On a three year commitment toward an overseas tour, with only two seabags and a laptop in hand, I arrived on the Italian Island of Sicily, April 12, 1999. Here's my story...

~ emails I sent home ~

   It took twenty-nine hours to get here!!! I can't believe that. TWENTY-NINE HOURS! My goodness that was a long trip! From Seattle I flew a commercial flight to Chicago, then to Norfolk, Virginia. In Norfolk I took a taxi to the Naval Air Station where I boarded a MAC (Military Aircraft) Flight. Which is pretty much a commercial jet rented by the navy, so it wasn't too bad. From Virginia we flew to the Azores (Islands that belong to Portugal), then on to Rota, Spain. From there we went to Naples, Italy, and then finally on south to Sigonella Sicily, Italy. At each one of the stops we all had to get off the plane and go wait in the terminal for the plane to re-fuel. That took about 1 1/2 hours every time. What a freaking nightmare!
    Finally getting to Sigonella, I was very happy to hear a voice calling out for me at the gate.  Just to know someone was waiting to pick me up, take me under their wing, and bring me to where I could finally get some rest was music to my ears.
    To be honest, right now I can't even think of the guys name, but I'll just refer to him as OS1 (Operations Specialist First Class).
    After explaining some basic things about what to expect in the weeks to come, he brought me to what's called a TLA (Temporary Lodging Assignment - Pretty much it's an apartment with a few pieces of furniture). Knowing I was coming, and attempting at making my arrival a smooth transition, he went out and bought me some basic food stuff (cereal, bread, milk, ham, cheese, soda, etc.), and had it set in my apartment when we got there. Now that was impressive!
    The apartment itself isn't all that great, but like it's label - TLA - it's just temporary till I find something I like. Don't get me wrong, it's not a dump or anything like that. As a matter of fact, it's HUGE, with granite like tile throughout, but I'm going to get something else in a couple of weeks. I don't know...It was dark when we got here so maybe tomorrow will brighten things up a bit. Who knows... Hehe.
    Tomorrow I have so many things to do. Like, go find where I'll be working, determine if I can find a place closer to base to live (to-be-determined), and a list of other things. I'll see tomorrow, right now I'm just ready to get some sleep.
   
    14 April, 99     6pm my time

    In the past few days I've been able to get quite familiar with the surrounding areas and see a lot of the countryside. Even though I'm living on an island, it's quite large and takes about a three to four hours to drive from the southeastern corner to the northwestern corner of it. It's much larger than I expected.
    I haven't yet ventured out too far away from where I'm living but soon I'll tempt the explorer in me and see what adventures I'll run into as I make my way around the island of Sicily. I hear there are ruins in every direction from where we are, so I'm looking forward to checking those out.
    I'm living in a small town called Motta S. Anastasia, which if you're looking at a map, is about 15-20 miles west of Catania, Sicily. It maybe closer than that, but only by a few miles. Motta S. Anastasia, or just "Motta" as they call it here, is on a hillside slope facing the opposite direction of Mt. Etna. At the top of the hillside slope is a small deserted, but magnificent castle that rest on the edge of a cliff  facing Mt. Etna. It's truly a beautiful site...
    The first DAY I was here, following my night arrival, I was picked up by Carl (which was the OS1 that picked me up at the airport) around noon. He brought me to my landlords office. I say landlord because it's convenient, the office is actually just a place where I pay for the lodging like a motel until I find an apartment I like. When we got there, the people in the office already had me setup for a rent-a-car and a cellular phone. The car is so I can get back and forth from work, explore what I want to explore, and the phone is for my own use. Plus it gives the people I work will a way to get in touch with me if they need to. Just incase any of you feel as though you HAVE to get in touch with me, my # is 011 xxxx xxx xxxx. As far as what you need to do to call that number, getting an operator for overseas access, etc...I couldn't tell ya... Hey, I'm new at this too!!! Hehe.
   
