for it bc their credit card machine was broken, so they told him just to pay later) but it needed a part fixed to pass inspection and on Thursday we were told "it will be done domani (tomorrow)" On Friday we were told it would be done on Monday, and today we have been told, it will be ready domani! There is no changing the pace of life!
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Oh, and what a great weekend for Tennessee football?! The Vols had a big win that I didn't actually see, but I woke up multiple times while Taylor was LISTENING to it on the computer in the hotel room until 4:30am. He gave me score updates in between me complaining that it was to loud. Taylor would say I'm not a true fan, I would call Taylor a freak of a fan...it's all relative I suppose! And we didn't see or hear any of the Titans game, but I am glad to hear we have our first W!
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Anyway...that's all for now!
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Love, Katie
Thursday, October 29, 2009
House Pictures
I know I whined and moaned about the internet at the hotel being awful and I couldn't upload pictures...but I might have been a little wrong. I was getting horrible service the whole day, it kept coming in and out and I just assumed that was normal. I woke up this morning and was checking my mail and everything was working great. I decided to attempt to upload pictures and see what happened and it was successful, so pictures are now available!
And just a little story, a testament if you will to the crazy Italian drivers. We went today to buy a car for Taylor at the local used car dealer that was recommended to us. We were test driving a car (well Taylor was driving) and the guy was in the front seat. We were out on a country road and Taylor is going about 10-15 km over the speed limit. The guy goes "it's okay, you can speed here". So Taylor drives about 20 km over the speed limit and the guy goes, "no, no, go on and speed, it's okay, we're in Italy!". Then we get behind a truck and the guy says, "oh, go on and pass him" (this is a 2 lane road, btw) Taylor says, "well I can't see anything around this truck." The guy says, "nah, that's okay, just pass!" (Taylor is commenting as I'm writing this that he did finally see around the truck before he passed!!) And luckily, we all survived our test drive trips! The dealer was also very amused about the fact that the Jack Daniel's distilery is in a dry county. He thought we were kidding him...he got a real kick out of that!!
Aaand we bought a car...well almost. In true, slow Italian fashion we will probably have it tomorrow, but we decided upon a 96 BMW 316i. It's a nice little 2 door, navy blue, coupe. So for those of you coming to visit...we have lots of room in our house...but small little cars to drive you around in (we both will have 2 doors), but once you get here and see these tiny roads, the decision makes perfect sense.
Now onto the house...voilaaaaaa...here it is!!!
Hahaha...I forgot to mention it was bright yellow with John Deere green shutters on it!! It is a row house and we have both the upstairs and downstairs of the picture you're looking at. The doors you see downstairs open into our living room. And the green you see upstairs (but can't figure out what it is) are doors that open from our master bedroom onto the balcony right there.
This is a picture of the area...
This is one of the spare bedrooms. You will notice, and I mentioned previously, but all the windows and doors have shutters that you open...so the house is closed up in the pictures, but it will all be open!
This is one of the upstairs bathrooms (Taylor's) But it contains the only shower (on the left...it's tiny...but they all are here!) The white towel rack looking thing is the radiator, but it's designed so you can warm your towels on it as well. And if you notice the cream button, type round thing above the toilet is how you flush it! There are huge buttons you push here...I found it very amusing!
This is the master bedroom with the doors that open out onto the balcony.
This is my bathroom upstairs. You can see part of the lovely wardrobe that is sitting in it right now! And also the bidet...those things seem quite intimidating. All the bathrooms have them here, but I've yet to attempt one.
This is the other side of my bathroom...see so much room! I've never had a bathroom this big, and I probably won't for a long, long time!!
Here is the kitchen with the lovely yellow cabinets. But they are like gold over here...any kind of cabinet is beautiful in my eyes at this point!! Our table will go where I am standing to take this picture...you will see in the picture below.
Now I'm standing in the kitchen and this is the eating area. Our living room is just off to the right. If you notice at the left, upper corner, that is the air conditioner. They have a few of them through out the house. I mentioned previously that there is no central heat/ac as we know it in the US, but they aren't' window units either. They are usually controlled by a remote. And heat is obviously through radiators.
