Monday Memory: How It All Began

Time: April 7, 2000 around 5:20pm Place: Catania, Sicily in Italy
After taking an overnight train from Florence to Catania, Sicily, my friend Jenn and I decided to tour around Catania and then have an early night. Our last stop was a beach. Later we found out that the bus took us to a crappy beach, but we didn't know any different...we just wanted to see one. While we were waiting for a bus to pick us up and take us back to the center of town, three guys pulled up in a Jeep, looking for a pool to workout in. "Scusi, Parli English? Dov'e la pascina?" After attempting to communicate through broken Italian and charades, I convinced them that I really did speak English and was American. We began to talk and they offered to give us a ride back to our hostel. Since the bus we were waiting for was the last one for that night and already 20 minutes late, we hopped in the Jeep. Nothing in Italy ran on time and it was a Friday, so chances of the bus showing up were slim.
On our way to the hostel, Doug offered to cook us dinner if we'd go to his villa. He had a girlfriend, Kristine, who apparently would have loved to have girls to hang out with. We decided to take them up on the offer. After 30 minutes back at the hostel to drop our stuff off and "freshen up," which for me meant changing my socks, putting on some deoderant, and maybe changing my shirt...we hopped back in the Jeep with them for a ride to Taoromina. (Yes, we did forget all about talking to strangers, but it's amazing how much you trust other Americans when you're all out of your own country.)
On the way, we learned the 3 guys we were with were Doug (driver), Jesse (front seat passenger), and Steve (next to me in the back). While I was asking questions like crazy, my friend Jenn was elbowing me to stop asking because she was afraid they committed some big crime in the States and went to Sicily to get away. Turns out they were in Sicily because of the Navy and they were looking for a pool to train in to get ready for a 2nd time in BUD/S in San Diego, CA. I also learned that The Citadel is pronounced with a soft C sound and a military college in South Carolina. I won Jesse over by pronouncing it "Kidadle" when he got out of the Jeep at the gas station. Seeing as how I really knew nothing about what any of this meant, I had no idea what I was getting into with this boy! But I was sooooo excited to be around Americans!
After dinner and some socializing (and me dressed up in Doug's BDU's running around his villa to the tune of Mission Impossible asking if they could see me), we headed to an Irish Pub...Waxy O'Connor's in Catania. On the way there, Kristine offered to show us around Catania more if we stayed at their place. So we went to the hostel and got our passports and belongings and went to the bar from there.
Jesse and I talked all night at the bar and later, we had our first kiss in the piazza outside the bar, where everybody started clapping and I heard some of our group saying, "Finally!" Then, Jenn asked why these people brought their luggage to the bar and Kristine told her they were with the band. We knew it was time to head home. After stopping at a pannini stand for late night munchies, we went back to the villa. Unfortunately, Jesse had to work the whole weekend, so we only saw each other that night. He didn't even get to see me with a fresh shower and clean clothes on. If only I'd have known I were meeting my husband that night!
Here is the crew we first met: Steve, Gary, Christy, Jesse, Jenn, Anna, Kristine, and Doug. Then there's a picture of Jesse and I at the bar.


After our quick weekend in Sicily, Jenn and I headed back to Florence, taking Kristine with us. Shortly after that, Kerri, one of my sister's college friends came out to visit. (Then we became friends ourselves.) Jesse drove up to Florence 2 weeks later to visit me and take Kristine back to Sicily. We hung out in Florence and went to Lucca to visit Kerri's aunt and uncle who also happened to be there.


I finished the semester in Florence and began backpacking through Europe with my sister, Amy. We zigzagged our way from Italy over to England.

After backpacking around Europe with my sister, Jesse bought me a ticket back to Italy to visit him one more time before returning home. I was surprised my parents didn't freak out when I called, telling them that I had met this guy in the Navy that was buying me a ticket to go back to visit and I'd be home 10 days later than originally planned. We hung around Sicily and also went up the Amalfi Coast to Ravello.

And that, my friends, is how it all began!