Today was a blast! The girls and I went on a scooter ride down the Amalfi Coast to Vietri. Nicole clung to me like the little monkey she can be and Lisette followed beautifully on her pink scooter like the goddess she can be. It was a long ride, over an hour, but we arrived unscathed...John's heart could rest awhile while we shopped. Besides, the view was worth his angina. :-)
The bad news from Vietri - the shop where I bought all my dishes seven years ago was closed while the owners on vacation! AHHHH! Bad timing! Oh, well, I found some other things I wanted. Just have to come back I suppose!
The ride back was a little more interesting. Lisette got bitten by something but kept the scooter under control. She's got about six bites on her back and she was near tears, poor baby! We arrived in the town of Amalfi just in time. The threatening clouds simply burst for about an hour. We had a snack and then did a tiny bit of shopping (honest, John!) and stayed dry. Nicole bought a towel for our scooter seats and we got back on the road.
We pulled in with about five minutes to spare, the scooters were due back at six. Whew! It was a beautiful and fun day!
One other close call, I had talked to Nicole about leaning into a curve with me...we were approaching a turn and I had my eye on a van that was approaching from the other direction. Unfortunately, I wasn't watching the turn close enough and almost hit the wall. While I was saying, "#%$#&^!!!" in my head, Nicole told me later she was just screaming "LEAN!" in hers. LOL
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Friday, June 19, 2009
Pompei is Simply Incredible
I finally went. After living in Naples for two years, I kept missing the opportunity to go or just put it off too many times. Now I can't wait to go back again. My family is tired of me saying "that was so awesome!" It was though. We spent about three hours there and I could have stayed for three days. I know people had said how big it was but I just never imagined it was THAT big. Wow.
That was yesterday. We moved into a new hotel, just slightly more expensive but tons nicer. Then we had lunch at the new hotel. It was delicious but brutally expensive. Off to Pompei after lunch at Lisette's urging. We're all still fighting the time change so not much energy. I'm so glad we went!
Dinner last night was at an old haunt. It was closed on Wednesday and we were worried it wasn't still running. It was and the same waiter was there too! The food was incredible - just like we remembered. The name of the place was Cerberos - it's on a hill overlooking the bay of Naples...we watched the sunset. Sigh.
Today we were up a little earlier. We had a day planned around the Navy base. John was the only one who hadn't seen "Up" so we went to see that. Then we bought some groceries before heading to Carney Park (the US sports complex) where John, Nicole and Jake went to the pool (Lisette had stayed at the hotel when we dropped off groceries) and I went to the Laundromat. Not too exotic but necessary! :-)
We grabbed some pizza at Carney Park for dinner then when all the clothes were dry, we came back here to the hotel. I submitted my final essay for my English Composition II class. Not sure if I'll make an A on this class - too much going on this last month.
Tomorrow's going to be a busy day. Maybe we'll finally be up in time for breakfast here. We should - it's free and food has gotten expensive here!!! It's still worth it though! Ha!
That was yesterday. We moved into a new hotel, just slightly more expensive but tons nicer. Then we had lunch at the new hotel. It was delicious but brutally expensive. Off to Pompei after lunch at Lisette's urging. We're all still fighting the time change so not much energy. I'm so glad we went!
Dinner last night was at an old haunt. It was closed on Wednesday and we were worried it wasn't still running. It was and the same waiter was there too! The food was incredible - just like we remembered. The name of the place was Cerberos - it's on a hill overlooking the bay of Naples...we watched the sunset. Sigh.
Today we were up a little earlier. We had a day planned around the Navy base. John was the only one who hadn't seen "Up" so we went to see that. Then we bought some groceries before heading to Carney Park (the US sports complex) where John, Nicole and Jake went to the pool (Lisette had stayed at the hotel when we dropped off groceries) and I went to the Laundromat. Not too exotic but necessary! :-)
We grabbed some pizza at Carney Park for dinner then when all the clothes were dry, we came back here to the hotel. I submitted my final essay for my English Composition II class. Not sure if I'll make an A on this class - too much going on this last month.
Tomorrow's going to be a busy day. Maybe we'll finally be up in time for breakfast here. We should - it's free and food has gotten expensive here!!! It's still worth it though! Ha!
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Bella Napoli
Wow! It's been forever since I blogged - I had a hard time remembering my login info!
We're in ITALY! Staying in a less than ideal hotel but moving to a beautiful place tomorrow. We arrived on Tuesday morning (yesterday) and fought to stay awake all day. We drove by a few places from times past then visited the Navy base to pick up some "essentials"...funny how we actually spent time on an American base while here in Naples but we miss that kind of stuff too!
Jake was especially miserable yesterday but woke up all smiles this morning. A good night sleep does wonders. Meanwhile I froze last night and woke up with a nasty sore throat. Much better by mid-day.
We went to the Cuma ruins today. It's my favourite place in the Naples area. We took some pictures of the kids posed the same way/same place as in 2002. My camera battery is dead so I'll post pics when I can. The Cuma ruins is a former Greek altar to Apollo. There's also Sybil's cave there...I need to look that lady up, Lisette knew all about her. Smart girl.
