Tutti Italia: A Novel (3 page)

“Good evening.  This is Flight 357 from Detroit to Treviso,
and this is your captain speaking.  We will be second to take off on the
runway, and it looks like we have a nice tailwind to help us out.  The flight
will be approximately eight hours and forty-five minutes long.  Flight
attendants please take your seats for takeoff.”  The plane had started moving
so softly that Rachel hadn’t even noticed it.  They had already pushed back
from the gate, and were now approaching the runway.  The flight attendants made
one last quick run to check everyone’s seatbelts before they took their own
seats and strapped themselves in.  The engines picked up speed and Rachel
gripped the armrests of her seat.  This was the part of flying that she liked. 
Going from completely stationary to screaming down a runway, getting pushed
back in your seat by the G Force when the plane’s nose rose and the wheels
lifted up into the air.  She looked out of the window.  The plane was still not
moving, but she could hear the engines roar.  A second later, she watched as
the signs and the painted dashes of the runway disappeared.  She couldn’t help
smiling as she felt the speed in her belly.  She settled back in her seat and
felt exactly when the wheels left the ground.  She glanced next to her and
noticed that the seat was still empty.  Good. That meant that she could stretch
out a little if she wanted to take a nap.  She listened to her ears pop, once,
twice, three times before the captain announced that they had reached their
cruising altitude and that handheld electronics could now be safely used. 
Rachel stared out of the window, watching the world as they zoomed by. 

“Would you like anything to drink, ma’am?”  A flight
attendant with a beverage cart was trying to grab her attention.

“Oh yes, please.  Um, do you have apple juice?”  The woman
nodded and poured her a glass, then handed the rest of what was in the can to
her as well.  “Thank you.”  The woman smiled and continued on to the back of
the plane.  Being a flight attendant wouldn’t be such a bad job.  You could see
the world and even stay a night or so in the places that you touched down in. 
That seemed like a job that Rachel wouldn’t say no to.  The screen in the back
of the seat in front of her came on, and she took out her headphones, plugged
them in, and took out the little game console that was in the armrest of her
seat.  It had a whole slew of movies she could pick from, radio stations she
could listen to, and games she could play.  This was going to be a good flight.

The PA system woke her up.  Rachel sat bolt upright as the
captain asked the flight attendants to take their seats for their descent into
Italy.  She’d been watching a romance movie and fallen asleep apparently.  She
quickly stashed the game console back in her seat and watched as the screen in
front of her turned black once more.  She took off her headphones and put them
in the bag at her feet.  Right now, the plane was drifting through a cloud so
all she could make out was fluffy whiteness outside her window.  She waited,
albeit impatiently, for the cloud cover to disappear.  It was sunny out, and it
gave her a good outlook on what was to come.  She could now see the ground, and
what she saw reminded her so much of Germany that she felt a pang of
homesickness.  The red tiled roofs, the patchwork of fields, and the sparkling
rivers that ran through everything.  She had to take a deep breath to steady
herself.  This was not her home.  This was somewhere brand new that she’d never
been to before and that she would have to pay careful attention to.  Even
though she was worried about what was going to happen once she got off the
plane, the beauty of the Italian countryside wasn’t lost to her. 

She felt the touchdown of the wheels, and watched as the
flaps on the wing rose to increase the wind resistance.  The plane came to a
halt at the gangway, and the captain switched the seatbelt sign off.  She stood
up to stretch and let the blood flow back into her legs, but she wasn’t going
to try to fight her way out in to the walkways of the plane.  She was towards
the middle of the plane, and she would wait until most of the passengers had
cleared her area before she would try to get off.  In the meantime, she would
just stretch, and yank her backpack out from under the seat in front of her. 
She was worried again, now that the plane had landed.  What if no one came to
pick her up?  She didn’t have a number to call.  Her cell phone didn’t work
here, anyway, because it needed an American tower to bounce the signal off of. 
What if she couldn’t find her bags?  What if the airline had lost her luggage? 
After all, she hadn’t seen the guy with the luggage train load her bags, it
could be possible.  She shook herself mentally and told herself to get a grip. 
There was no reason to worry yet.  Nothing bad had happened.  When it did, she
could freak out as much as she pleased, but until then, she wouldn’t let
anything bother her.  She finally deemed the line of people exiting the plane
as short enough, so she swung her backpack on her shoulders and got in line. 
Every step she took now was a step towards her new, and hopefully bright,
future.

She followed the line of passengers, off the plane, into
the terminal, and into the directions of customs.  She got in the shortest line
she could find and waited her turn.  The man took her boarding pass and
passport, compared the picture to her, stamped her passport and gave it all
back to her.  That was so much easier than back in the states, she thought, as
she followed the flock of people from her flight down a flight of stairs to the
baggage claim.  She found the one for her flight and was lucky enough to find a
spot right up front next to the conveyor belt.  She stood there and waited for
about ten minutes before the belt started moving.  Five minutes after that, the
first suitcase came down.  She stood there, waiting, watching the people around
her claim their bags and go on their merry way.  There were barely any people
left around the baggage claim, and Rachel was starting to worry that the
airline had lost her luggage.  Two more people grabbed their suitcases from the
belt, and then she saw one of hers.  Breathing normally again, she pulled it
off the belt and waited for the second one.  It took two more rotations of the
belt before she found it.

