Tutti Italia: A Novel

by Jordan, Deena

  “Well, I’m not so good with places outside of Italy, but I’m sure you can find out. The border with Germany is only two hours from where you will be staying.” That comforting news gave Rachel a boost of happiness for the rest of the car ride. That would really be a nice thing. She hadn’t seen her grandparents in almost three years. That was simply too long.

  “I think I will. I can’t wait to see everything. I hope that I’m not getting on your nerves too much.” Elena laughed.

  “No, you’re fine. But when you get to your dorm room, you will be so tired you won’t even want to unpack. You will put the sheets on your bed and go to sleep. I can promise that.” Rachel wasn’t going to argue with her, because she was already feeling tired. Exploring the area would have to wait until the next day. Once she found her bed, she wouldn’t be going anywhere for a while. The mountains were still visible, but the vineyards were starting to drop away, and a town was coming up. She wasn’t able to pronounce the name, but Elena gave her a smile and told her they were home. Rachel had to stop herself from pressing her nose against the glass to get a closer look.

  “It seems a little, I don’t know, darker somehow?” Elena’s smile slipped a little. She knew that Rachel didn’t mean the daylight.

  “That’s because we are getting closer to the military base. Your job, and your home will be on the base, but there is a mixed batch of feelings here in the area. Some of the older Italians think that the Americans shouldn’t be here, but the newer, younger generation is all for it. They enjoy mixing with Americans and drawing business from the base. Sometimes it seems like you know what kind of establishment you’re outside of just because of the feeling it gives you. It will get better. With the older Italians, they usually are nice to you once they see that you are trying to learn their culture and speak their language. Today is Friday, and on Monday you have a weeklong class to get you ready for work, give you some help with Italian words and customs, and you will go on a wine tasting tour. It’s really a lot of fun.” Well, that was always promising. Rachel loved to go to new places and learn new things, but she was also one of those people that wanted to be liked. She was a little afraid of how it would feel to come to a place where they didn’t really want you, but the government had cut a deal to get you there.

  “Do you have your driver’s license with you?” Elena asked suddenly. Rachel nodded and dug around in her fanny pack to find it. A note to herself, fanny packs were obviously NOT a fashion statement in Italy. She would have to invest in a purse. She handed the piece of plastic to Elena and waited to see where they were going. They drove along a half concrete wall that had barbed wire on top of a fence attached to it. It kind of gave her the creeps. It felt like they were entering a prison and she didn’t know if they were going to make it back out. Elena rolled down her window and got in line behind a short queue of cars, waiting to get past an armed guard. Rachel was a little shell shocked. She’d never been anywhere that required someone to check your credentials upon arrival, and she’d never been anywhere where they were authorized to shoot you first and ask questions later. She was on pins and needles when their turn came up. An Italian man spoke to her for a few minutes, and Rachel felt like she was invisible. Not that she was complaining. Then Elena said her name and gave him the driver’s license. He took it from her and held it up, presumably to match Rachel’s face to the picture. She could see past him to a young man in an American Army uniform, who was sitting down to eat his lunch. It was a good thing that she had Elena with her, because she never would have made it through alone. The man was apparently satisfied with the outcome of her identity, and gave the driver’s license back to Elena. As they drove off, Rachel waited until the window was up all the way before she spoke.

  “So, I’m confused. Is this an American base or an Italian one?” Elena laughed.

  “You mean because there were both at the gate?” Rachel nodded. “The base belongs to the Italians, but the Americans rent it out. Does that make sense?” She looked at Rachel sideways and waited for a nod. “So, the Americans post their security, and the Italians do, too. It’s part of the contract that they worked out. Sometimes it’s a really good thing, because you get contractors that come to work from different countries that deliver to the base, but the soldiers can’t speak to them because they don’t know enough Italian. That’s when it comes in handy to have a security guard that speaks the same language.” That made sense to Rachel. Especially since she was one of those people that couldn’t speak both languages.

  “So anyone can come on the base if they have a driver’s license?” Rachel asked curiously.

  “No. You don’t have a base ID yet, so I can sponsor you as long as you have picture proof of who you are. Once you get the hang of things, it will all go by easier, I promise. For now, just worry about the small things, and on Monday more of your questions will be answered.” That sounded like a good plan to Rachel. What small things was she worried about right now? Where she was living and how soon she could get a shower and into her bed. That just about covered it. Elena pulled up into the parking lot of a large dorm. “Your room is on the second floor, but I recommend walking. Some of the American soldiers are in this building, too, and when they get drunk, they piss in the elevator.” Rachel wrinkled her nose in disgust.

  Chapter 5

  What Elena had said was true. As the passed the elevator to get to the staircase on the other side, Rachel could smell the strong odor of sweat and urine coming from the open door. There was also a lot of bird poop on the floor of the elevator. She made a mental note never to use it. Then another thought hit her.

  “Wait, so this isn’t an all female dormitory like in college?” Elena shook her head.

