Tears of Joy For My Little Miracle

     May 13, 2012 This morning we left the house around 8am to head to Naples. It is about a 4 hour drive North from where my family lives. When we got there we went straight to the hospital to see GaGa. Zia Giovanna told him I might not be able to go because we wanted to play a little joke with him. When we got there Claudia and her family went in first and then I called her phone. We were going to surprise him by me walking in while he was on the phone with me, but he ended up not wanting to talk to me so I just had to walk in. I knew that when I got there I would probably start crying and sure enough I did, and I ended up making his mom Simona cry too. She is so sweet I tried not to, but I couldn't help it. She told me thank you, meaning for everything and being there for them in general.Going from how critical he was at one point and almost losing his life on the operating table to now possibly leaving the hospital tomorrow is a complete miracle and a work of God. We had to leave the hospital and go home for lunch because visiting hours are from 3pm-4pm. Once everyone had lunch we headed back to the hospital to see GaGa again. Tomorrow the doctors are suppose to be doing rounds and do one last exam on him. If everything looks good they will be sending him home tomorrow...on his birthday.

     After we left the hospital around 4pm we all went out into the city of Naples by bus to look for some Nike shoes for Alfredo. I can't believe how much things cost over here. It's crazy! Once we got back to the house my since my back has been killing me, and I am not able to go to the chiropractor I had my 4 year old cousin Giacomo walk on my back... I was affraid he was going to start jumping on me, but he actually did it really good. When he was done he sat on me, then started massaging my back with his hands...it was so cute. By the time we got home that evening, it had been a long day and I was really exhausted. I just wanted to eat and then go lay down and read. I have been reading twilight in Italian, and so far so good. While I was reading my book Antonio called me into the other room. He was playing Texa Hold Em' on the computer and wanted me to play with him. We were doing good until he decided to bluff and go all in...game over.
     It is very hard to explain how the last couple weeks have had me on a roller coaster of emotions. The day my cousin had surgery is a day I will not forget. The surgery did not go well and he was on the table for over 12 hours. That night my cousin was trying to explain to me (in Italian) what was going on with him. I told her I did not understand and she explained it again using different words. There was one word I did not understand still, but the last two words and gesture I understood perfectly....so I thought. She did the sign of the cross and said the word died. I called my mom crying telling her what my cousin had just told me. I couldn't believe it. Later that night after talking to my mom again I found out that he was still alive, but close to dying. He was unstable and in critical condition. He was basically hanging on by a thread. It is a miracle today that he is with us. He is here because God answered our prayers, and I thank everyone that sent prayers his way and for my family. I have always heard of miracles, but I have never been so close to actually witness one in all of my life until now. Words cannot describe my thoughts and emotions. I am just very thankful that God placed this little cousin of mine in my life and gave him a second chance.

Meeting More Family

 May 12, 2012 Nico took my mom, Zia Pupa, and I to see some family they have not seen in a while, and family I have never met. This family was my grandma's twin brother's family. One of his daughters is very sick and wanted to see us before she passed away, so she asked that we come by as soon as we could. Here it is custom that when you go to someone's house you take a gift with you. While we were waiting for Nico to come pick us up me, mom, and Zia Pupa headed down to the store to find a couple gifts for our family. We ended up going to three different houses and that was only part of the family we still have more family on that side to go see.

After all of our running around and visiting family I came home to relax for a little bit until Enzo picked me up at 6 o'clock. Tonight I went to stay the night at Claudia's because tomorrow we are all leaving early in the morning to drive to Naples because Gaetanno is finally out of ICU and doing better. Right now as long as he continues to do well he will be getting out of the hospital on Monday, his birthday! Tonight we laid low and didn't do very much. It was kind of nice to not go running around for once. While we stayed at home Silvia had pulled out her nail polish to practice something she had learned on youtube.com while she was doing that I taught her how to make flowers on her finger nails. When I was done she wanted to paint my toe nails because my toes were looking horrible. After that we went to bed early.