We tried to go to three different restaurants that were our faves when we lived here. None of them were still there. Sad, this place is a ghost-town in some areas. I guess the recession has been hitting here pretty hard. We ended up having dinner near our old house, in a restaurant that was there but we only used to pick up pizza there. It was a delicious dinner! I just hope we all don't weigh a thousand pounds before we leave!!
I'll try to keep up the blog while I'm here. Ciao!
We're in ITALY! Staying in a less than ideal hotel but moving to a beautiful place tomorrow. We arrived on Tuesday morning (yesterday) and fought to stay awake all day. We drove by a few places from times past then visited the Navy base to pick up some "essentials"...funny how we actually spent time on an American base while here in Naples but we miss that kind of stuff too!
Jake was especially miserable yesterday but woke up all smiles this morning. A good night sleep does wonders. Meanwhile I froze last night and woke up with a nasty sore throat. Much better by mid-day.
We went to the Cuma ruins today. It's my favourite place in the Naples area. We took some pictures of the kids posed the same way/same place as in 2002. My camera battery is dead so I'll post pics when I can. The Cuma ruins is a former Greek altar to Apollo. There's also Sybil's cave there...I need to look that lady up, Lisette knew all about her. Smart girl.
We tried to go to three different restaurants that were our faves when we lived here. None of them were still there. Sad, this place is a ghost-town in some areas. I guess the recession has been hitting here pretty hard. We ended up having dinner near our old house, in a restaurant that was there but we only used to pick up pizza there. It was a delicious dinner! I just hope we all don't weigh a thousand pounds before we leave!!
I'll try to keep up the blog while I'm here. Ciao!
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Funnish Weekend
It's been another busy few weeks and my work hours are about to increase as the wonderful nurse who normally works the full-time position is leaving! AHHHHH! So I'll fill in the gaps a bit until we hire another RN.
Friday I worked in the morning then taught a CPR class in the afternoon at USAID, their building is a little closer to home than the Embassy. It was a long day though and our finale was Lisette's final chorus concert in high school. :-(
Yesterday morning was the Book Club meeting here at our house. It was fun, though I read the book years ago and never got around to skimming over it before the meeting. I wasn't much help during the discussion! The ladies did manage to talk John and I into attending a ball last night. We'd deftly avoided buying tickets but we were invited to sit at the "fun" table so we bought some excess tickets and went.
Diana and Holly took me with them to the beauty salon for a pedicure and hair styling...that was fun! Then I had to get home and figure out what to wear. John helped me decide. The dinner was yummy, we rubbed elbows with lots of Ambassadors and even ran into a few fellow Attaches and their spouses. The dancing was good, funny how the whole world knows the dance for "YMCA"! I bid on a painting at their short but mostly ugly auction but was outbid. Whew! ?-)
We got home around 12:30 and had some drinks with our table buddies before they headed home and we crashed. Altogether a nice evening!
Friday I worked in the morning then taught a CPR class in the afternoon at USAID, their building is a little closer to home than the Embassy. It was a long day though and our finale was Lisette's final chorus concert in high school. :-(
Yesterday morning was the Book Club meeting here at our house. It was fun, though I read the book years ago and never got around to skimming over it before the meeting. I wasn't much help during the discussion! The ladies did manage to talk John and I into attending a ball last night. We'd deftly avoided buying tickets but we were invited to sit at the "fun" table so we bought some excess tickets and went.
Diana and Holly took me with them to the beauty salon for a pedicure and hair styling...that was fun! Then I had to get home and figure out what to wear. John helped me decide. The dinner was yummy, we rubbed elbows with lots of Ambassadors and even ran into a few fellow Attaches and their spouses. The dancing was good, funny how the whole world knows the dance for "YMCA"! I bid on a painting at their short but mostly ugly auction but was outbid. Whew! ?-)
We got home around 12:30 and had some drinks with our table buddies before they headed home and we crashed. Altogether a nice evening!
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Ah, The Joys of Motherhood
Lisette was up barfing all night. She went running before dinner, watched part of the third Lord of the Rings movie with us for a bit then complained her stomach hurt and she was going to bed. Shortly thereafter the vomiting began. I curled up beside her for awhile last night, worried about who will look after her when she's sick next year at university. John said she just isn't allowed to get sick there. As she has a fever now, it's doubtful that it was simply something she ate. Bummer, viruses are contagious. Wonder how long it will be until one of us is puking too.
She's still in bed with a big bowl and a glass of ginger ale beside her. Poor baby.
On another front, I am utterly shocked that John hasn't spilled the beans on our trip this summer. He keeps saying these leading questions in front of the kids, I'm ready to pop him one. Then he just looks at me all, "oops" and I just have to shake my head in wonder. Just over a month to go - cannot wait to get out of here!!!