This is standing in our front/only yard looking into the living room through our doors...and the patio out there. The kitchen/eating area is just off to the right in this picture. (Just to try to orient you)
I'm standing in the eating area of the kitchen taking the picture and this is the living room. Taylor is walking in our front door.
This is the laundry room off the basement downstairs.
This is the basement...Taylor's "MAN CAVE!!!!"
This is the storage room located in the basement...
This is the garage located right off the storage room. I'm standing at the end where the garage door opens and you can see through the doorway into the storage room as well.
And just a little story, a testament if you will to the crazy Italian drivers. We went today to buy a car for Taylor at the local used car dealer that was recommended to us. We were test driving a car (well Taylor was driving) and the guy was in the front seat. We were out on a country road and Taylor is going about 10-15 km over the speed limit. The guy goes "it's okay, you can speed here". So Taylor drives about 20 km over the speed limit and the guy goes, "no, no, go on and speed, it's okay, we're in Italy!". Then we get behind a truck and the guy says, "oh, go on and pass him" (this is a 2 lane road, btw) Taylor says, "well I can't see anything around this truck." The guy says, "nah, that's okay, just pass!" (Taylor is commenting as I'm writing this that he did finally see around the truck before he passed!!) And luckily, we all survived our test drive trips! The dealer was also very amused about the fact that the Jack Daniel's distilery is in a dry county. He thought we were kidding him...he got a real kick out of that!!
Aaand we bought a car...well almost. In true, slow Italian fashion we will probably have it tomorrow, but we decided upon a 96 BMW 316i. It's a nice little 2 door, navy blue, coupe. So for those of you coming to visit...we have lots of room in our house...but small little cars to drive you around in (we both will have 2 doors), but once you get here and see these tiny roads, the decision makes perfect sense.
Now onto the house...voilaaaaaa...here it is!!!
Hahaha...I forgot to mention it was bright yellow with John Deere green shutters on it!! It is a row house and we have both the upstairs and downstairs of the picture you're looking at. The doors you see downstairs open into our living room. And the green you see upstairs (but can't figure out what it is) are doors that open from our master bedroom onto the balcony right there.
This is a picture of the area...
This is one of the spare bedrooms. You will notice, and I mentioned previously, but all the windows and doors have shutters that you open...so the house is closed up in the pictures, but it will all be open!
This is one of the upstairs bathrooms (Taylor's) But it contains the only shower (on the left...it's tiny...but they all are here!) The white towel rack looking thing is the radiator, but it's designed so you can warm your towels on it as well. And if you notice the cream button, type round thing above the toilet is how you flush it! There are huge buttons you push here...I found it very amusing!
This is the master bedroom with the doors that open out onto the balcony.
This is my bathroom upstairs. You can see part of the lovely wardrobe that is sitting in it right now! And also the bidet...those things seem quite intimidating. All the bathrooms have them here, but I've yet to attempt one.
This is the other side of my bathroom...see so much room! I've never had a bathroom this big, and I probably won't for a long, long time!!
Here is the kitchen with the lovely yellow cabinets. But they are like gold over here...any kind of cabinet is beautiful in my eyes at this point!! Our table will go where I am standing to take this picture...you will see in the picture below.
Now I'm standing in the kitchen and this is the eating area. Our living room is just off to the right. If you notice at the left, upper corner, that is the air conditioner. They have a few of them through out the house. I mentioned previously that there is no central heat/ac as we know it in the US, but they aren't' window units either. They are usually controlled by a remote. And heat is obviously through radiators.
This is standing in our front/only yard looking into the living room through our doors...and the patio out there. The kitchen/eating area is just off to the right in this picture. (Just to try to orient you)
I'm standing in the eating area of the kitchen taking the picture and this is the living room. Taylor is walking in our front door.
This is the laundry room off the basement downstairs.
This is the basement...Taylor's "MAN CAVE!!!!"
This is the storage room located in the basement...
