Archive | August, 2011

Around the Base {NAS 1 Sigonella}

August 16, 2011 at 11:54 am

*Updated December 2013*

While we’ve been waiting for our house to be ready to move into, Elliott, Lena, and I have been staying in the Navy Gateway Hotel on NAS I. We’ve begun taking a walk around the base every evening. This is our chance to enjoy the setting sun and the peace at the end of another day as well as listen to an Italian audio lesson together.

Asculti e repeta:

“Ana, vorebe cenare da me cuesta sera?”

“Si, Roberto, vore cenare da lei cuesta sera. A que hora?”

“A le otto?”

“Si, a le otto. Arrivederci, Roberto.”

Last week we took my camera with us so we could show you some of the base. Here’s where we’ve been staying. The Gateway is one of two temporary lodging units at Sigonella, and we’ve been in it for 4 weeks now. Home sweet home!

NAS I Sigonella stands for Naval Air Station One; there are also NAS II and Marani. These 3 small bases—NAS I, NAS II, and Marani—make up the entire complex of NAS Sigonella, which is the US Navy’s base in Sicily, Italy.

(FYI, “NAS” is pronounced “naz” by those in the know. And you are now in the know!)

NAS I includes all the “fun stuff” of Sigonella. You’ll see all the pictures of the fun stuff. Meanwhile, NAS II is the actual naval air station where the jets take off and land, where all the hangers are, and where most of the military business takes place. Marani is the housing base. It includes approximately 200 town homes for enlisted soldiers, officers, and their families. Non-military families (contractors, teachers) and single sailors live “on the economy” or “out in town,” but military families (at least for now) are required to live in Maranai. We arrived in 2011 before that was a rule, so we chose to live out in town. Once our house is ready, we will live in Motta Sant’Anastasia, which is the closest town to base and about a 10-minute drive from NAS I.

Anyway, back to the tour of NAS I. Here’s the CDC, or Child Development Center. (Not the Center for Disease Control!) It’s a great daycare/preschool that is staffed mostly by military wives.

The tiny Naval Hospital is about a 3-minute walk to the right of this photo and includes pretty much every service (ER, pharmacy, surgery, pediatric clinic, OB/GYN clinic, eye clinic, dental clinic, multi-service inpatient ward) in a compact 3-story building.

Midtown is at the center of NAS I. It includes a couple restaurants, gym, video arcade, bowling alley, swimming pool, movie theater, and other attractions that you can see listed on this sign.

This board is updated daily with whatever movies are showing that day. We haven’t been to the theater yet but we have discovered they have great movie popcorn for $1/bag!

And here’s the swimming pool. This photo was taken after it closed for the night, so it isn’t full of moms and kids like it normally is every day during the summertime.

Continuing our tour, across the street from Midtown is a complex that includes several buildings. One of them is this gorgeous building which hosts the library (with a coffee shop inside!), post office, thrift store, bank, Navy College/college extension programs, and Elliott’s veterinary clinic!

Across the courtyard is the chapel, where we go to the Protestant service every Sunday at 10:30 am. (See what I did there?)

Behind this courtyard, in a peaceful corner of the base, is the senior officers’ housing. There are six houses and they are reserved for the Commanding Officer of the base, the Executive Officer, the Commander of the Hospital, and so on. They all like their vet and cute Lena so it’s fun to walk by in the evenings.

Right next to this is the DoDDs School: Department of Defense Dependents’ School. It’s a gorgeous K-12 school for only about 1000 kids. Lucky school-age children!

Next to the DoDDs School is a large complex with the NEX (Naval Exchange, which is basically a Walmart) and the commissary (grocery store). I grew up overseas but we weren’t military, and thus we were never allowed to go to the commissary. I am still getting used to the novelty of being allowed to shop at the commissary—Grape Nuts and chocolate chips and fresh milk in a foreign country!

Across from the NEX and Commissary is the firehouse.

And that’s NAS I, folks! It’s a peaceful, pretty place to spend a few weeks before our house is ready.

Coming soon: my trip to Taormina with some friends… and seven children!

42 :: in home sweet home, husband, Sicily

Around the Base

August 16, 2011 at 10:54 am

Elliott, Lena, and I have begun taking a walk around the base every evening. This is our chance to enjoy the setting sun and the peace at the end of another day as well as listen to an Italian audio lesson together.

Asculti e repeta:

“Ana, vorebe cenare da me cuesta sera?”

“Si, Roberto, vore cenare da lei cuesta sera. A que hora?”

“A le otto?”

“Si, a le otto. Arrivederci, Roberto.”

