Hello Milano

October 3, 2006
Well, we are here in Milano after quite an ordeal getting here. All our luggage and the cat were a huge hassle and Ben and I ended up getting to our apartment in different ways. He wasn't sure he'd see me again, but it worked out. Since then we have been organizing the apartment, which is really nice (pictures to come soon). We had to figure out how to turn on the gas and hot water and get a copy of our giant key made. We have slept a lot so far. Our apartment is in a neighborhood called Lambrate and is near to train tracks, so it's a little of noisy. Luckily, it's not any worse than Vernon Blvd. in LIC. And the apartment is a lot nicer and seems bigger than our old one. Kato is having fun exploring.

Today, we went to Ben's school and walked around the center of town. There are some really pretty buildings, but so much ugly graffiti. We have seen the "USA Store", which has CSI shirts and stuff like that. Also, all the kids here are wearing clothes with flags and American stuff on them. We've been taking the subway a lot, which is really convenient and fast. So far there a lot young people here than in New York.

TV is fun because, already I've seen Survivor, My Wife and Kids, and Looney Tunes in Italian. And was glad to find that Lost and House (in Italian) will be on TV here too.

People have been really nice to us since we got here. Even the ones who have no idea what we are saying. Ben, of course, has already made friends with a bike shop in town. Our Italian is terrible, and it's funny how being tired can make it impossible to communicate clearly. Hopefully, we will start learning more.

Ben starts his classes Oct. 16th and I have already been asked to dance at the Welcome Party for the school. Will I do it? I don't know, but it might be a good chance to perform here.

Hope everyone is well and know that we are thinking of you all and missing you.
Our address is Largo Gemito 3, Milano 20131, Italia. We would love to get letters and goodies from anyone who wants to send them.
Ciao!