This is the garage located right off the storage room. I'm standing at the end where the garage door opens and you can see through the doorway into the storage room as well..
So...maybe this has made a little sense? I tried to explain it so you can get a visual image, but I know it's tough! Anyway, we're real excited and we move in on November 3rd! And more good news, we got emails today that our unaccompanied baggage has arrived. Wooo hooo that means we finally have some winter clothes here! Now we're waiting on our household goods and my car!
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Alright, we're off to watch some Friday Night Lights...well not really off because we're watching it on my computer. We have very limited resources in the hotel room over here! And we're heading to Venice in the morning (after we get the car registered and taken care of...) so hopefully morning! I'll update about that later!!
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Night!
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
WE HAVE A HOME!!!!
WE HAVE A HOME...WE HAVE A HOME...WE HAVE A HOME!!!!!!!!!!!!
But to start from where I left off...or at least where I think I left off. (The internet at our new hotel is so slow it took me 5 minutes just to open my blog...let alone read it to remember what I last wrote...I came straight to the "New Post" page!)
Anyway...Monday was Right Start, which is a lot of briefings from the military and as Taylor described it, "death by powerpoint". I only had to be there for the afternoon portion on Monday because they went over housing and a safety briefing for our driver's license. Nothing big went on...
Tuesday was my birthday! Taylor had Right Start in the morning and in the mean time Jenni helped me move out of our hotel on base into an Italian hotel in Aviano...Hotel Oliva. The hotel is nice, but much, much smaller. It's just a room, so no kitchen or anything, but we have a whole wall of windows with a nice balcony. After Taylor finished Right Start we finally had our drivers licenses and we went to rent a car so we wouldn't be so dependant on Mike and Jenni! They have been awesome, but it's a lot to ask to have someone tote you around for a week while you look for houses and attempt to get situated! We both took turns driving the stick shift on these crazy Italian roads...it will take a little getting used to, but it's not bad!
We attempted to go to a nicer dinner for my birthday...but both the restaurants we walked to were closed. They have a crazy schedule over here and they close for no reason...one of the restaurants we tried to go to was the same one we went to on Tuesday night LAST week...who knows why it was closed this Tuesday!!?? So we settled on the only one we passed that was open and it ended up being a Steak/Pizza House that blasted American pop music through out the restaurant. It was alright, although we're not sure how authentic it was since we were eating our prosuitto pizza listening to Rhianna and Jay-Z!!
Sadly, as I mentioned, the internet at our hotel isn't as good as it was on base and it isn't strong enough to support a Skype conversation, so I didn't get to really talk to anyone back home. But we did type back and forth on Skype, so that was good. I mean, it's not like I haven't talked to anyone...I've called home almost everyday as Taylor likes to point out!! :) But as great as everything is here, and it still is, and I still love it...it was a little sad on my birthday :( But a few tears later I'm still standing!!!
And on to great news from today!!! On Monday we were offered government housing. It pretty much means that the government/US military owns the home and they will take care of the rent and all of the utilities, but then we do not get any money put in our account for rent or utilities. If you "live off the economy" (non-government housing), you have an Italian landlord and you pay your rent to them and you pay your gas to the city gas and electric and so forth. And the military puts your housing allowance/utility allowance in your account and you pay from that.
It is generally very difficult to get government housing (aka GURP...Government Unit Rental Program) because if you qualify with dependants then your name gets put on a list and when something comes available you get called. Well somehow with Taylor's remote tour to Korea last year his name was put on the list last year so he was at the top of the list when we got here. (We don't really understand how that happened) When they offer it to you, you have the choice to accept or decline it. If you decline you can not put your name back on the list for 90 days...and you have to wait again. By 90 days you need to have a place because your Temporary Living Allowance (TLA) will run out before then! Basically, you'll be paying for a hotel out of your pocket!
So we were offered this and we agreed to look at it. You're probably thinking, as was I, government housing sounds like it's some low end cheap apartment complex with all American families living there...but surprisingly, it's not...at all! The house is located in San Quirino on a little street with about 5 other duplexes on it with both American and Italian families. The whole complex (for lack of better word...but not complex like you think in America) is not GURP housing...in fact, I don't quite understand how it works!
