Life in Napoli: The phrase of the day: Buona Sera

I promised one of my best friends, Vanessa, that I would share a new word/phrase with her every day so that she is "fluent" by the time she gets here which I thought was a fabulous idea. Sooo, let's all learn Italian!

We've been here for two days now and so far, so good. I'm starting to get a bit stir crazy because we've been surrounded by the four walls of the Navy base and I'm extremely anxious to get out and about. Ben is a hundred times more laid back than I am and could sit at home all day happy as a clam. He's doing his best to try to make me understand that we will be here for three years and I need to take it one day at a time. I'm doing my best to remember that. Italy is not going anywhere but I am so ready to explore! I am definitely one of those people who cannot sit still, especially when I'm in another country. I think I've made five trips back and forth to the Navy Exchange just to get out of the house since we've been here. The workers are going to know me on a first name basis pretty soon! Let's just say my spice/sauce cabinet is pretty well stocked by now and they are not Italian spices. In fact (and I laugh as I type this) the closest we've gotten to eating Italian food is spaghetti that I made last night out of a Classico jar. I didn't even make spaghetti out of a Classico jar back home! Who does that in Italy?! It's dire straits when you have 5 steak knives to work with and only the basic kitchen tools. That and the excuse of jet lag/laziness of course:) There were no complaints from Ben, thankfully, since the only other choices he had for dinner on base were A&W, Taco Bell,or Subway (which we've already had three times since we've been here- for lunch). Classico spaghetti was gourmet Italian compared to the other two. Oh are we in need of a car!

On a positive note, there are plenty of Italian civilians working on base. I got of a taste of Italy when I heard Italian bus drivers yelling at each other outside my window yesterday. I'm sure I'll be learning what those words meant pretty soon. It's not exactly swearing if it's in another language, right?
Just kidding!

I am proud to say, though, that we did get off of base for fifteen minutes yesterday. Our sponsor (who is the guy assigned to helping us with a smooth transition) took us to a car dealer to look at what they call "Naples junkers" yesterday. Before I left I didn't quite understand what a "Naples junker" is but I am now fully aware of what it means. A Naples junker is a heavily banged up car and when I say heavily I mean missing a bumper, having a huge dent in the side, etc, etc. They are very scratched versions of Mr. Bean's car. In fact, when we were looking at cars yesterday I couldn't help but laugh because all I could think about when I saw these various mini cars (Fiat's and other Italian cars) was the scene where Mr. Bean tries to parallel park his mini car.However, the reason why THESE cars are such junkers is on account of the way people drive in this country. Mr. Bean has nothing on Italian drivers. In the five minute that we were actually driving yesterday, two cars cut us off to turn left from the right lane, one guy was tailgating (and I mean right up ON the bumper) someone else, one guy flashed his headlight several times, and another one ran a stopsign. Joe (our sponsor) told us that he has been bumped and had some Oh "you know what" moments so far. By the way, by no means are any of these things illegal- there is no Italian highway patrol here. It's drive with survival instincts or drive at your own risk. I had been bugging Ben for a mini-cooper once we moved here but I was certainly singing a different tune once we got on the road. In fact, I think I'll just take public transportation over the next three years. And I won't even complain!

This is what an Italian car looks like BEFORE a Neapolitan driver can get his hands on it:

We also learned that we most likely will not get a housing unit on base once our temporary living stipend is up. This means we will be looking for a place out in town. I don't know what scares me more- driving in town or living next door to all these crazies! In reality, I'm really looking forward to having Italian neighbors (who are the sweetest, most hospitable people in the world, by the way- I've already spoken with many of them on base) and am just going to keep my fingers crossed that we are wise and intuitive enough to pick a safe home to live in over the next few years. We're looking forward to looking shopping for an apartment, even if only to rent. Who would've thought that the first home we'd be shopping for as newlyweds would be an Italian home?! I love it!