Former President Jimmy Carter came to visit last week. He hung out with Morales and promised to go picking coca leaves with him next time he's here. Seriously. Then, the day after Mr. Carter leaves, Morales is calling for "muerte yanqui" in front of a crowd of cocaleros (coca growers). For non-Spanish speakers, "muerte yanqui" means "death to the yankee". Nice, huh? This is his usual comment so no reason for alarm, just interesting how he speaks out of both sides of his mouth constantly!
Okay, enough venting. It is another gorgeous day here. I opened Lisette's window to let her get some fresh air. The sun is shining and it perfectly warm in the sunshine and nicely cool in the shade. The gardener is here keeping our yard simply stunning. This is the nicest house we've ever lived in. We're all enjoying our home and our friends, the kids are happy (even barfy girl other than at this moment! Ha!) and I'm so getting used to be pampered by our maid and cook. Yup, those are the things that will be hard to give up.
She's still in bed with a big bowl and a glass of ginger ale beside her. Poor baby.
On another front, I am utterly shocked that John hasn't spilled the beans on our trip this summer. He keeps saying these leading questions in front of the kids, I'm ready to pop him one. Then he just looks at me all, "oops" and I just have to shake my head in wonder. Just over a month to go - cannot wait to get out of here!!!
Former President Jimmy Carter came to visit last week. He hung out with Morales and promised to go picking coca leaves with him next time he's here. Seriously. Then, the day after Mr. Carter leaves, Morales is calling for "muerte yanqui" in front of a crowd of cocaleros (coca growers). For non-Spanish speakers, "muerte yanqui" means "death to the yankee". Nice, huh? This is his usual comment so no reason for alarm, just interesting how he speaks out of both sides of his mouth constantly!
Okay, enough venting. It is another gorgeous day here. I opened Lisette's window to let her get some fresh air. The sun is shining and it perfectly warm in the sunshine and nicely cool in the shade. The gardener is here keeping our yard simply stunning. This is the nicest house we've ever lived in. We're all enjoying our home and our friends, the kids are happy (even barfy girl other than at this moment! Ha!) and I'm so getting used to be pampered by our maid and cook. Yup, those are the things that will be hard to give up.
Friday, May 1, 2009
April
April was a highly stressful month around here. The first half was rather mellow, I got to travel to Santa Cruz and teach CPR in Spanish, there was Lisette's Senior Trip and Spring Break where we just relaxed. Preparing for the Hippie Party on the 18th was mostly fun but a little stressful.
From about 2:30AM after the party, the entire month took a turn for the worst. The party was so great, it probably made what happened after that seem that much worse.
It's a long story, but John's driver Felix got jumped by a bunch of teenage boys that night. They never did catch him (fast guy!) but they chased him both on foot and by car. It was very scary. It comes down to these kids being rich, Bolivian brats who have basically been buying themselves out of trouble but now they've taken on a U.S. Embassy employee who has the backing of our government. Two of the boys go to our kids' school. It's been an interesting and mostly disgusting process to watch as it's progressed. John's been dragged into it but his stance has been simply to support Felix in whatever he chooses to do.
Then there's the killings in Santa Cruz of the supposed "terrorists". Watching this Bolivian government's response to what they've done has been amusing at best and horrifying as well. The Embassy has increased its alertness to potential civil unrest but again, the Bolivians are generally such a peaceful people we certainly hope that the situation remains isolated. Unfortunately, with this happening right after what happened to Felix, I had an antiBolivia week or two.
On the brighter side of life, the High School had its Talent Show last week and their Theatre production last night. Lisette shone in both, winning third place for her singing routine in the Talent Show and having us roaring with laughter during her skits last evening. I'll post a picture of her Talent Show performance. The man in the picture will be her principal, Mr. Kirby. It was awesome!
Here's to a peaceful and happy May!
From about 2:30AM after the party, the entire month took a turn for the worst. The party was so great, it probably made what happened after that seem that much worse.
It's a long story, but John's driver Felix got jumped by a bunch of teenage boys that night. They never did catch him (fast guy!) but they chased him both on foot and by car. It was very scary. It comes down to these kids being rich, Bolivian brats who have basically been buying themselves out of trouble but now they've taken on a U.S. Embassy employee who has the backing of our government. Two of the boys go to our kids' school. It's been an interesting and mostly disgusting process to watch as it's progressed. John's been dragged into it but his stance has been simply to support Felix in whatever he chooses to do.
Then there's the killings in Santa Cruz of the supposed "terrorists". Watching this Bolivian government's response to what they've done has been amusing at best and horrifying as well. The Embassy has increased its alertness to potential civil unrest but again, the Bolivians are generally such a peaceful people we certainly hope that the situation remains isolated. Unfortunately, with this happening right after what happened to Felix, I had an antiBolivia week or two.
On the brighter side of life, the High School had its Talent Show last week and their Theatre production last night. Lisette shone in both, winning third place for her singing routine in the Talent Show and having us roaring with laughter during her skits last evening. I'll post a picture of her Talent Show performance. The man in the picture will be her principal, Mr. Kirby. It was awesome!
Here's to a peaceful and happy May!
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