Buongiorno from Naples!

Well it's official! We've been in Naples for a week now and we are time adjusted and HUMAN again (somewhat). I plan on updating this blog with travel adventures, food indulgences, and family experiences and growth. As for this first post it will mainly be a WEEK RECAP! I promise that this will probably be the longest post that I ever do and from here on out i'll update on a more regular basis.

FLIGHT TO NAPLES

We started our journey from San Diego. We were lucky enough to get on a commercial flight from SD on United. We went from SD-->Chicago-->Brussels-->Naples. We opted to upgrade our flight from Chicago to Brussels which was our longest flight (8hrs). We were all blessed withfull lay out seats, yummy meals, endless movies/tv shows, and sweet flight attendants. This was particularly good for  Shane and I considering that he is such a cuddly guy and my bump is in FULL swing right now. The one downfall to our flight was that we failed to actually SLEEP most of the flight. The kids were very excited and had a hard time calming down. Therefore i think that night we ended up with only about 3-4 hours of total sleep along with our bodies going through an almost 9 hour time change. From Brussels to Naples we were literally delirious! I think the point at which we realized this was when Shane grabbed a packet of sugar...ripped it open...and declares "DELICIOUS momma" while having raw sugar glued to his entire face. I must saw however that the kids did particularly well during all the flights with only minor meltdowns (all solved by distraction or CANDY). Once we touched down in Naples we headed to  baggage claim and found all of our checked bags except for ONE! Truly lucky and happy that the only thing we lost was our carseat bag.

ARRIVING IN NAPLES

We were greeted by our sponsor (greg's fellow ortho partner) and his son at the airport. We were then taking back to the support site (navy base) where the hospital, base housing and our temporary living is located. We were lucky enough to get a villa on base which consists of 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a kitchen (with stove top/oven, microwave and fridge), washer/dryer, living area (with TV and wireless). It's very basic but it's more than enough for our family right now.

Immediately after getting to the base we were invited to a birthday party. I can't speak enough positive praise for the welcoming people here. It was hot, humid and we were all delirious from exhausting but the kids played and played! They ran around attempting to make new friends while Greg and I got to meet a bunch of the other docs on base. It's definitely a change of pace here and much smaller but those things can all mean good things. Less work, more fun, and more personal time with friends and family.

FIRST COUPLE DAYS IN NAPLES

lets start with this...JET LAG is a real thing and it's not pretty. It took our family about 4 days to adjust completely and eventually end up sleeping through the night. In summary we would attempt to go to bed around 8pm and then all of a sudden wake up at like 1130pm and feel completely rested and up for the "DAY" only it's STILL FREAKING night. Almost every night we would end up being AWAKE from 12am-4/6am then PASS out and sleep till about 11am/2pm. IT WAS INSANE! Our eating habits were completely off. Our moods weren't the best. Our bodies were hating us but man that first night FULL sleep was UNREAL! Brooke woke up that morning and said..."mom did shane wake up last night? cause i don't think i woke up!!" Keep in mind that these first couple nights of sleep were like musical beds at the Staeheli villa. We would rotate around from queen to twin bed to couch. The main downfall to the whole transition was that Shane was technically still use to only a crib and wasn't able to sleep in a twin bed alone. This lead to lots of kicks and punches from him in the middle of the night when the only person he wanted to sleep with was ME.

BOATING ADVENTURE IN THE GULF OF NAPLES

On our 4th day in Naples we ventured off base with our sponsor and his family to Monte di Procida to embark on a boating adventure. We rented dinghy boats and traveled about 30 minutes southwest down the coast of Naples.  

Ischia

We were able to see such a beautiful coast! The sky was bright blue and it was very warm. Once we got to where we were headed we anchored down and hung out for the day in a small inlet that had a restaurant and hot springs. You were able to order food by phone from your boat and a small dinghy would boat out to you and deliver your food. IT WAS BRILLIANT! A couple of true Italian cultural differences were spotted that day...ALL men (and boys) wear SPEEDOS, most adults smoke, ALL women were wearing bikini's (all ages, shapes and sizes) I did not spot a single ONE PIECE, and lastly young girls probably age 10 and under were mostly topless. The italian people really know how to enjoy themselves and each other. It was even just fun to watch the different boats and group of people throughout the day.

After a full day we decided to stay in the area and enjoy an authentic Italian dinner. MAIN difference between dining out in America vs Italy is that their restaurant life does not OPEN until 730pm!!! A true meal consists of four courses and usually takes about 2.5-3 hours to enjoy. They bring endless wine, still and sparkling water, and coke. 

1st course is called Antipasto: this is a usually a meat, cheese, veggies

2nd course is called Primo: This is heavier than the antipasto and usually a hot dish. Many times this is the pasta dish...risotto, pasta, soup and broth, gnocchi, polenta, crespelle, casseroles, or lasagne

3rd course is called Secondo: This consists of meats and fish and MANY different kinds such as turkey, sausage, pork, steak, stew, beef, zampone, salt cod, stockfish, salmon, lobster, lamb, chicken, or a roast

4th course is called the Insalata: which consists of a salad but can sometimes be omitted or combined with the 3rd course. 

5th course is called Dolce/dessert: Two popular dessert special to Naples are zeppole and rum baba however common ones to see in italy are  tiramisu, zuppa inglese, panna cotta, cake or pie, panettone or pandoro. 

So we finished our meal around 10pm and the kids were melting by this point. The funny thing to notice was that we were the first group of people into the restaurant at 730 and the second group to enter the restaurant probably came around 9. If they were to follow our timeline that means that that they wouldn't be leaving until 1130/midnight...and THEY ALL BROUGHT THEIR KIDS! Italian kids can RALLY!

SECOND ADVENTURE OFF BASE. HERCULANEUM 

The kids and I went on a second adventure off base with some new friends that we made. We headed about 30 minutes in the car to Herculaneum which is an old historical Roman city that was destroyed in 79 AD by fast moving gas and rock that exploded from Mt. Vesuvius.  It was amazing to walk around these ruins and think that they've been around for SOOO LONG! Although the kids didn't appreciate all the history they did enjoy running around the ruins and getting super sweaty. It's truly amazing to think about the fact that people lived in these settings sooo long ago. 

I had a moment of realization that while we were there that this time in Italy is going to be utterly amazing. The things, places, and people that we are going to expose our children to are a once in a lifetime experience which we otherwise would NEVER have with them at this point in their lives. Although Brooke will probably be the only one to remember most things I think it will be so neat to be able to relive these experiences with shane and the new baby later in life when they are older.