2:00 a.m. Wednesday, January 14, 2015
So here we are! We made it! Three planes and an hour-long
taxi ride later… we made it. We’re in Paderno del Grappa, Italy… living the
dream. And we’re in tears. It’s 2 a.m. in Italy (7 p.m. at home), and after the
kids have had their share of homesick meltdowns tonight, while they (and Matt)
are fast asleep, it’s time for me to have mine. Here’s the thing. We spent so
much time over the past few weeks making all of the physical preparations for
this trip that we forgot to prepare our hearts. Because it IS hard to leave
friends and family and everything that is safe and known. We mistakenly thought
that because we had traveled around the world before, we were totally prepared
to set down semi-permanent roots for a few months. After traveling for nearly 24 hours with only
a few hours of sleep on a plane from Charlotte to London, it is VERY hard to be
dropped into a world where you can’t even read the cereal box in the tiny
market to know if anyone in your household will eat it. What seems exotic and
fun on a vacation, suddenly seems overwhelming when you realize that this is going
to be your day-to-day. I spoke with the kids about how this is just a taste of
what it will feel like for our sweet Tai when we bring him home from Korea. My
heart sank when we were told that “No, we don’t really have oatmeal in Italy.”
Whaaat? I can totally survive a couple of weeks without oatmeal on a vacation
if necessary, but it’s my standby to get me started for the day. Matt, too.
Such a tiny, trivial thing, but it broke me anyway. I have no choice but to
find an alternate fuel source in the morning before a long run, and a croissant
with Nutella just isn’t going to cut it. It is all of the little things that,
when jetlagged, begin to overwhelm.
Sure, we were warmly greeted by the university staff here.
We were given our little Fiat Punto (the kids now know the term “killed it” in
relation to our driving of a stick shift and are keeping a running total- we’re
a little rusty), taken to our sparsely furnished, yet clean, apartment, and told
that we would learn more when Matt attends the orientation meeting on Thursday.
This seems to be a standard answer whenever we ask a question. “Yes, we’ll
explain that Thursday.” Actually, it’s more like, “Yesuh, we’lluh explainuh thatuh onuh Tursday.” This does not jive with
my “I-need-to-get-my-family-settled-and-make-this-all –seem-okay-to-them”
brain. As expected, the views from the apartment of the nearby church and
mountains are spectacular. Grant was especially quiet, huddled with his blankie
in a chair. We were exhausted. When our campus liaison, Stephania, left, Grant
burst into tears. “I thought it was going to be like a hotel, “ he sobbed into
his blankie. “It would be a little better if it had carpet,” he moaned.
Evidently the cold tile didn’t evoke the homey atmosphere he was envisioning.
Meanwhile, every so often Anna would burst into tears because she had forgotten
to say “bye” to certain friends, she missed her dogs, and she just wanted to go
home. Living the dream, folks! Sheesh. We decided to drive around a bit to a
few of the nearby villages to get a feel for our surroundings and try to keep
the kids awake until at least 8:00.
We toured the beautiful campus, where there are basketball
goals and soccer fields that will certainly get use by our G-force. Grant was
awed by the ENORMOUS cypress trees, a smattering of palm trees, and gigantic
evergreens scattered throughout the landscape. We then returned to our
apartment to get ready for dinner.
Did I mention that it wasn’t just the tile that was cold in
our apartment? The entire apartment was frigid. Upon arrival, we were told
about the heating regulations imposed by the government and that our heat had
been turned on, but it would only run during certain parts of the day. We fully
expected our apartment to have warmed up after we explored the area a bit in
our little car. Wrong. We finally alerted Stephania and she came to
investigate. Another campus official was then called to the scene. Meanwhile,
our children are starving and hanging on by a very thin thread. The repair man
can’t come until tomorrow, so they bring us space heaters. This helps. A
little. Except that the finicky, old Italian electricity keeps throwing a
breaker every few minutes. We can’t use all of the heaters. The last straw was
when we returned from dinner and the little apartment had retained zero heat.
We didn’t want to risk the fire hazard of having a space heater in the kids’
room all night, so we called Stephania and informed her that we would need to
find a hotel. At this point, it is 9:00 p.m. Tuesday night, and we haven’t
slept in a bed since Sunday night.
One of the professors has not yet arrived. This is our
saving grace tonight. Instead of packing up again and heading to a hotel, we
were able to just move our bedding downstairs to the warm, empty apartment. We
all agreed that we prefer our little upstairs apartment, so we are praying that
it is fixed tomorrow (or today, I guess- jet lag brain). Grant and Anna both
agreed that our first apartment is more inviting and home-like, so there’s that
bit of perspective gained by them through this experience.
As I write this, I know that I will not be able to share it
until tomorrow. We have no wi-fi in our apartment, which I thought would not bother
me. Wrong. Suddenly, I long for interaction with the outside world and our
little world at home. Also, the television in our first apartment does not
work, so they swapped it with the downstairs apartment (which is where we are
now staying- ahhhhh!). As we were going to bed tonight in our temporary
apartment Matt looked at me and said, “Someday we’re going to laugh about this.” I couldn’t help but giggle. We have been
through some crazy times together over the past 14 years of marriage. Although
we weren’t quite prepared for the tears today, we knew it would be an
adjustment. We know it will get better. Easier. We are learning a new normal,
and as soon as we are comfortable, it will be time to go home.
I have to end with a couple of highlights, so here they are:
I will never forget
Anna’s face and excitement as she tracked our plane as it neared London. We
arrived in the dark of early morning with the glittering lights of the city
spread out beneath us. It was glorious. Tracking the plane as it flew over the
Irish coast and neared London, she was giddy.
As for Grant, I never want to forget how much he savored every bite of
his ham and cheese croissant on the flight from London to Venice. “This is a
good sandwich! That cheese really stands out!” Ha! Yes, that was standout
cheese, indeed.
God is good. He is here with us, and He has a plan for us right
here in the midst of the chaos. He is teaching us, molding us, and stretching
us. He has us here for a reason. Tonight I am praying for a warm apartment and
eyes to see the opportunities set before us on this journey. Sending hugs and
love to all of our friends and family at home! Ciao for now…
|
Tulsa Airport |
|
Osprey should pay us for our advertising |
|
One tired boy- even BEFORE we left Tulsa |
|
Saying goodbye to the grandparents |
|
The boys snoozed even after the lights came on as we cruised toward London |
|
Soooo excited to be nearing London |
|
Flying over the Swiss Alps- almost there! |
|
A view from one of the many huge windows in our apartment |
|
The gate to our apartment |
|
Touring the CIMBA campus |
|
Grant's dinner at the Hotel Montegrappa |
|
Standing in our "yard" gazing out at the mountains |
Update: After 14 hours of sleep (the kids awoke only because we finally decided to awaken them), fratelli (little donuts with chocolate inside), a visit to campus for wi-fi, and HEAT in our apartment, I think we can all agree... It will take some adjusting, but this is going to be one heck of an experience!