He Started It and I Finished It!

     May 11, 2012 Zio Gaetanno took mom and I to the bank today to go get money out of the ATM machine. It is definitely different getting money out of the machine here than at home. When we get money out of the ATM machine we know we are going to get our money unless the machine is out of service. Here it is hit or miss with the line that communicates with the United States, and we have had to try a couple different banks. Here we hope the money will come out, and not only that we have to be careful as to how many times we attempt to get money if the machine is not working because if we do it one to many times the machine will take our card and then we will really be screwed. Before we left my uncle wanted a cafè, so we stopped at a coffee bar. He know's that I like the Gugliemo coffee, so he had asked the person working at the bar if they had esresso cups they could give me to take home to America. I just bought some the other day, and now I am getting them for free...if I only would have known. He took me to three different coffee bars. At one I got two cappucino cups. At the second I ended up getting a brand new set that comes with 6 cups and 6 plates, and at the last bar I got two Gugliemo espresso cups and plates that say Gugliemo. Before we leave he is going to try and see if he can get me a brand new set of Gugliemo cups to take home.

     After our trip to the different cafè bars Zio Gaetanno took me to Veruska's for lunch because she was planning to do my nails for me today. One of our cousins was suppose to be her next client, but she got held up at work so Veruska started working on me instead. By the time my mom and Enzo (my cousin Claudia's husband) came to pick me up to take me to their house for dinner we were still not done and we had to rush to get the polish and gel to dry. We were finally out the door and on our way to Claudia's. Enzo dropped Alfredo, me, Silvia, and my mom off at the new mall that was by their house. I was looking forward to seeing it since it had just opened the week before. We walk in and not even 5 minutes in the place I was already done. There were only 5 stores open. They still have more building to do and more stores to add to the mall. My mom an I told Enzo when he came back to get us that we were done before he even left the parking lot.
     Back at their house it was time for dinner. Claudia had made pizza which was really good and the Italian pizza is definitely different than our American pizza at home. Usually for dessert here they serve strawberries with whip creme. My cousin wanted to make mine, but I did not trust him because he had the whip creme can. I  knew what he was planning to do. Pretending to spray the whip creme in my mouth and then instead sprayed it all over my face, so I just let him do it and then it was on from there. After this war he decided to start another war by trying to tickle me. Luckily for me his sister loves me and took my side. She helped me get him back. All in all I would have to say I ended up winning both matches.

Vampire

     May 10,2012 This morning when I woke up Roberto was getting everything ready to draw blood from my aunt. They are still running tests to make sure the cancer she had is not back, and that there is not something else going on. My cousin gets to bring these things home to draw blood and give IM injections because he is a medic and knows what he is doing. He offered to let me draw my aunts blood and of course I jumped at the opportunity. He said she was a hard stick, so I dind't think I would be successful. I actually ended up hitting the vein on the first attempt and got enough blood for one tube. We still needed more, so I let Roberto stick her again because my aunt was already bruised up from other sticks in the last few days plus she wants us to keep using her AC vein and won't let us stick her hand. I didn't want to take the chance of missing and having to stick her again. I was happy that I got her on the first try. With those of us that work in the medical field, if someone tells us that they are a hard stick that then becomes a challenge, and we love challenges!
     Veruska showed up a few minutes later to pick me up. I wanted to go to Catanzaro Lido to the mercatino on the beach because I had found a gift for a friend there and then decided that I also wanted one myself, so I had to go in search for another one and luckily I found what I was looking for. We were in a hurry and did not have a lot of time because Veruska had a dentist appointment. She had already changed the time so that she could take me to the mercatino. We rushed home in the car and switched over to the scooter. I am not scared to ride on the back of a motorcylce or scooter with her, Ivan, or Sonia. There dad (my Zio Silvio) was a well known motorcylce rider throughout Europe, so it is in their blood. I am a little scared of the traffic around us though because these drivers do not stop and the scooters weave in and out of cars all day long. Veruska has not used the scooter in a while because of the weather, so we had to go air up the tires before we headed out to the dentist. While the man at the station was airing up her front tire he ended up breaking the valve that allows air in and out. Now her tire was completely flat. We had to walk her scooter across speeding traffic to the other side of the road, and then a decent size hill to a mechanic. She was not a happy camper. She ended up having to call the dentist again and cancelling the appointment all together since we were obviously not going to make it. Since she now had some time we went  driving around downtown Catanzaro, and then headed over to Zio Gaetano's for lunch.