Last week we took my camera with us so we could show you some of the base. Right now we’re staying at the Navy Gateway Hotel on NAS I Sigonella. The Gateway is one of two temporary lodging units at Sigonella, and we’ve been in it for 4 weeks now. Home sweet home!

(FYI, “NAS” is pronounced “naz” by those in the know. And you are now in the know!)

NAS I includes all the “fun stuff” of Sigonella. You’ll see all the pictures of the fun stuff. Meanwhile, NAS II is the actual naval air station where the jets take off and land, where all the hangers are, and where most of the military business takes place. Marani is the housing base. It includes approximately 200 town homes for enlisted soldiers, officers, and their families. All officers and some enlisted soldiers have the option to live “on the economy” in Sicily, though; they don’t have to live at Marani. As previously stated on this blog, we decided to live on the economy in the nearby town of Motta.

Anyway, back to the tour of NAS I. Here’s the CDC, or Child Development Center. (Not the Center for Disease Control!) It’s a great daycare/preschool that is staffed by military moms. If I do end up working here as a nurse, Lena will probably come to the CDC most days of the week. The tiny Naval Hospital is about a 3-minute walk to the right of this photo.

Midtown is at the center of NAS I. It includes a couple restaurants, gym, video arcade, bowling alley, swimming pool, movie theater, and other attractions that you can see listed on this sign.

This board is updated daily with whatever movies are showing that day. We haven’t been to the theater yet but we have discovered they have great movie popcorn for $1/bag!

And here’s the swimming pool. This photo was taken after it closed for the night, so it isn’t full of moms and kids like it normally is every day during the summertime.

Continuing our tour, across the street from Midtown is a complex that includes several buildings. One of them is this gorgeous building which hosts the library (with a coffee shop inside that just opened today after the summer holiday!), post office, thrift store, bank, Navy College/college extension programs, and Elliott’s veterinary clinic! Swanky, eh?

Across the courtyard is the chapel, where we will probably attend church. Still deciding/praying about that decision.

Behind this courtyard, in a peaceful corner of the base, is the senior officers’ housing. There are six houses and they are reserved for the Commanding Officer of the base (UVA grad and lived in the Maupin suite next to Elliott’s—but about 10 years before Elliott—and of course lived on the Lawn [West Side, party boy]… Wahoowa!!!), the Executive Officer, the Commander of the Hospital, and so on. They all like their vet and cute Lena so it’s fun to walk by in the evenings.

Right next to this is the DoDDs School: Department of Defense Dependants’ School. It’s a gorgeous, large school for only about 1000 kids. Lucky school-age children!

Next to the DoDDs School is a large complex with the NEX (Naval Exchange, which is basically a Walmart) and the commissary (grocery store). I grew up overseas but we weren’t military, and thus we were never allowed to go to the commissary. I am still getting used to the novelty of being allowed to shop at the commissary—Raisin Bran and chocolate chips and fresh milk in a foreign country!

Across from the NEX and Commissary is the firehouse. This is for you, my EMT sister Julia!

And that’s NAS I, folks! It’s a peaceful, pretty place to spend a few weeks before our house is ready.

Coming soon: my trip to Taormina with some friends… and seven children!

6 :: in home sweet home, husband, Sicily

Medieval Festival in Motta

August 15, 2011 at 2:56 pm

Last week I got home from a gym class and found Elliott and Lena playing on the bed.

“Do you want to go out for dinner?” he asked.

Out for an Italian meal? Yes! Sure. Always.

So we strapped Lena’s car seat into the veterinary clinic’s government vehicle and headed for the nearby town of Motta Sant’Anastasia. It’s about a 10-minute drive from the base and is also where we’ve decided to live. We signed our lease last week! Do you see the castle tower on the cliff? Our house is about 20 yards away from there and is built on the edge of the cliff.

In Motta, we went to a restaurant many of our friends have recommended: Pizzeria Donna Fortunata. At 7pm, the place was empty. Italians eat closer to 9pm. We loved their table wine, which was 2 euro for the little glass jug on our table (0.25L).

Elliott ate Penne alla Norma, the traditional Sicilian dish: penne pasta with tomato sauce, eggplant, and a sprinkling of salty ricotta cheese. I ordered their Sicilian pizza: tuma cheese topped with olives, onions, and anchovies and baked in a wood-fired pizza oven. (Sorry I didn’t take any pictures of the food, guys… next time!)

We left the restaurant just as the sun was setting over Sicily.

That evening, August 11, was the start of the Medieval Festival in Motta. Every four years this annual festival is especially large and elaborate. We found ourselves in the midst of the celebrations and merrymaking in the town’s central piazza, about a 5-minute walk from our house.