    What I got for a rent-a-car is the equivalent of an oversized go-cart...more or less. It's pretty beat up and the motor has a constant clicking, which to me, just means the squirrels under the hood are grinding their teeth, haha. It's ok though. It'll get me where I need to go for now. In a way, I'm kinda glad it isn't too great. The way these people drive is worse than anything I've ever seen. Really! Imagine this, your cruising down the road at 50 MPH, your going around a blind curve, and all of a sudden someone's passes you. And their not even going very fast! Maybe 5-8 MPH more than what you're doing. So they're passing you around a blind curve slowly! All of a sudden (like you didn't know this was going to happen), you spot another car coming from the opposite direction! Talk about STUPID! So what ends up happening? You guessed it...you end up slamming on your brakes so the dude that's passing you doesn't side swipe you as he pulls back into the right lane avoiding a collision with the on-coming traffic. Now I don't know about you, but doesn't that seem a bit strange? Anyway, that isn't even the worse of it. For the past two days I've been driving down a road to the base, and I end up driving by a herd of sheep and goats being trafficked by their "shepherd." Coincidentally, they're all taking up half of the road and occasionally a sheep or two wonders out into my lane - which isn't my lane at all -it's the left lane. I'm forced into the left lane with/without on-coming traffic. It's something straight out of a European farm film I tell ya!
    Starting Friday morning, Apr. 16th, I begin the indoctrination course. Pretty much it's like a two week class where I meet the Commanding and Executive Officer of the base, learning about everything from what the rules and regulations are for us military personnel here, to where to go and get the best meals out on town. Simply, everything I'll have to know about living here, traveling around, and getting by with the locals. From what I hear it's supposed to be really fun. They take us on little field trips around to the bordering towns and take us to the marketplace downtown Catania (which here is like haggle city). There's this one day I keep hearing about called the "get-lost-day" where they take us out and drop us off in a neighboring town, and we're expected to make it back to the base using the public transportation system. Of course, this is only done after they've explained how the bus and train system work, haha. Sounds like fun huh? I think it'll be a fun day.
    The first week of Indoc. should be pretty slow. Doing the usual check-in paper shuffle, etc. But the second week is when all the fun stuff starts happening. Also during the second week, they'll be bringing us around to all the different places for rent. Just showing us what's available and where. It kinda helps us out so we don't go talking to a potential landlord who doesn't speak English. Also, since there's quite a high crime rate here (just petty things like breaking and entering ∓mp; stealing) they'll be able to tell us whether or not the place we like has been broken into in the past, and/or how many times, and when. Plus, once I've chosen the place I want to live, it's definite. Meaning, the place I chose to live, will be the place I live my entire three years over here. Once I sign a rental agreement, it's final. Don't ask me about this because I just found out about it tonight. I should learn more about it after Friday. All I know so far is that's the way things are done around here.
    One thing about the homes over here is that none are properly insulated and are rather chilly in the winter and hot during the summer. Plus, there's no such thing as central heat or anything like that here. All homes are either heated by gas heaters - which are portable and placed in the different rooms, or by electric heaters that are plugged in. Electricity here is really expensive so the electric heaters are rare. The most cost efficient way to heat and cook is by gas. And there isn't a single gas line throughout the town so it's all done via little gas containers like the ones we all use for our BBQ grills in America (bombolas). I suppose some of the houses are heated by wood but I haven't seen any like that yet. I still have a lot to learn as far as the basic necessities are concerned, but I'm getting there.

29 April 99

    Well, another week has passed and I'm still trying to get settled in around here. Tomorrow is my last day of Indoctrination so I can finally get back to work and get to know the people I'll be working with better.
    This past week has been interesting though. The second half of Indoc has been what's called ICR (Inter-Cultural Relations). In this class we've begun learning basic Italian, "survival phrases", and been taken into the neighboring city, Catania, to socialize and mingle with the locals. Overall, it's been a great experience so far. I'm looking forward to doing a lot more touring around the Island and seeing more of the Roman and Greek ruins. There is so much to see here, it's amazing!
    Besides attending Indoc, I've been going on numerous "housing trips." I get chauffeured around looking at all the different apartments and villas available for suitable housing out on the economy. Simply stated, I've been looking at a lot of different places to live in off base, out in town. There are quite a few nice areas within a 30-minute drive from work that I like and yesterday I finally choose a quaint three-bedroom condo/apartment in Motta S. Anastasia. It's only about a 15-20 minute drive to work. Plus there's three people I'll be working that live nearby - within a 5-10 minute walking distance. Since I didn't bring my car with me it'll be very convenient catching a ride with one of them in the mornings. I've already talked to one of them and I'm all set for transportation to work next week. :::one less thing to worry about:::
                ~Tony