     I still do not like how everything closes down in the middle of the day, but the mall's are open when everything else is closed and I do like that. Everyone things I shop like crazy over here, but in reality I have not bought myself anything big. A magnet, a keychain, and a book. I have been shopping for everyone else, but myself. The trips not over yet though and I am still deciding what I want to bring home with me. Once we were done eating mom, veruska, and I headed out to al centro comercial (mall)  in Lamezia. I wanted to go look at a jewelry store for a necklace I have been wanting to get, and especially today because I wanted to use it for when Veruska and I went out to dinner. Luckily Veruska knew the girl working there because it was her husbands cousin. She actually knows everyone in this town and I joke around with her everytime she says "hi " to someone when we are out and about I pretend to start counting the minutes until she sees someone else she knows. Usually these stores will give you discounts and people here bargain like crazy. And for those of you that know me I am also ready for a good discount, and it  is even better when you know the person selling what you want. Once I was ready to pay she would not let me because my Zia Rita (her mom) told here that when I found my necklace she wanted to buy it for me as a gift. I couldn't believe it. I was so excited, and now I can't wait to buy some additional pieces to add to it.
     The main reason that we ended up going to Lamezia was because Veruska said there was a toy store there and I have been in search for a spiderman gift for my cousin Gaetanno for a week now, and have not been able to find anything. I still ended up empty handed when we left the mall, but luckily there was a toy store in the same parking lot that is almost as big as Toys R Us. I finally found a spiderman toy and then also a gift that is for learning. It worked out perfect because I could give him one gift on the day we visited him at the hospital, and the other gift for his birthday when he left the hospital. We were definitely rushed for time after the toy store because Veruska and I had to come home and get ready for dinner that night.

     We were suppose to meet her friends at 9pm, but she didn't pick me up until about 9:30pm. I give her crap for being late all the time. We finally got to the resteraunt at Catanzaro Lido called The White Pub. I was very happy to actually be having something other than pizza again. I love the panini's they have here because I can never find prosciutto coto (a type of ham) at home. After dinner all of us girls headed to a bar. A couple of them order gelato, Veruska ordered a shot of alcohol, and I ordered a Chamomille tea. They looked at me like I was crazy. Asking, "Da vero a questa ora?" (Really at this hour?). It's now 11:30 pm I am tired and going to be going to bed soon plus its freezing cold outside, so I definitely didn't want an ice cream and the shot of alcohol was out of the question.Come to find out later they were laughing and giving me a hard time because we drink chamomille to sleep and relax, but here the women drink it as a home remedy to menstrual cramps, so they were making jokes about me ordering my tea.
     When I got home tonight my mom updated me on Gaetanno's status. She said that he hasn't been eating and that the doctors are worried because if he doesn't eat they cannot send him home. I think he is not eating because his throat is still sore from having the ET tube (breathing tube) in, especially since they had to re-intubate him. His mom Simona says he doesn't want to eat because he's affraid he will vomit. Hopefully he will eat something soon, so he can get out of there. He knows he needs to eat or he won't be able to leave the hospital.

"Ti Faccio Vedere!"