We walked through the narrow streets to our house.

And then we saw our house! Can you see the edge of the door at the end of that driveway? It’s down the stairs (which you can’t see); the castle is just to the right in this picture. The man and woman are grilling pigeons for part of the Medieval Feast:

We wandered around the town as local residents hurried to and fro in the narrow cobblestone streets dressed in medieval garb. They had constructed all sorts of structures for the feast, including a catapult (I don’t think they were planning to use it), long tables and benches for the feasting, booths for selling Sicilian baskets and jugs of wine, and entire arches and towers, like the one behind Elliott in the photo.

We walked back near the castle for the start of the parade. With a flourish of trumpet fanfare, the procession began. Leading the way were a group of bagpipers, and following them were a crowned king and queen, juggling jesters with a rattling wooden cart full of tricks, bare-waisted dancing ladies, and a group of flag-throwers in green-and-yellow tights. They marched down the cobblestone streets towards the main piazza, where they met up with another neighborhood’s procession in red-and-black tights with wooden swords. The green-and-yellow entourage represented our neighborhood, and thank goodness because they were cooler anyway.

Lena was so good through it all, despite the festivities going on waaaay past her bedtime. Lights, colors, music… happy baby! Can’t wait to watch her toddle down these streets in Motta as she grows up.

3 :: in eat this, home sweet home, Sicily

Medieval Festival in Motta

August 15, 2011 at 1:56 pm

Last week I got home from a gym class and found Elliott and Lena playing on the bed.

“Do you want to go out for dinner?” he asked.

Out for an Italian meal? Yes! Sure. Always.

We left the restaurant just as the sun was setting over Sicily.

We walked through the narrow streets to our house.

3 :: in eat this, home sweet home, Sicily

On the job – guest post by Elliott

August 14, 2011 at 4:58 pm

Well hello from your friendly local veterinarian! I’ve just finished my first week of real work, and so far it seems as if it will be a pretty good job. I am the one military veterinarian responsible for Sigonella Naval Air Station and another small naval base at Souda Bay, Crete, in Greece. Until about six months ago, both of these bases were in the process of shrinking in size and mission. When the rest of the world decided to get involved in the revolution in Libya, however, it remembered the strategic importance of these locations in the Mediterranean. Now they are both filled to the bursting with military personnel from all over the world, and plans are underway to build them back up more permanently. All that said, it looks like my job will definitely be here for the next three years.

I have four soldiers working with me: two veterinary technicians and two food inspectors. Together, we’re the only Army personnel on the base. Our mission is pretty typical for us as Army veterinary services: we provide full service medical and surgical care to the military working dogs (MWDs) and pets of those stationed here with us; we ensure the safety of all the (human) food and beverages sold and consumed on the bases; and we provide support to public health programs involving animal health and food safety.

As you can see from the photos, the clinic is in a beautiful building, with Mt. Etna looming in the distance and visible out my office window. The whole clinic was built and newly equipped about six years ago, so it is still in great shape and just the right size to handle our mission. Along with my military help, I also have a civilian vet tech, a receptionist, an Italian secretary/translator, and an Italian vet working for me.

This week I had two days of pet clinics and one day with the military working dogs. The pets were mostly dogs, of all shapes and sizes, and most were here simply to get vaccines updated or health certificates for flying back to the U.S. There were also the standard ear infections, vomiting and diarrhea, itchy skin, and a few lumps and bumps. It’s been fun getting back into the sleuthing and investigating required to make an accurate diagnosis, and I’ve enjoyed working together with my techs as we take turns looking at slides under the microscope, discussing the fine details of doggie diets and excrement, and holding down crazy cats and yapping toy dogs.

Two MWDs came in on Thursday. Bach is a big German Shepherd, and has a reputation as the meanest dog in the kennel. He broke a toe during a training exercise a couple months ago, and we wanted to see if it was completely healed up yet. We had to heavily sedate him in order to take the radiographs; even with a muzzle on he is difficult to control or be safe around in his alert state. Fortunately the radiographs showed that the main fracture is almost fully healed. Unfortunately, a small bone ship is still present in the tissue beside the fracture location, so I’m hoping that doesn’t cause him continued pain. We’ll give him a few more weeks of kennel rest and then do another recheck before clearing him to work.

Nathan is the only long-haired German Shepherd in the kennel, and he was back for a follow up on some skin irritation I had seen him for the week before. It was mostly cleared up after a week of shampoos and a clip of his long thick hair, so I’m thinking is was probably related to the heat.

And that was my first week, along with lots of e-mailing and paperwork, of course. Now back to Becca’s more fun adventures…