  “No. Sorry to disappoint you, but you will have a suitemate that you share the bathroom and the kitchen with, they will be female, but the neighbors to either side of you could both be some of those drunken soldiers that I told you about. That’s the only problem here. No boundaries.” She showed Rachel the laundry room that was right in front of them when they exited the staircase. Elena explained that there was also a day room, which was sort of like a lounge if she wanted to go up to the third floor. After seeing some of the residents that were walking around, she decided she would rather be behind closed doors, alone with her thoughts. She told Elena that she would explore it later, and that she would like to see her room. “I can understand. This isn’t the best place to live. It’s free, though, because your job pays for it, and it’s in a good place. If you have visitors, the hotel is right across the grass. The post office, the movie theater, and the little mall are across the street. The only place that is not so close to you is your work building, but by then it will be ok.” It was maddeningly infuriating to Rachel that everyone kept telling her it would be ok. She would decide that for herself once she figured out where everything was and got into a schedule. Then she could let them know just how ok it was or how much was lacking. But Rachel was a polite girl and she didn’t want to intrude on Elena’s speech. “Here, is your room.” Elena stopped in front of a door, and slid a card key into the slot above the handle. It looked like the type of key that you would get at a hotel, but this place was far from being compared to a hotel in any other way.

  The door opened up into a small kitchen that had a stove, a microwave, and a decent sized refrigerator. There was also a small table with two chairs, and a lot of cabinets. She would go through the ins and outs of the kitchen later. There was now a door branching off to either side. Elena walked up to the door on the left and slid the key card in. The light turned green, and the two girls entered the room. There was a window, with a desk beneath it, a bed with drawers under it and shelves as a headboard, and a small closet in the opposite corner. Next to the closet was a sink with some cabinets above and below it, and there was a red recliner sitting by itself in another corner. As she looked at the chair, she saw that there was another door behind it. Elena went over and opened for her. She saw that it was a bathroo
m, with a long shower that two or three people could easily fit into, a toilet, a few towel racks, and a small cabinet hanging on the wall. So the whole apartment was essentially a circle. That was a little bit on the interesting side for Rachel. She’d never really been in a dormitory before. She had of course seen them in movies where college students lived in them, but as for in person? This was her first experience. So far, it looked nothing like the ones she’d seen in the movies. On the plus side, she didn’t have to walk down the hall in a co-ed dorm in a towel to take a shower. Elena walked back to Rachel’s personal front door leading into the kitchen.

  “You can explore and do what you want to this weekend, Monday morning all you have to do is walk across the street to that building over there,” she pointed out of the window, “and make sure that you’re there by eight in the morning.” Elena waved as she walked out, and Rachel closed the bedroom door behind her as she looked around her new room. Well, Elena had been right about something…she was going to put the clean sheets on her bed and go to sleep. She didn’t know what time it was locally, but she’d been awake for over twenty-four hours, and she was ready to drop. It took her five minutes to put her sheets on properly, step out of her jeans and sweater, and crawl under her blanket. That was all she knew for the rest of the night.

  Rachel woke early the next morning, due to the fact that she’d slept the afternoon and more than most of the night away, and looked out of her window. The sun was just rising, and the rays were coming through the blinds, stabbing at her face. She got up, still a little groggy, and adjusted the shades so that it was dark in her room again. She went back to the bed and crawled under the blankets for a few more hours. When Rachel woke for the second time on Saturday, she decided she had to get up. She’d slept quite a lot, and now it was somewhere near noon, but she couldn’t tell which side of noon it was on. She put on the same jeans and sweater that she had had on the day before, and went over to her suitcase to unpack her hygiene bag. She brushed her teeth, combed through her hair and put a little makeup on so she wouldn’t look so haggard. She put her fanny pack on the bed when she was done and dug through it for her wallet. Once she had everything she would need, she added the card key that Elena had left her the day before, and made sure that the door was locked behind her. She ventured out, and went down the stairs, which didn’t smell any better than they had last night, and made her way to the sidewalk that would take her across the street to the mall. She saw a bus stop as well, and she was bound and determined to get a base map so she could see what was where and how she could get there.

  The first building she came to was where she was supposed to go on Monday. The next stop was the post office. When she saw that it was still open, she made her way inside and got a post office box that she could send home to her parents. She’d brought a substantial amount of cash with her until she could get a bank account opened, and a paycheck coming in. Her accounts in the states were still open, and her mom had already told her she would wire her whatever she needed, provided she had an account to wire it to. That would have to be done next week, because the clock in the post office had told her it was two in the afternoon, and the bank was never open past noon on a Saturday. She saw the movie theater and was very surprised by the prices she saw on the board. For an adult to see a movie, it only cost four dollars. She definitely would be going to the movies every now and then. When she continued to curve around the walkway, she saw what looked like a food court through the windows. When she got in the main doors, she went to take a look. There was a Burger King, a Taco Bell, an Anthony’s Pizza, and a Popeye’s Chicken. All the fast food families were covered. Directly in front of her was the main exchange, and it looked like a smaller version of a Walmart. She went through and looked at everything they had, but she didn’t want to waste her money on anything, when she didn’t know how long it would take to get money.