     May 9, 2012 I stayed the night at Veruska's again last night and I had asked her to wake me up at 8am because I wanted to go to the mercatino early in the morning. Well she came and woke me up, but it was 9:30am. I thought she was kidding at first and then found out that was the actual time. I jumped out of bed and got ready. Once I was dressed and ready to go she was asking me "vuoi un cafè?" (do you want coffee) and I would tell her "no grazie, andiamo!" ( no thank you, let's go), then she asked "qualcosa per mangiare?" (something to eat) and I again replied, "no grazie, andiamo!" (no thank you, let's go). I was in a  hurry...things here close early and then you have to wait until after lunch to go out again...I just wanted to get out the door and start my day.
     We finally left the house and went to get Zia Rita (Veruska's mom). Then we were on our way to the mercatino wich is outside Zia Pupa's house. My mom came down, we shopped a little, and then she came with us back to Veruska's for lunch. After we ate me, mom, Karol, Zia Rita, and Veruska left again in search for the clothing stand I wanted to buy for my aunt. In America most of us have sedan size cars or bigger. Here very rarely do I see a sedan size car. So far I have seen one range rover, BMW, Auidi, VW Passat and a Mercedes. The rest are all Smart cars, Panda's, Cinquecentos, and motocaros. We have larger cars and yet we still can never manage to find room to place our larger purchases when we go shopping. Here my cousin has a little Fiat and with 5 of us in the car we still managed to get one laundry basket, one garbage can, a large pot for a plant, the clothing stand, and a lot of smaller items in the car with us. It probably took us about ten minutes to figure something out, but in the end we were all packed away like sardines. At one point Karol was cramped in the back seat under the clothing stand until we decided to do some re-arranging.

Finally after everything was situated we dropped Zia Rita off first, and then we went to Zia Pupa's to take her the things I bought her. After that we headed back out to downtown Catanzaro to look for some shoes I liked to see if they had a certain size. While we were in the car my cousin Karol wanted to start playing with me and see who could put their seatbelt on the fastest. I got my on first and then he took it off. Then at the next stop he beat me and I unlatched his. At this point he got mad and started a tantrum. After I told Veruska why he was acting that way she scolded him. When she was done he decided to hit my hand. I turned around to him and I said, " tu vuoi picchiare la mia mano di nuovo? Ti faccio vedere cosa faccio a te!" ( you want to hit my hand again? I'll show you what I will do to you if you hit me again!). All of a sudden my cousin Veruska starts laughing (I had to look away because I didn't want him to see me laughing because I was serious) I assumed I said it wrong, but later I found out I said it right, and that they were laughing because here I am affraid to talk to people in Italian, but I had just scolded my 6 year old cousin in Italian. He obviously understood me because after that there was complete silence in the car and he continued to look out is window and not say one word to me.
     We eventually got back to Veruska's house for dinner. After visiting for a little while after dinner Luciano took my mom and I home. As we were heading out the door my mom asked Karol for a kiss. Here it is custom to salute people before and after you leave with a kiss on both cheeks. Karol never wants to salute me, so I didn't say anything. After he gave my mom a kiss good bye he called my name. I thought he was going to tell me something instead he wanted to give me a kiss.
     At last at home and time to get ready for bed. As mom and I are getting ready I find out that my cousin Claudia she told Zia Pupa that Gaetanno wants to kick her and my butt because we left him there at the hospital. I have to say that is a good sign that he is ready to joke around!

A Day of Shopping

     May 8, 2012 This morning we woke up early and Veruska's friend came to pick us up at around 9:30 am. We were heading out to La Mezia to go shopping today. I only ended up buying one thing which was a lizzard ring just like the one Veruska has that I loved. The other girls bought clothes and supplies that they needed to do manicures and pedicures. After we went around La Mezia we went to the mall so I could look around, but we ran out of time because one of the girls needed to get back early, so we only had time to eat lunch at McDonald's. I remember 6 years ago that when I tried the McDonald's it had a different flavor and I did not like it. Well things could have changed so I decided to try it again. The chesseburgers tasted the same just like at home, but the french fries were different. I definitely like the fries at home better, but I like the McFlurry's they make here better than the ones we have at home. When we were in the car Emanuela (Laura's sister) said that I took pretty good. I told her I don't feel like I do probably because I can tell when I say something wrong (the part of me that likes to be a perfectionist), but she says I speak well enough that people are able to understand me.

