Independence Day

Happy 4th of July, and more importantly the celebration of America's Independence!

Today marks the anniversary of the most gut wrenching/emotionally draining trauma patients that my team and I took care of just 1 year ago. Its been a great weekend of spending time with close friends and enjoying my last few days of Sicilian sunshine. Please pray for the military members AND there families who have served and who currently serve. Even more support for the families of those who have lost their loved ones. Never Forget!

Also getting ready to get back to the States. I fly out 07 July, which is just a a few short days away. Its all very bittersweet!

Ciao Ciao till next time!

Long Time! Lots to do!

Wow...dang...its been eon's yet again...suprised my father didn't say anything yet :) Over the past 2 months, nothing too terribly exciting has happened. I have been able to enjoy summer, hiking, the beach and a nice trip to Switzerland on my off time and of course working oodles. Tomorrow will be my last shift before packing out this week and then an 8 day cruise with my great friend Rose. We will hit up the Spanish Med and then return to 10 days or so of check out from work, housing, base, etc... July 7th will be my flight departure date, so I can wait! I almost taste the mexican food!

This is a short post for now; just to upload some photos. A few of these are from hiking here in Sicily, then the others are Switzerland...absolutely gorgeous, but very expensive place to visit!

More pics to come from the upcoming trip and updates with the move, etc...

Grateful

For the past 18 days I have been in the US. I have been doing a temporary duty (TAD) in Portsmouth, VA working in the ICU at the Naval Hospital. I didn't think I was going to have much of a plan other than working lots as I didn't know many people here. But thankfully, I was honored to work with a great team of people who welcomed me with open arms. They all treated me as I was their own permanent team member! So many thanks to Phil Boyer, LT Kim, Elise Holmes and Demetrius Brown, among a few others!

Mom also came to visit, which was an awesome not expected part of the trip as well :)

So now begins the ever bridging gap of time to depart Italy! I am so excited!!!! I have solidified my plans that I don't ever want to be stationed overseas (excluding deployments) ever again. The distance from my family and the state of living in the US is something I have missed terribly! I have no regrets and feel blessed to have the opportunity to live in Italy, but am ready to be stateside again for a very long time.

Carnivale

So Carnivale kicked off a few weeks ago. Carnivale is similar to Mardi Gras, though down graded so much more. There were floats, no beads, alcohol, but no craziness. It seems to be directed more towards the children as they dress up in costume as well and people throw confetti and shoot silly string all over the place. It was fun though, for sure!



Winter is almost over here...the rainy season is about done and summer is just about here. Was able to go snowboarding today on MT. Etna which was a very challenging day, but lots of fun, laughs and many sore muscles to be had. Next time I need a butt pad for cushion :)


Also got word this week that I am going to head back to the states for some cross-training in the ICU at Porsmouth, VA. I am pretty excited to go back stateside as its been over 1 year now! But it won't be much play, all work to absorb as much as possible during the 18 days I will be gone. I am preparing to take my Critical Care Certification exam in the next few months, so that gives me some fresher as its been a few years now since I have done ICU consistently. ER world is much different. And I will be making a few stops at Target...my favorite store to do some major damage in : ) And scoping out cars so when I move to Cali I will know what to buy.



Ciao Ciao

Its been a while

Thanks Dad for the reminder that its been eons since I posted :) Yes, of course there are things going on since I posted a few weeks back; though I did have an enjoyable trip to Poland in Warsaw and Krakow for a few days. Was a great trip and the people, food and sites were amazing. I loved it, but it was an abrupt ending when I went back to work very early the next morning for a class :p

Am getting things in order for my departure, pack outs, check outs, getting M and M ready and just plan getting excited! This being said; time is dragging and slow is life right now. The days are getting longer and the sun getting brighter; I will survive!

Travels

Just returned from Amsterdam and Brussels; had an amazing time, but it was my first, and hopefully last solo traveling excursion. Its just more fun to share the experience with another person/people. I will post pictures later.

Found this map which was pretty cool about how much/places in the world you've visited. 12% for me already...seems like its been much more, but this world is a big place :)

Create your own travel map


Anonymous has traveled to: Afghanistan, Belgium, Canada, Croatia, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Kuwait, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mexico, Netherlands, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Singapore, Solomon Islands, United Kingdom, United States, Vatican City, Vietnam, USA States: Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin

MT Etna Erupts!...and I'm at work :(

View from housing in Marinai; just 7 miles West of the main base
Were the majority is lit up on the bottom on the left is the city I live in, Motta

Craziness!

So last night, for the first time since 2002 (well more than just a trickle), Mt Etna erupted. Mt Etna is the main area that we can see from base, which we often call the 'She' as she is a female (always smoking) volcano. Starting at around 9pm it started to spew and just got more intense till about 2 am. This morning I walked out to my car covered in soot; grey ashy soot. thankfully I have an awesome neighbor who washed my car while I slept today.

They have posted various things on base about the air quality, but it isn't foggy out, the wind seems to be going further west and so I was able to do some running outside without coughing up a lung (yet!). Can't be much worse than Afganistan.

So thats news here...luckily, so far, all flights are a go as I depart for Brussels/Amsterdam on Sunday for a few days. Ciao Ciao!

Firenza New Years 2011

The locks of love and committment near the Ponte Vecchio bridge


Pisa!

Happy New Years! As I uploaded these photos I couldn't help but think I should rename this blog to be called something outside of Life in Italy as I often post in regards to travels and events outside of Italy. I have done a fair share of travel inside Italy as well....but too me the more exciting locations have been outside.

For New Years a group of friends and I traveled to Florence over a 4 day weekend and rented an apartment for the 6 of us to be able to stay together. We had a great time, drank lots of wine and champagne, saw the sites, ate lots of delicious food and enjoyed the company of some friends who are departing soon, myself included.

Which brings me to the most exciting news of the New Year; I recieved my ORDERS to Camp Pendelton which means its official. I will depart Sicily in June and hope to travel back home this summer as well. I look forward to the next adventure and am eager to get back to Southern California! I can understand I am very lucky to be stationed here in Sicily, and know I take advantage of that sometimes, as I describe it simply; I am a spoiled American who misses the conveniences of the States.

Till next time, ciao, ciao!