  She kept walking down the hallway, and came to a few souvenir stores, and a phone store. She joined the line in that small kiosk, and waited her turn at the counter. The nice lady asked her if she was new here, and Rachel replied that she was, and that she needed a phone that she could call the states with. The woman got her the cheapest one, and told her that she could buy time by the unit. Almost like a prepaid phone back in the states. She paid out two hundred dollars, since she hadn’t gotten euro yet, and was going to call her parents as soon as she got back to her room. The big store at the very end of the hallway she’d been walking down was the commissary. It was essentially, a grocery store. She bought herself some things that she could make in the microwave until she could figure out what the kitchen situation was with her roommate. Then, she could look at getting more tidbits for cooking. She made her way back to her room, with some bulging bags, and had to make room in the fridge for her own things. She still hadn’t heard any signs of life coming from the opposite room, but she wasn’t going to risk being loud, just in case. When she got into her room, she sat down and read the instructions on how to turn her phone on. She added the time to it, and plugged it into the wall so it could charge as she talked. She dialed her home number with the codes that the woman had given her to dial first, and the phone rang.

  “Hello?”

  “Hi, mom. Sorry I didn’t call yesterday. There was a lot going on, and by the time it was over I was dead tired.”

  “It’s ok, honey. We were a little worried when we didn’t hear from you right away, but we don’t want you to spend all your money calling us all the time, either. I know it’s really expensive.”

  “I know, but I just wanted to check in. The bank is over in another area, I guess the base is split into pieces, so I’ll have to get over there when I can. Maybe I can have Elena pick me up during lunch one day and help me to open an account.”

  “Who’s Elena?” her mother asked curiously.

  “She’s the girl that was waiting for me at the airport. She’s Italian, but she works in the same company I do, and I think maybe even in the same building. She showed me where most of the essentials are, and it’s really right across the street. I have an address for you, too, if you want to pass it on to anyone.” She rummaged around for the little slip that the post office had given her and waited while her mom got a pen and paper. When she was ready she read it off. “I’ll let you know when I get a bank account, and I’ll have my wireless internet set up in a week or so, so I’ll be able to email you, too.” There was also an internet installer that worked out of the phone kiosk, and she’d set up an appointment with him while she was there. “Ok, mom, well, I’m going to let you go and try to get some things unpacked before I pass out again. I love you both.”

  “We love you too, honey. We’ll be thinking about you!” Rachel hung up the phone, and looked at her two suitcases, staring at her accusingly. “Oh, I will get to you, tomorrow. I’m too tired.”

  Chapter 6

  Rachel woke up on Monday, still a little disoriented, but she was on a mission. Today was the first day of the weeklong course that would help her to get acclimated to Italy. She was determined to learn as much as she could. Rachel wanted to fit in well, since this is where she was going to be spending the next few years of her life. She put on a black pair of slacks, and a red and white blouse with a star pattern on it. She looked down at herself and sighed. Compared to what she’d seen at the airport, she was nowhere near as dressed up as the Italians were, and she was sure that they would notice it. She ran her brush through her long hair and left it hanging down in waves. Her hair was her best feature, in her opinion. She put on a little bit of makeup, then grabbed her purse, added some pens and pencils to it, tucked a notebook under her arm, and left her room. She heard no sounds coming from her roommate’s bedroom, but she was quiet as she left, all the same.

  When she got a chance to get outside, she could see how close the mountains really were to the base, and she could see slight tendrils of mist curling over the grass. It had an enchanting feel to it, like the marshes in a mystery novel. She made
her way to the sidewalk, and checked both directions for traffic before she crossed the street. There really weren’t very many cars moving. She found it odd since this was the center of the biggest piece of the base. When she pulled the door open to the building, she saw a reception desk and an older woman sitting behind the counter, hammering away at her computer. She noticed Rachel and looked up with a smile.

  “Good morning! Can I help you with something?” The woman had a deep, jovial voice. It made Rachel smile back at her easily.

  “Yes, I’m new here and I’m trying to get to the Right Start class. I was told it was in this building, but I’m afraid that I’m not quite sure where I’m supposed to go.” The woman nodded understanding.

  “If you go down this hallway here,” she pointed to Rachel’s left, “and follow it all the way around, you’ll come to a big briefing room. Go ahead and sign in on the table and find a seat. That class really helps you out, and it is fun, too. Enjoy!” Rachel thanked the woman and followed her directions to the big briefing room. She hurriedly signed her name on the sheet outside the room and chose a seat that was near the middle of the classroom, but right in front of the projector. She didn’t want to miss anything. Pulling out her notebook, she opened it to the first page, took out both a pen and a pencil, and put them on top of the notebook. She was ready to go. She chanced looking around her. She was the only person in the room. She frowned and checked her watch. It was only seven fifteen. Usually people should already be there. She had been taught to always be fifteen minutes early, otherwise she was late. Apparently, that courtesy didn’t extend to the rest of the people that would be in the class with her. Rachel spent her time looking out the window towards the parking lot in front of the little mini mall. She saw cars starting to arrive, and watched as people in uniforms and dress clothes alike walked in. She was so busy staring, that she didn’t realize that there was some commotion behind her. The room was starting to fill up. She could feel a little thrill of excitement squirm up her back. She resettled herself and got comfortable. She was ready for class to start.