Anyway, Taylor and I were both shocked and very pleasantly surprised with this house (duplex)! It was built in 2005, so it is still very new. It is 3 stories (including the finished basement) 3 bedrooms, 2 1/2 bath, living room, kitchen, and basement. It is 1800 square feet, 2700 if you count the attached garage, storage space, and laundry room! Yes, you read that correctly, storage space!!!
You walk into the living room with doors that slide open into our fenced/hedged front yard (small) with a patio out there. The living room is open to the kitchen/eating area. The kitchen includes cabinets, (they're light yellow...but they're still cabinets!!!) a full size fridge, and a DISHWASHER!!! That's unheard of, and we wouldn't even have gotten that issued from base...we wouldn't qualify because we don't have 4 kids!!!
Moving on...There is a door to downstairs which opens into a large finished, tiled basement (Taylor's man cave...he already has big plans). The laundry room is off the basement and there is a storage room off the basement as well, probably as big or bigger than my upstairs room back home in Franklin. It is fully tiled and then there is a door from that into the garage that is also tiled!! This tile here is awesome! The garage is for 1 car, but is so deep you could almost fit two probably!
Then upstairs it is hardwood and there are 3 bedrooms and 2 full baths. The master bedroom has sliding doors that open out onto a balcony that is above the patio off the living room. One of the bathrooms is bigger than one of the bedrooms (that's gonna be mine...I already claimed it!!) and the other bathroom contains the shower, but is much more size appropriate for Taylor's needs :) The smallest bedroom is going to be our closet, since the Italians don't believe in building them into the rooms! It will hold all of our wardrobes (big ugly pieces of furniture that allow you to hang clothes...like a closet would do for you!!) Although my bathroom is so big, it currently has a wardrobe in it and there is still plenty of room...I'm deciding if I should leave it or move it.
So I think that's all of it...but we are both SO SO SO excited. I know my other posts talk about how much I love San Giovanni di Polcenigo...and I sure do, and all the houses we looked at were in that region except this, but we'd be stupid not to take this offer! We have yet to see a house this nice and updated with this much space. San Quirino is about 15-20 minutes from San Giovanni. It isn't right at the base of the mountains it is out just a bit in more of a farmland area, although we're only about 3 blocks from San Quirino's town square! And our internet service should be better...we've been told it's very spotty when you get closer to the mountains...and without Skype I think I'd be one sad girl. San Quirino is also where the vineyard was that we went to on Friday...plenty of good things in town :) We've already been looking at furniture (bc we'll need an extra couch now) and grills and all kinds of things. Some may be wishful thinking, but it's fun to browse!
We also met our neighbor already! His name is Rosario and he is 83 years old. While we were looking at the house he invited us over for a glass of vino. So we sat and talked with him for awhile. He gave me red wine, many know I'm not a huge fan of red, but I couldn't turn that down, you better believe I drank the whole thing. I'll be learning to like it soon! Rosario speaks good, but a little butchered English. He used to work on a US military base, but he is a very sweet, funny old man. His wife of 50 years died 4 months ago, so it was hard when he was showing us pictures. He said he'll teach us Italian, a lesson each day :) He tried to make spaghetti for us, but we had to get back to base to sign contracts and accept the house! I love it!!!
So we signed...it's ours! We move our bags in on November 3rd and they will deliver temporary furniture the same day...bed, couch, table, etc. In the mean time we are going to try to buy Taylor a car tomorrow and the plan is to go to Venice on Friday, just for the day. We're going to scope it out and see what we can find. Hopefully go to a nice dinner (birthday dinner!!!) and then take the train back that night!
On Saturday we have a Halloween party at the Piernicks. I was sure we wouldn't be doing anything for Halloween this year so I don't even have a costume. I'm gonna be that girl who is too cool to wear a costume on Halloween...when in truth it is due to lack of prep time and I left my costume box at home! If I had known I'd have this much storage the costume box would have come to Italy...but I had to prioritize!!
