Aloha Hawaii, Buon Giorno Italia
After an excruciating, seemingly neverending game of billet roulette, Brian and I have emerged victorious. We’re moving to Italy, baby! We win! (Of course, our back-up plan was to stay here in Hawaii, so there was no real “losing” in this scenario… I do so hate losing.)
Pozzuoli, the gorgeous little town outside Naples where we hope to live
Brian initially got assigned to a sweet shore duty job in Pearl Harbor, which would have allowed him to have a fairly normal schedule– reasonable hours, no more duty days and large blocks of time off. It was a great job in a great location, but we were still a little disappointed. I know, who is disappointed by living in Hawaii for two more years? Call us spoiled and ungrateful, but we really had our hearts set on living abroad.
On to Plan B: Brian threw his hat in the ring for a flag aide position (working for an admiral) in Naples and, after a lot of “oh no, it’s not available anymore,” “oh yes, it is,” he applied, interviewed and got the job. So we’re moving to Naples! For three years! I have been speaking in exclamation points a lot lately because I’m so excited. I can’t wait to learn a new language, live in a new country, travel like crazy and eat and drink everything in sight. Mmm, pizza, gelato, mozzarella, wine, limoncello, gnocchi. Did I mention Naples is a stone’s throw away from Rome, Capri and the Amalfi Coast? Cannot. Wait. It is going to be an incredible experience, and I feel like we just won the lottery.
There are only a couple drawbacks:
1. We move really soon… in a month to be exact. It’s hard to process the fact that we have to leave this amazing place and our awesome friends so soon. Plus, we have a very long list of things we have to do before moving two oceans away, which is a little stressful (we have a “fun” to-do list and a “not fun” to-do list; guess which one is longer). We had hoped to have a few more months to say a proper farewell, but we’ll make the most of our remaining time.
2. It will be sad to be so far away from friends and family for so long. I’m sure I will have bouts of homesickness, and it will be tough not being able to fly home as frequently as I can here. California and Hawaii will be quite a trek from Italy, but on the bright side, we will actually be closer to East Coast and Southern friends and family than we are now. We also expect (demand, really) lots of visitors. We have had more than 25 people visit us in the year and a half we’ve lived in Hawaii, so we hope for even better showing in Naples. Consider that a challenge, folks. This time we’ll make everyone sign a guest book.
My head is still spinning, but it’s finally starting to sink in. I’ll write more as we get closer to the move; in the meantime, please feel free to share any Italy tips or recommendations. Grazie mille!
Photo courtesy of jimmyg‘s Flickr account
5 comments
challenge accepted. we’ll see you there soon….
(but, it should be noted, i’m still in TOTAL denial that you’re even leaving)
Although the Navy has put you through hell many times during Brian’s time there so far, it is pretty freakin’ sweet that you’ve gotten to live near the beach in San Diego and Hawaii….and now you’re moving to Italy!! So crazy. I’m truly happy that your dreams of living abroad will pan out as you’d hoped.
Plus, Darren and I are 90% sure we’ll be honeymooning on a Mediterranean cruise, so we’ll get to visit next spring. So. Excited.
Tracey, I am glad you accept this very serious challenge. It is ON. And I’m in denial still, too. Every time I stop to look around here, I get so sad to leave!
Melia, it’s so true. The Navy wins back a few points for moving us to truly awesome places! I am beyond excited about living in Italy for so long. And I LOVE that you guys are going to honeymoon nearby so we’ll get to see you! I vote for you taking a whole month for your honeymoon– two weeks in Naples, two weeks wherever else :)
The real question IS: will there be any Italian babies popped out while you’re there? Because then he/she would have dual citizenship!!! ~ You have no idea how many times I’ve been asked that question when people find out I’ll be in France for two years. While dual citizenship would be cool, I much prefer traveling and a bottle of vino to being pregnant.
Jesus, more than one person has asked you that question?! Maybe people knew better than to ask me when I open with how excited I am to travel and drink wine unencumbered by small children. Plus, if we were to have kids while abroad, wouldn’t we probably have them in a military hospital on base? Cause I think that prevents them from having dual citizenship, right? Whatever, it’s a moot point. You, me, vino, traipsing about Europe.