Bit by Bit, Putting it Together

Things here are good.  We are getting everything done bit by bit.  Every little accomplishment is a vital part of getting settled here.  Arrive.  Eat a meal.  Rest.  Survive jetlag.  Get groceries into the apartment little by little, walking one 1/2 mile trip to the store at a time.  Do the same for drinking water.  Maintain the inflow of necessities.  Cook with bare basics.  Get the kids into school.  Get them registered for childcare in preparation for a week of mandatory orientation training.  Call a realtor and begin visiting amazing houses for rent.  Try to get the realtor to show you something nice close to the base, if possible.  (Easier said than done.)  Homework and chores every night!   Do everything with a three-year-old in tow.  Take the driving test.  Take the driving test again and pass it this time!  Try to find a vehicle.  Find out how to buy, register and insure the vehicle.  Be patient when the chosen vehicle becomes delayed due to vandalism (smashed window) repair.  Figure out how to get the promised advance pay so that we can begin to pay for temporary quarters.  Ride a bus accross the city to jump through the hoops to get an ID card.  Go home for documents nobody told you to bring, then ride accross town and try again. Try to get the kids registered at the hospital in case of emergency.  Have hubby visit the ID office again to fix what wasn't done before, then try to get registered at the hospital again.  Gratefully arrange and accept rides to church. Make new friends.  Enjoy the warm sunshine.  Chat with the Italian maids.  Try to figure out how to use Italian appliances.  Wonder at the beauty of a big brown grashopper and thrill to watch bats hunting bugs.  Get used to watching your feet so you don't step on the handsome, large black beetles that love living in the grass.  Feel young and alive.  Feel low sometimes but keep going.  Hug your kids and be amazed at how they're growing.  Hold your sweetie's hand a little more often.  Notice how the family has really been getting good at pulling together.  Keep going, and watch it all come together, bit by bit.

The picture above is the view from our balcony.  (The building to the right is the school, which I think is a very convenient location.  It's a very nice school.)

We're just about ready to commit to a house.  What an amazing experience.  The housing allowance in Kevin's assignment is extremely generous.  When you can have anything you want, what would you choose?  A gorgeous house right on the beach?  A luxury apartment with a view of the entire coast?  A lovely cottage next door to international soccer stars?  A big home in the middle of a small, quiet, 1000-year-old town?  When you get to choose, that's when you learn some very interesting things about yourself. 

Ciao bella, eveyone!
--Annie

A Day in Castel Volturno

Yesterday was a very wonderful day.  Mark and Donna Lunnsford, who we met on Bone's (Kevin's) first day at work, invited us to see the home they'll soon be leaving in Castel Volturno, as they return to Poulsbo, WA.  The Lunsfords are AWESOME, and so was the day they generously gifted to us. 

At 9 AM Mark and his friends arrived in two cars to carry all six of the Bonners 30 minutes northwest to breakfast and lunch at their beautiful villa.

We were given the grand tour.  The house has beautiful grounds with lemon trees, a vegetable garden, ample parking, and adorable statues in the courtyard.  The villa is gorgeous with marble and tile everywhere.  It has six bedrooms, four bathrooms, two spacious living rooms -- one on each floor, a large kitchen downstairs and a smaller one upstairs, at least three balconies, and an enormous roof to play on.  The landlord, Paulo, built it himself while raising five little girls.  He and his wife Anna now live in another house which he built inside the same gated compound.   They keep the grounds immaculate.  The Lunsfords adore everything about living there: the short walk to the beach, the short walk to the open air Saturday market, the bakery, the pizzeria, the ancient little town full of cobblestones and chapels and shrines. 

Most of all, the Lunsfords love their neighbors.  They loved us.  They love Paolo and Anna, they love Paulo's extended family who live nearby, they love the people they know in the town, they love the sellers at the market, they love the nephew of the neighbor who they met on the street.  They remember everone's names and greet everyone with kisses and handshakes.