Sorry this post is so long, but I knew I had to give details to satisfy my family's curiosity!! I have pictures, but I'm not fighting the battle with the internet to upload them because I'm fairly sure I'd lose. They'll have to be posted on Tuesday when we move back on to base for 1 night...yeah...annoying! Oh well...hope this uploads!! We'll see!
Ciao, ciao!
But to start from where I left off...or at least where I think I left off. (The internet at our new hotel is so slow it took me 5 minutes just to open my blog...let alone read it to remember what I last wrote...I came straight to the "New Post" page!)
Anyway...Monday was Right Start, which is a lot of briefings from the military and as Taylor described it, "death by powerpoint". I only had to be there for the afternoon portion on Monday because they went over housing and a safety briefing for our driver's license. Nothing big went on...
Tuesday was my birthday! Taylor had Right Start in the morning and in the mean time Jenni helped me move out of our hotel on base into an Italian hotel in Aviano...Hotel Oliva. The hotel is nice, but much, much smaller. It's just a room, so no kitchen or anything, but we have a whole wall of windows with a nice balcony. After Taylor finished Right Start we finally had our drivers licenses and we went to rent a car so we wouldn't be so dependant on Mike and Jenni! They have been awesome, but it's a lot to ask to have someone tote you around for a week while you look for houses and attempt to get situated! We both took turns driving the stick shift on these crazy Italian roads...it will take a little getting used to, but it's not bad!
We attempted to go to a nicer dinner for my birthday...but both the restaurants we walked to were closed. They have a crazy schedule over here and they close for no reason...one of the restaurants we tried to go to was the same one we went to on Tuesday night LAST week...who knows why it was closed this Tuesday!!?? So we settled on the only one we passed that was open and it ended up being a Steak/Pizza House that blasted American pop music through out the restaurant. It was alright, although we're not sure how authentic it was since we were eating our prosuitto pizza listening to Rhianna and Jay-Z!!
Sadly, as I mentioned, the internet at our hotel isn't as good as it was on base and it isn't strong enough to support a Skype conversation, so I didn't get to really talk to anyone back home. But we did type back and forth on Skype, so that was good. I mean, it's not like I haven't talked to anyone...I've called home almost everyday as Taylor likes to point out!! :) But as great as everything is here, and it still is, and I still love it...it was a little sad on my birthday :( But a few tears later I'm still standing!!!
And on to great news from today!!! On Monday we were offered government housing. It pretty much means that the government/US military owns the home and they will take care of the rent and all of the utilities, but then we do not get any money put in our account for rent or utilities. If you "live off the economy" (non-government housing), you have an Italian landlord and you pay your rent to them and you pay your gas to the city gas and electric and so forth. And the military puts your housing allowance/utility allowance in your account and you pay from that.
It is generally very difficult to get government housing (aka GURP...Government Unit Rental Program) because if you qualify with dependants then your name gets put on a list and when something comes available you get called. Well somehow with Taylor's remote tour to Korea last year his name was put on the list last year so he was at the top of the list when we got here. (We don't really understand how that happened) When they offer it to you, you have the choice to accept or decline it. If you decline you can not put your name back on the list for 90 days...and you have to wait again. By 90 days you need to have a place because your Temporary Living Allowance (TLA) will run out before then! Basically, you'll be paying for a hotel out of your pocket!
So we were offered this and we agreed to look at it. You're probably thinking, as was I, government housing sounds like it's some low end cheap apartment complex with all American families living there...but surprisingly, it's not...at all! The house is located in San Quirino on a little street with about 5 other duplexes on it with both American and Italian families. The whole complex (for lack of better word...but not complex like you think in America) is not GURP housing...in fact, I don't quite understand how it works!
Anyway, Taylor and I were both shocked and very pleasantly surprised with this house (duplex)! It was built in 2005, so it is still very new. It is 3 stories (including the finished basement) 3 bedrooms, 2 1/2 bath, living room, kitchen, and basement. It is 1800 square feet, 2700 if you count the attached garage, storage space, and laundry room! Yes, you read that correctly, storage space!!!
