Home Sweet Home?

Peter figured out early on how he would use his time in temporary quarters... Here he is perfecting the rocking-back-and-forth precursor to the full crawl. Older siblings were NOT allowed to offer instruction or advice - as if he needed it?!

Anne, Philip and Catherine participated in the chapel-wide Vacation Bible School learning songs, making crafts, playing games, and making friends. Here Catherine "performs" the song "I Can Talk to God" with other pre-schoolers.

Philip tried out for a part in the Missoula Childrens' Theatre Production of "The Princess and the Pea" and was (type) cast as a dustbunny! Now, don't you wish you had more like these in gathering in the corners....

Early on we found the base thrift store and picked up a few puzzles to complete in the heat of the day prior to heading to our late afternoon swim.

Anthony and Mary attended the Area Orientation during the first full week in Naples to assist with transitioning issues of housing, visas, bases services and local travel and customs. Detailed instruction was provided to assist with driving in Napoli. A few of the highlights: while driving - if in doubt, close your eyes; no you are not seeing double, there really are 5 souls on that scooter; parking, driving, and other functions customarily reserved for roadways ARE allowed on sidewalks - but don't try it in your Dodge Caravan; and don't expect lane markings, speed limits, yield/stop signs, and other conventional traffic control methods to translate to anything resembling the frenzy of the DC beltway at rush hour...no this makes that look like a Sunday drive in the country!! Ahh, you laugh - but I have seen it.

Aversa

On the last day of orientation we took the bus and train into Naples and walked around the Galleria Umberto. Beginning to get cabin fever and confident from our jaunt (with a fluent Italian speaker), we decided to take the morning bus into Aversa on Saturday. We had only ridden the bus to the near side of Aversa, so we decided to go to the end of the route to view the town, staying on the bus as it headed back, disembarking central Aversa. But this was not to be, for though we spoke no Italian, we clearly understood the bus driver was in no hurry to start his return trip and we needed to exit. It seems schedules in Italy are akin to the traffic rules; required by authority, treated as petty annoyances by the subjected.

Alas, we had a beautiful day, a pocket ful of Euro and a comfortable walking shoes...we headed through the "city of a hundred churches" toward our first of many pizza margherita, century old churches, and gelatos. We found a Church - beautiful but like so many in desperate need of repair and renovation. We found pizza margherita but we've since had much better. Finally we headed back toward the bus stop planning to stop at one of the many gelato stands we had seen on our first trip through town. Having not totally overcome jet lag prior to the AO talks, we failed to remember the reposo tradition. Literally at 1300 daily the side walks of smaller towns roll up like it is 5 PM in the states. Businesses close; signs, merchandise and table umbrellas are taken down, and you'd never know that just minutes prior there were customers in the store. Buoyed by our successes to that point - four children and two adults still in tow - we counted our blessings and looked forward to gelato on another outing!!!

The Napoli Arch adjacent to the the Church of the Annunciation is the ancient "gate to the city" which begins at Via Roma.

Temporary Living Accomodations

Although we spent close to nine weeks living out of our suitcases the Naples Navy Lodge was by no means roughing it. We had adjoining suites; a studio with desk, bathroom, king bed and kitchenette and a bedroom suite with "full kitchen" bathroom, bedroom (queen and bunks) and a sitting area, both with large balconies overlooking the base piazza. The location was ideal - also on the piazza is the base library and chapel - Mary's dream location.

The first few days were spent easing into the new time zone. Peter helps Dad review the dirth of information given us upon arrival.

Peter and Dad relax after a hard night trying to get adjusted to the time zone.