We were escorted to the Saturday market, where we had a lot of fun, and I also learned that haggling over toys doesn't work when the children are standing there grabbing things.  (The toy-seller's smile said it all, and I grudgingly paid 15 euro for toys worth MAYBE 5 euro.  Don't take kids to market.  Valuable lesson.  Education is often expensive.)

We walked into the lovely old town.  Two small dogs (belonging to Paolo and his family) decided to escort us along the way, and they remained with us along the entire hour-long walk.  They were so cute! 

Along the way Mark led us to knock on Theresa's door, just to say hi.  Theresa is a lovely woman who works in the same department as Mark and Bone.  She invited us in, greeted us with kisses, and whipped out some yummy cookies for the little boys.  She was sweet, and a good sport, considering the curious little army she had invited in! 

Theresa's darling 15-year-old daughter Stephania appeared suddenly with kisses for Bone, me, Mark and Donna.  I was very amused by her entrance, because Bone didn't see Stephania until she was suddenly kissing him.  His eye's got so big!  She was showing very good manners, but my dear husband is not yet used to Italian hospitality.  It was priceless. 

It was an amazing day, and we are so grateful to the Lunsfords for the unforgettable gift they gave us which was their overwhelming love and hospitality.  Oh how I would like to be like them some day.

So now we must only decide if we'd like to live there.  It is well within the housing budget the Navy has given us.  It would mean a 30-40 minute bus-ride twice per day for the children, and a 40-minute commute for Mr. Bonner.  And that is absolutly the only draw-back.  Truly a difficult choice. 

So what would you do?

Norfolk & Wisdom from Howard Burton

Yesterday we woke up in Elk Mountain, Wyoming.  Dad Bonner wouldn't hear of us taking the Airport Shuttle, and drove us to Denver himself.  It was so fun riding with him.  He parked at the airport and then came inside to make it infinitely easier to check in all of that luggage!  Thanks Dad.

We flew from Denver to Chicago, and then on to Norfolk.  We sat together on the Chicago flight, but we all had to sit separately on the flight to Norfolk.  (At least I was allowed to sit with three-year-old James.)  The kids were amazing -- especially Sam (7), who had to sit pretty far from everyone else.  Little heroes! 

It is morning in Norfolk, everyone else is asleep, and I am thinking about the people we met yesterday: Ilsa, the lovely South African stewardess who met the love of her life in Chicago; Walt, the nice man who checked us into the Hampton Inn last night; and Thor, who brought us room service last night at 11:20, even though the restaurant was supposed to stop delivering at 9:00.  And thinking of them makes me think of an old friend named Howard Burton.

Howard Burton is a Seattle engineer and entrepreneur.  He was Bone's (Kevin's) employer for about seven years.  Aside from the fact that he's good leader and a great engineer, he's a very generous man.  He throws an incredible Christmas Party every year.  (I know -- in literature that would be Dickens' Mr. Feziwig from "A Christmas Carol", right?  Not such a bad person to be compared with, in my book.) 

Howard taught us a piece of advice that is worth more than gold.  Whenever you're in a restaurant, learn your waiter's name right away, and make sure you use their name when you see them during the visit.  It lets them know you value them as a person.  It makes them feel good, and it makes you feel good too.  Some people will say this trick gets you great service, but it does so much more than that.  It makes the waiter your friend.  It makes the meal into time spent with a new friend.  It makes your time with this person, however short, special and memorable.

We started trying this everywhere -- not just in restaurants -- and it has added significantly to our happiness.  One very memorable time was when James was born.  We just learned and used the names of all the nurses and others who cared for us in the hospital.  For that brief, special time, they all became our friends, and they loved us.  It was incredible and powerful and beautiful, and I will always remember it.

So now here I am waking up in this nice Hampton Inn in Norfolk, and I am remembering Ilsa and Walt and Thor and others we met yesterday.  Thank you Howard, for teaching us to recognize the treasure of people who are all around us.  There is love everywhere if we learn how to find it.