     After we arrived home we went to go pick up Karol's and Zia Rita's house and the three of us then headed to Catanzaro Lido to go look for a stand I wanted to buy for Zia Pupa. Here everyone hangs their clothes outside the windows and the line she has is to far away for her to reach out the window, and then the one in the back is to high. I wanted to buy her a stand to make it a little easier, so Veruska took me to go look for the one I saw in the add. We got to the store called Penny Market and they ended up not having any left. I am getting a little better going into stores and asking for the things I need or want. The only problem is when the person replies they speak to fast and then I feel like a retard because I have to say "what?" and make them repeat themselves, but I guess I am managing otherwise.
     Before we returned home Karol wanted to go play at a little park, so we stopped and let him jump on the trampoline and run around with the bumper cars. A friend of my cousins was selling yellow labs so we were able to go to the back and see the puppies. I wish I could take one home with me. They were so cute, and at one point both of the puppies were chewing on my hand at the same time. I have noticed that people have dogs here, but they don't really know how to handle them or interact with them the way we do in America. I was playing with the puppies and Karol was next to me trying to get their attention. He waved at them and said "sono qui!" (I am here). I started laughing because everytime we run into a dog they always want to play with me and they never pay any attention to him at all.

Working While On Vacation

     May 7, 2012 Today we got the Gazette Del Sud. This is one of the big newspapers for all of Calabria.(the region my mom is from) Yesterday when we were on our way to the stadium Roberto had seen a journalist and told him that I came all the way from America. He took a a couple of pictures and wrote down my name and where I was from. Well our picture didn't end up in the paper, but I still got recognized in ITALY! Oh yeah and next to a picture of Alessio Mariotti!!!

     Fabio a friend of Daniella and Claudio's that I met a couple weeks ago came into town again from Torino for the soccer game. Fabio told me when I met him that he doesn't like coffee, but I made him try a cafè shakerato (espresso with gelato, Bailey's, and chocolate) the last time he was here and he ended up liking it . Last night at dinner he asked me if we could go again before he left, so this morning Daniella, Fabio, Greta, and I were off to get another cafè shakerato before he left for Torino tomorrow.
     We couldn't stay out long because mom and I had plans to have lunch at Zio Nino's house. Once we got to his house I got to meet another one of my cousins Ludevica. Here they teach kids a little bit of English at the schools. When I asked her how old she was in Italian she was taking a couple minutes to reply and counting on her fingers and I couldn't figure out why, then she responded in English telling me that she was "eight" years old. It was so cute. I told here she is the first person that has spoken to me in English and was not affraid to try. While we were there my mom was explaining to my uncle how she adjusts her glasses when she wants to flip someone off and not make it obvious to everyone. Well this is my uncle who was a lawyer, is well known, and does not curse at all. I told him to adjust his glasses like my mom and he did. After lunch we returned home to relax for a little.

