We Made It

Hi all,
This is the first chance I've had to get to computer with e-mail hook up, and I just have a moment before we need to go pick up ht egirls from the child care center. Dad, could you forward this to the rest of the family and ask them to send me an e-mail at this address so I can get them entered into this address book? Nana, same thing for Margaret- also, do you still have written by the computer the blog info- passwords, etc. that she set up for me. I think I wrote them down somewhere......

Flights were uneventful except for my painful ears, turbulence, and the girls alternated who slept on which flight, which menatn I didn't get much on either flight. It was rather tortuous waking them both up and getting out in the Azores for the hour or so while they refueled. My sinus infection seemed to be getting better- but went to my chest, and had choughing spasms at night and couldn;'t breathe by my first night here after waling outside. We got a hot shower in our room by our second night here. I guess the mineral content of the water is so high that it often clogs up any heaters, etc. So I've had my first Drs appt here- and now have syrup with codeine and an inhaler, which seem to be helping some. Woke up for the first time today in a week without green stuff. Not healthy yet, but at least I seem to be heading in the right direction. Unfortunately, Rachel has broken out in a rash the last two nights that I think may be hives- or at least it responds well to Benedryl. I have no idea what she may be allergic to- and am praying its not milk products.

Good note*** On our second night- we had a great dinner in Naples itself with Bill's predecessor- (Steve)- pizza, pasta, and later a great gelato place for dessert. Alyssa and Madeline got along really well! They had a van rented big enough we could all fit in, so great not to drive further than Bill's work base- JFC (about an hour from the supprt base). Nice to have at least one positive experience to build on, as I feel quite dismal about the rest at the moment. We went to see our "house" yesterday, the bad news is the landlord misunderstood, and almost all the things that we had purchased from the Murphies (about $650 worth) were gone. He thought they had just left them, and had been giving them away (or bartering?) with some of the people doing work on the house. Of course all of this was with very limited language hapening. It sounds like if he can't get the things back, that he'll pay us back, but as is the way with any used items, it will cost us far more to replace them with new items. And he wsa embarrassed and doesn't want us to mention anything to the gal who's been acting as the interpreter.

So last night was my melt down night. Cried long after Bill had gone to bed- the air here at night is horrible- a thick layer of smoke and smog that make it hard to breathe. Not sure if that's just the regular burning of "stuff" and trash, or if they've begun the burning of aprox. 35,000 head of cattle/buffalo used for mozzarella that they found the mafia had been faking test results of mad cow disease (testing only the same animals that were healthy). There has still been no evidense of transmission from animal to human ( exept for those eating lots of brains), but I think the EU rules have finalaly prevailed, in hopes of stopping spread to other animals. Navigating around here feels impossible without the use of the GPS unit, and quite challenging even with it. Hopefully I can eventually learn my way to and from the house!!! And it does feel very isolated- with high walls around the garden and between houses its hard to find a neighbor. It all feels so dirty with trash piled high in the streets, all over the roads, etc.

What else, the phone in our apt doesn't have an outside line so that we could make a calling card call. I guess I have to go to one of the payphones outside, and haven't had the motivation to do it yet. Probably just as well, I'm obviously feeling rather blue- or is that black, about all the circumstances, and no one wants to hear too much whining.

On the other hand, Alyssa is quickly making her own way through the famous book of Little House on the Prairie, and we certainly have it much easier than little Laura did back as they settled the prairie.

At the moment- I wouldn't make grand plans to come visit yet- I keep thinking, except to visit us, who would wnat to come this dump. I'm sure my opinion will change, but it may take awhile.

Mimi, wishing you especially sunny thoughts and speedy healing as you go through your surgery and recovery tomorrow!

Love to all,
Kirsten