Day 1: 27-28 January 2009 - The Departure & The Arrival

After a fantastic weekend in Charleston with my friend Lauren Faust and some new Navy Nuke buddies, I drove another 6 hours to Norfolk, VA. I stayed with some Gulfport buddies, Bev and Eric. They're such fabulous hosts and were very patient when I was frazzling out about the weight of my luggage! :) My passenger manifest stated that my 2 checked bags had to be 50 lbs. or less. Well, as most people know, there's no way my luggage will ever be the correct weight. My uniform bridge coat (a longer version of a peacoat) weighed about 10 lbs just by itself! The manifest also said I could bring on 1 carry on. Of course, I had two. Fortunately, there were no hassles at the airport, and everyone there was very friendly and helpful....

I was told to report to the airport by 1835 for a 2135 flight. Not quite sure why I had to be there THREE hours early, but we made it in time. I think Bev and I made a loop of the entire Norfolk base trying to find the AMC terminal. I had heard varying horror stories about the AMC flights: "you'll be in a loud cargo plane," "you'll be stopping every 2 hours," and the dreaded "there will be TONS of screaming babies." Really, the only one I was concerned about was the screaming baby issue. I usually can sleep through anything, but after dealing with children kicking the back of my seat on several trans-atlantic flights, my tolerance level with that has significantly plummeted.... so, I thanked Bev profusely for helping me out the past day or so, and proceed to the departure lounge. One of my friends told me that I'd be there for a long time without any food, so I packed my carry on with about 30 Luna bars and was raring to go. The lounge was fairly empty, so I called a few friends, hopped on the internet, and patiently waited. Not a baby in sight. YES! But, of course, just as I relax about 30 minutes before boarding babies started coming out of the woodwork... one, two, three, ten... noting their disapproval of the impending flight in various stages of loud gurgling, sobbing, crying, screetching, and screaming. ahhhh!!! And then the kid sitting next to me decides NOW was a GREAT time to start singing. Needless to say I was a bit hesitant about this flight...

Fortunately, after boarding, there was only one baby in my section of the plane and it was fairly peaceful. I snuggled into my window seat and sat back and relaxed. We seemed to be sitting on the tarmac for a fairly long time, so I took the opportunity to text several friends, knowing texting and calling wouldn't be cheap on the other side of the Atlantic... one of my friends called me and I spoke as quietly as possible, so as to not be "that girl" talking on her phone. Well, even though they hadn't called the "turn off all electronic devices and cellphones," the male flight attendant gave me the stink-eye as he passed by me. So, after quickly hanging up, I went back to texting. ;-)

The flight consisted of a 4 hour flight to Lajes AFB, located in the Azores off Portugal. During the flight we were well-fed (I haven't had an airline meal in quite a long time, and frankly, this one was pretty tasty. It could have been the bonus Sara Lee mini chocolate chunk cake thing that tipped that scale). They put on a movie, Hellboy II, and then I took a nap until we arrived in the Azores. Now, I fully expected that there would be some sort of gift shoppe where I could buy at least a keychain or koozie for the collection. SCORE! GIFT SHOPPE! While the selection was rather minimal, I managed to get some postcards, a shot glass, a keychain and a magnet. I thought I had been to some tiny airports in my time, but this one really took the cake. What we were supposed to be doing for 2 hours in this airport, I have no idea. The muzak did a FULL CYCLE, and I realized 1. 5 hours in they were playing the same song as when I had gotten here. We arrived in the dark, so we couldn’t even see the island or take any touristy pictures.

Two hours later, we're back on the plane, fed again (!), and I was asleep pretty soon thereafter. We arrived in Naples, Italy an hour EARLY (!). We were greeted by the base CO, and then I collected my luggage while I awaited a pickup from my sponsor. I managed to decipher how to use the DSN phone on the wall thanks to an individual near me, so I called a friend or two and the parents to let them know I was safe and sound.

Jason, my fantastic sponsor and co-worker, and my new XO picked me up and showed me the office, introducing me to those hard-chargers still at work at 1630! ;-) Jason then took me on a drive to the support site where I would be staying, helped me check in, and dragged one of my bags up to my room. I soon discovered why people never want to move out of the Lodge here. Granite countertops.... oriental rug... nice furniture... and free internet downstairs. I laughed for a good few minutes when I saw the base restaurant was an APPLEBEES! YES. An APPLEBEES. Well, after seeing the look in my eye, Jason and I ventured out into Gricignano to find a restaurant. After realizing that neither of us had any Euros on us, the waiter indicated that there was an ATM in the piazza. I remembered on our quick drive through the town that we had passed a Banco di Napoli at some point. Jason asked if it was within walking distance, and I said sure, of course. I think MY impression of walking distance is drastically different than the average person, so it was a good 15 minute walk or so to the ATM. As my parents will attest, I always used to complain about walking on our European trips. Apparently on one trip after being told our itinerary in the morning I responded, “Will ANY of this involve WALKING?” Needless to say, I formerly was not a fan. Now, I’ll bound around tiny cities without hesitation… So, we made it to the ATM and back to the restaurant, enjoyed a nice meal, and then Jason dropped me back off at the lodge. While I didn’t feel jetlagged, after watching an episode of 30 Rock on my computer I was out like a light…. Until 0300, when I decided that this would be a good time to iron my uniform for tomorrow. So, I got the ironing board out of the closet and set it up. Two seconds later it CRASHES down on my toes, and probably waking up the poor people below me. I whispered “SORRY!” as if that was going to make a difference, and then properly locked the thing into place… I fell back to sleep a little while later, then looked forward to Day 2.