Ciao!

Buon Giorno! (Good Morning)
Here we are in Milan, Italy! I still can’t believe we are here. What an adventure this has been. We arrived early (7:45am local time) on Saturday Morning. Customs was a breeze, and we had absolutely no problems getting Charley here. Although Brian thought it would be funny to tell me that they had to keep her. Talk about instantaneous vomiting, I almost lost it. But after the “joke”, we went outside to find our ride. Well, let’s just say they had a little problem with the car and didn’t get to pick us up until after 9. Everyone has said that everyone here speaks English…well, wish I could find those people. LOL! So far, the only people I find that speak English are at the Consulate, oh, and at the kids school. Anyways, I pretty much slept my first 2 days here. Not only was I extremely jetlagged, but either my allergies are kicking my butt or I am getting a cold. Who knows? Our first night here, Brian and the kids went around the corner from our apartment and found a delicious little sandwich type shop. They had the “best sandwiches ever.” After that, Brian took them for some Gelato, (ice-cream), and Christopher was immediately addicted. LOL! He LOVES his ice-cream, and luckily the gelato is by far the best any of us have ever had.

Sunday, we all got up and took a walk around our little area. We live in ‘Brera’. I have no clue if I spelled that correctly, but for some reason, it seems to be the place to be. According to the locals and to people who really know Milan, Brera is the place to be. It’s supposed to be “fancy schmancy”. Anyways, we found a little café and had some brioche (pronounced bree-osh). Talk about delicious. Brioche is little, ok, maybe not little, but brioche is breakfast pastries and inside you can find custard, chocolate, and different types of jams. They are Benissimo! (Very Good) I saw a newspaper in English and bought it. I think it is the one and only newspaper I will buy here. It was 5 Euros! After we got home, I read a little bit of the paper and went to sleep…and slept until Monday morning.

Monday was an ice-breaker at the kids’ school. They are attending the American School of Milan (ASM). We arrived at 8:00 expecting the ice-breaker to start at 8:30, and quickly found out we were early, very early. The ice-breaker didn’t start until 9:30! So, we had about 1 ½ hours to kill. We walked around the school and peeked in the classrooms. The elementary side has a music room, an art room, a science laboratory, and “technology room”. They also will have Italian class every day. It is amazing. Again, we enjoyed some delicious Brioche and the most amazing coffee I have ever had! And, Dad, don’t worry, it’s not flavored with that “crap”. LOL! Around 9:30ish, we went up to meet Kyleigh and Christopher’s teachers. Kyleigh’s teacher, Ms. Julie, is GREAT! There are only 16 kids in her class, and luckily, Kyleigh and another little girl have really hit it off. Her mom also works at the Consulate, and so it will be easy to get them together outside of school. Christopher’s teacher, Mrs. Madigan, is such a sweet lady. Her and her husband retired from teaching in the States, and thought this would be a neat adventure. So, here they are. Teaching at ASM! It’s quite funny because Christopher is almost as tall as his 1st grade teacher! I think he comes up to her shoulders! Well, since we don’t have our international drivers license or permit or whatever, we must rely on one of the Marines (usually Sgt. Morales) to drive us everywhere. He came and picked us up from ASM around noon but, we definitely were able to sample lunch at the school. Oh my goodness…so delicious! I definitely won’t feel bad on the nights I don’t feel like cooking dinner. My children eat VERY WELL at school. And, they should…it’s costing us 2,000 euro for the year for the two of them! But, it’s kind of worth it. They are not allowed to waste food, and must eat what they are given. So, I’m not complaining. Ok, anyways, around noon, Sgt. Morales picked us up and we headed back to our apartment. After we got here, Brian headed into work and the kids and I hung out until Brian came back and we had to go get some pictures taken and sign some papers for something. Who knows what it was. LOL!

Tuesday morning was . . . interesting! We got up and since the van wasn’t available we had to improvise on getting the kids to school. (I wasn’t too happy since I always take them and then take pictures and do all that annoying “Mom” stuff.) Anyways, we decided we would take them to another bus stop that we knew about and would get them on that bus. UGH! I didn’t realize it was a 3 mile walk! So, here we are, on the first day of school, walking 3 miles to a bus stop. It sucked! Christopher was exhausted (& dying of thirst), and Kyleigh just wanted to get there so she could get to school. I was upset that it was such a long walk and that I wasn’t going to be able to take my babies on the first day, but I think it pretty much worked out for the better, especially since they were able to ride with other kids whose parents work with Brian. Luckily it was the first day, so the bus was running a little late. We made it with plenty of time to spare, and the kids were able to ride the bus to school with some familiar faces. Fortunately, that afternoon, they were able to ride their “normal” bus home, and the bus stop is only a 3-5 minute walk from our house. What kids get dropped off and picked up from school in a “tour bus” style bus in front of a castle??? Oh yeah, MINE! The kids LOVE their new school and riding the bus. Christopher told me that even when our car gets here, he doesn’t want me to take him to school. He wants the bus to. LOL! Oh, I forgot, that afternoon when Brian and I picked the kids up from the bus stop, the first thing Christopher said was, “Ciao means hi & bye”. Kyleigh walked around the rest of the day/night saying, “Mi chiomo Kyleigh”. I think it is supposed to be “chioma”, but whatever! LOL!

We are starting to get into a routine and although we aren’t totally over the jet lag, I’m sure we will be soon. We have hit our “bumps” in the road, but we are working out the kinks. I can’t wait to get internet and TV, and now that we have our Codice Fiscale (our Italian SSN), we can order it! Without that, you can’t do CRAP in this country. I just need to hear some sort of background noise and ENGLISH! LOL! I can’t wait to get e-mails and be in touch with everyone back home. I did go into Brian’s work yesterday and order Vonage, so that should be here soon. Just remember, for those of you on the West Coast, there is a 9 hour time difference (we are 9 hours ahead!)

Well, I guess that is all for now. I don’t know how long until our internet/tv gets set up, so I am writing this in a word document and will hopefully either paste it into our blog or e-mail it. Maybe I can get brave and find a café with Wi-Fi or something…
Oh yeah! I have the funniest story that I couldn’t help but share. The day we got here, Saturday, the kids were all excited to check everything out. Christopher had to go to the bathroom and was so excited about the bidet. LOL! He did his business, and next thing Brian and I know we hear Christopher yelling and water running. A little startled we run into the bathroom and find Christopher on the bidet yelling, “This thing is GREAT. You have to try it! I love the bidet.” LMAO!!! We laughed and laughed.

Anyways, as you can tell, the kids are adjusting GREAT! It’s been good. My next update will have to be about all the crazy stuff here. It sure is interesting. We miss you all so much and look forward to all of our visitors!

Arrivederci. (I’ll be seeing you)