     Once Veruska picked up Karol from school she came by to pick me up to go with her to watch Karol's soccer practice. I don't know how they manage to control all these kids with two coaches, but there were  30+ kids at practice. I had asked my cousin why so many kids if only eleven can play on the field at a time, and she was explaining that some attend one game, then another group of kids play on another weekend. Very different than the way our soccer teams are organized at home. After soccer practice we went to pick up my mom, and then we headed down town to look for a necklace that I had wanted. The store ended up being out of everything I wanted to look at, so we left and went to the supermarket to get some food for dinner.
     We were finally done shopping for dinner, and getting ready to pay when all of a sudden I hear something loud hit the floor followed by some weird grunting noises. I turn around and see a man fall face first into the floor having a seizure. I thought it was hectic trying to control an emergency situation at home once during a vehicle rollover and I was first on scene, and then another time controlling family members outside of the ER. I tell you what both of those events I don't think compare to the chaos of having to yell for what you want and need people to help you with in English, and then have your mom translate for you in Italian (I don't know how the heck I would have managed if she weren't there to help translate).
     When the man fell he was on the ground prone and banging his head against the floor. Everyone there stood around and watched like it was some kind of show (my cousin Veruska also knew immediately what was wrong with the man). I had to yell for someone to call an ambulance since everyone was standing around. Go figure my cousin ended up being the one calling...twice @ 3 minutes apart, so everyone else could watch. I had to wait for gloves before I could try to keep him from banging his head because he was bleeding either because he bit his tongue or a lacerated lip. Luckily there was a meat department and they had gloves for me. They weren't very good, but at least they were some sort of PPE definitely better than nothing. Once I had my gloves on I held the mans head off the floor while he continued to seize and until someone was able to give me a seat cushion to put his head on. Finally when the seizure ended I rolled him over on his side. I could tell he wasn't breathing good because he was still clamped down and had snoring respirations,  so I had to do a jaw thrust on him to maintain his airway until he woke up a little more and could breath on his own. While I am maintaing an airway a medic walked in. I am thinking finally I can get off this ground...nope the man walks out.  He's not the first responder medic he does something else medical and he just came in to see what was going on. He did say though that he would transport the man in his non medical ambulance if the emergency ambulance didn't show up. I couldn't believe he didn't even offer to help. Here I am in an awkward position on the groung holding this man's head having to tell my mom to keep checking my backside and make sure my rear wasn't hanging. I'm the only one on the floor helping this man and the medic walks out and doesn't do a thing. In the middle of all this when we are waiting for the man to wake up my mom aks, " do you want me to grab your camera and take a picture?" I laughed and said, "no". She was asking because she knows that I have been journaling and taking pictures of everything I do while I am here. The man finally starts to wake up a little, but can't speak clearly and I can tell he is still disoriented. I had to keep my hand in front of his mouth so he wouldn't blow blood all over me and in my face with the way he was breathing when he tried to sit up. I aske my mom to have the guys around watch his hands because some people can become agressive after they have a seizure and I don't feel like getting punched. Once he was semi alert I looked at my mom and said " he smells like alcohol, and you don't have to translate that" (or else she would have). Finally Pronto Sorcorso shows up and they immediately recognize the man. As soon as they said his name he immediately looked at them. I gotta say it felt like home. He ended up being a regular, homeless, ETOH'er that left the hospital AMA earlier that day. They loaded him up and took him away.
     After he was gone they allowed me to use  their restroom in the market  to wash my hands and harms and then drench myself in alcohol, followed by more soap because I didn't know they gave me 100% alcohol to use. I had to use the soap a second time because the smell of alcohol was so strong on me, then when we got home I needed lotion because my hands and arms were dry. Once I was clean we were getting ready to pay for our groceries the man at the register said we didn't have to pay for anything because I helped the man. That was a complete shock, but also very generous of him. Not very many people do that in the stores here. So the next couple days it was a joke that everytime we ate, we were eating Gratis.
     When we got home to my aunts house my cousin Roberto was here, and my cousin Veruska was telling him that I had to work for him tonight. Then he said "that was you on the phone...if I would have known I would have told you something  different." (bad word). He ended up being at the office when we called for the ambulance and he was the one that answered the 911 call which here for help the # is118. Then of course like all of us in the medical field my cousin voiced a couple of his opinions about this particular frequent flyer patient. After talking to my cousin and my mom I found out there is one main ambulance in the area to run 911 calls. They do have other ambulances around, but I still am not really sure as to how there system works. This city is pretty big and for one ambulance I can't imagine what happens when two people at the same time go down.
     We eventually make it to Veruska's for dinner, and their neighbor Antonio came over for dinner also. He has a yellow lab that is 7months old  named Lilli. He uses a harness for her and she ends up walking him instead. I tried walking here and there is no control at all. I told him about the gentle leader that works really well for those dogs. By the time dinner was done I was exhausted and ready for bed.

THE HOMELESS MAN I HELPED A COUPLE OF WEEKS LATER