You walk into the living room with doors that slide open into our fenced/hedged front yard (small) with a patio out there. The living room is open to the kitchen/eating area. The kitchen includes cabinets, (they're light yellow...but they're still cabinets!!!) a full size fridge, and a DISHWASHER!!! That's unheard of, and we wouldn't even have gotten that issued from base...we wouldn't qualify because we don't have 4 kids!!!
Moving on...There is a door to downstairs which opens into a large finished, tiled basement (Taylor's man cave...he already has big plans). The laundry room is off the basement and there is a storage room off the basement as well, probably as big or bigger than my upstairs room back home in Franklin. It is fully tiled and then there is a door from that into the garage that is also tiled!! This tile here is awesome! The garage is for 1 car, but is so deep you could almost fit two probably!
Then upstairs it is hardwood and there are 3 bedrooms and 2 full baths. The master bedroom has sliding doors that open out onto a balcony that is above the patio off the living room. One of the bathrooms is bigger than one of the bedrooms (that's gonna be mine...I already claimed it!!) and the other bathroom contains the shower, but is much more size appropriate for Taylor's needs :) The smallest bedroom is going to be our closet, since the Italians don't believe in building them into the rooms! It will hold all of our wardrobes (big ugly pieces of furniture that allow you to hang clothes...like a closet would do for you!!) Although my bathroom is so big, it currently has a wardrobe in it and there is still plenty of room...I'm deciding if I should leave it or move it.
So I think that's all of it...but we are both SO SO SO excited. I know my other posts talk about how much I love San Giovanni di Polcenigo...and I sure do, and all the houses we looked at were in that region except this, but we'd be stupid not to take this offer! We have yet to see a house this nice and updated with this much space. San Quirino is about 15-20 minutes from San Giovanni. It isn't right at the base of the mountains it is out just a bit in more of a farmland area, although we're only about 3 blocks from San Quirino's town square! And our internet service should be better...we've been told it's very spotty when you get closer to the mountains...and without Skype I think I'd be one sad girl. San Quirino is also where the vineyard was that we went to on Friday...plenty of good things in town :) We've already been looking at furniture (bc we'll need an extra couch now) and grills and all kinds of things. Some may be wishful thinking, but it's fun to browse!
We also met our neighbor already! His name is Rosario and he is 83 years old. While we were looking at the house he invited us over for a glass of vino. So we sat and talked with him for awhile. He gave me red wine, many know I'm not a huge fan of red, but I couldn't turn that down, you better believe I drank the whole thing. I'll be learning to like it soon! Rosario speaks good, but a little butchered English. He used to work on a US military base, but he is a very sweet, funny old man. His wife of 50 years died 4 months ago, so it was hard when he was showing us pictures. He said he'll teach us Italian, a lesson each day :) He tried to make spaghetti for us, but we had to get back to base to sign contracts and accept the house! I love it!!!
So we signed...it's ours! We move our bags in on November 3rd and they will deliver temporary furniture the same day...bed, couch, table, etc. In the mean time we are going to try to buy Taylor a car tomorrow and the plan is to go to Venice on Friday, just for the day. We're going to scope it out and see what we can find. Hopefully go to a nice dinner (birthday dinner!!!) and then take the train back that night!
On Saturday we have a Halloween party at the Piernicks. I was sure we wouldn't be doing anything for Halloween this year so I don't even have a costume. I'm gonna be that girl who is too cool to wear a costume on Halloween...when in truth it is due to lack of prep time and I left my costume box at home! If I had known I'd have this much storage the costume box would have come to Italy...but I had to prioritize!!
Sorry this post is so long, but I knew I had to give details to satisfy my family's curiosity!! I have pictures, but I'm not fighting the battle with the internet to upload them because I'm fairly sure I'd lose. They'll have to be posted on Tuesday when we move back on to base for 1 night...yeah...annoying! Oh well...hope this uploads!! We'll see!
Ciao, ciao!
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