“See? Nothing to worry about. Your bags made it,” she said
to herself.  She pulled the handles out of both of her suitcases and began to
roll them to the sliding glass exit doors.  She walked out, searching for a
sign with her name on it.  There, all the way at the end, was a young woman holding
up the sign she’d been looking for.  She let out a deep breath.  So far, so
good.

Chapter 4

Rachel took a deep, relaxing breath.  Someone was here
for her.  She wasn’t going to be stranded here in a country where she couldn’t
speak the language to be left to her own devices.  She plastered a nervous
smile on her face and headed down to the girl on the end.  She set down the
handle of one of her suitcases and extended her hand.  The girl shook it.

“Ciao, bella.”  The smile slipped from Rachel’s face.  How
was she going to communicate with this girl, when she couldn’t speak Italian?

“I’m sorry, I don’t speak Italian.”  The girl laughed.

“That’s no problem, I speak both.  So, is this everything
you have?”  Rachel looked down at her meager suitcases.  It really
did
look like slim pickings considering that she was supposed to have a life here
from now on.  She felt a mild depression settle itself over her.

“Yes, that’s all I brought with me. I was still living at
home with my parents, so I didn’t bring an apartment full of furniture or
anything.”  She felt a little defensive trying to explain this to her.  Then
she stopped talking.  She didn’t have to explain anything to her.  This was not
how it was supposed to go.  Rachel had thought of it so differently in her
mind.  The girl reached down and grabbed the handle of the suitcase Rachel had
let go of. 

“Well, if you follow me, I can take you to your new home. 
You must be very tired by now.”  Rachel stifled a yawn, and simply nodded.  She
took up her burden again and followed the girl.  It was hard to look at the
faces of the people around her.  This was definitely a culture shock.  The women
were all so thin and beautiful, that Rachel felt like the ugly duckling.  The
men were handsome as well, and she did her best not to look at any of them. 
She didn’t want to lose the girl she was supposed to be following.  The way
everyone around her was dressed, it was like they had their best, most
expensive outfits on just for the airport.  Everywhere she looked there were
designer tags that she knew had to be expensive. She suddenly felt very
insignificant.  They would be able to peg her for American from miles away. 
She had hoped that she would be able to blend in a little, at least, but
nothing in her suitcases or even her closet at home was going to compare to
what she saw these people wearing every day.  She kept her eyes on the ground
in front of her and on the girl that was pulling her other suitcase instead. 
Those views were a lot less depressing.  The girl came to a stop at the back of
a shiny silver car.  She popped open the trunk and put Rachel’s suitcase in. 
Then she waited politely for Rachel to catch up so she could load her other
bags in with it. 

“Thank you for helping me with my bags.  I’m Rachel by the
way.”  The girl slammed the trunk of her car closed.

“It’s no problem.  My name is Elena.  It’s a little bit of
a drive, so if you want to look out the window, or you have any questions,
don’t hesitate to ask.”  Rachel smiled at her.  This might not be so bad after
all.  She seemed very friendly at least.  Rachel got in Elena’s car, and the
new car smell was obvious.  She wasn’t sure if the car was actually new or if
it was only an air freshener, but she liked the smell and it helped her to
reconnect to a happy memory of her family on a road trip.  She looked out the
window as Elena drove them carefully out of the airport parking lot.  The way
the Italians drove was scary to Rachel.  It was a fast paced world, with little
concern for other drivers, and it worried her a little bit in case she had to
try to keep up with them.  She wasn’t usually an aggressive driver. 

The countryside slipped by as the day wore on, and she
could see vineyards almost every few miles.  Up in the mountains, she could see
that there was snow, and that the sun was shining majestically on them.  This
was a sight that warmed her heart considerably.  She loved to see beautiful
places, it always made her feel like everything was going to be wonderful and
as long as there was scenery like this, no evil could be done anywhere near
her.  She found herself smiling at the mountains as they passed by.  Elena had
a soft Italian music station playing, and it was easy for Rachel to lose
herself in the sights.  It seemed like every town they passed had at least one
soccer field.  She could see them from the road and it made her grin even
bigger.  Rachel loved soccer.  She’d been playing since she was six years old. 
Seeing that soccer was as big here as it was in Germany made her feel more and
more at home. 

“I see you smiling a lot over there, what do you see?” 
Rachel had almost forgotten that Elena was there.  She snapped herself out of
her reverie to look at her.

“I’m from Germany, and it just looks so much like home,
that I’m remembering how life was before we moved.  My mother’s parents are
still there, and it’s making me wonder how far away they are from where ever we
will be.  I wouldn’t mind going to visit them.”

“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.