2012-01-23

(669) Can't sleep

My sleep schedule is still screwed up. It's past midnight here and I can't fall asleep. I only got three hours of sleep last night because I had to be out the door by 7 to go on the ICR (Inter-cultural relations) field trip. I did a lot of walking around and the only thing that kept me awake was a 5hr energy drink. I didn't nap or anything, forced myself to stay up til 9. Been trying to sleep since then. I took melatonin... didn't help... I'm up to taking 3 pills of it and it's not doing anything. Thinking about going to see a doctor so I get some form of sleep.

Things I'm worried about:

  • Unemployment, got a call today asking me to call them back on Wednesday during business hours about my ability to work in Naples. Um... can't really get a job here. Well, that's what I've been told. There's an employment thingy here so I will talk to them either tomorrow or Wednesday to see if I have any options.
  • Not sleeping...endless cycle there
  • The logistics of bring my cats here
  • Getting my sojourner's permit - extends my visa. Was supposed to be done by 8 days since I got here, but it's not... not really up to me, it's up to my husband and his unit. Also doesn't help that his work is 40 mins away... we have no car yet and the bus only runs 1x a day and we've been doing the orientation/ICR stuff
  • Household goods/car getting here safely and soon, living in a hotel this long without a lot of space is starting to get to me
Don't mistake this as me complaining about being here. I was just google tips on falling asleep and it said to write what your worries are. Not sure if this will help. 

2012-01-11

(668) We are in Italy!

We arrived yesterday. I have been on base in the hotel since then recovering from the long plane trip. I hadn't slept in over 24 hours and I was exhausted. My sleep schedule is still off and I haven't adjusted to the current time.

It's so strange being in another country. Even on base, most of the workers are Italian and speak to each other in Italian when they're not talking to you. We have AFN at the hotel and all the commercials are in Italian.

I do feel a little homesick. I am missing my old life back at Ft Drum. I had a lot going on, working, volunteering, etc. I had a home with stuff in it. Now, we've been living in hotels for a while and it's getting to me. We should get housing soon because the sponsor said there was no waiting list for the type of housing we need. So any day now... We'll have to buy an air mattress or something because we wont be getting our household goods for 1-2 months or so. I just want to get settled in our new home and start a life here somehow. I am completely out of my element.

The worse thing so far is not having a data plan on my phone. I just got the new Droid 3 in December because I was due for an upgrade. Well, the phone place here couldn't take our USAA credit card for a contract, so we both have prepay phones. Not much you can do without a data plan. Especially google maps, which would've been useful for navigating here, but it looks like I'll have to buy a GPS.

I feel so out of place here. I want to feel comfortable. I want to meet people.

I hope I start enjoying this place soon!