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Comment by Pam on June 20, 2012 at 7:13pm

It is amazing the places my son has seen over there.  The pictures that he posts are just gorgeous.  He takes his motorcycle out for a ride along the coast says the scenery is to die for.  He has also joined a Rugby team and he played a few games of softball for the clinic.  The Capo clinic seems to be very close knit, maybe because it is a smaller base.  Looking forward to hearing about your sons' experiences!  I remember Jamie got there right before New Year's and went on a pub crawl in Rome for the holiday.  What a way to ring in the New Year!

 

Donna - do you have a smart phone that you use whatsapp with?  My husband has a smart phone through AT&T but doesn't have a texting plan on it.  He has tried to put free texting apps on his phone, but it always defaults to his AT&T texting and he gets charged .10 a text.  Just curious if there is a way around that.

Comment by Marcy ~ Corpsman Mom on June 20, 2012 at 11:58am

That helps me visualize, too :)   I'm just so curious about it all - Sharon knows me I love to jump in and research everything LOL

Comment by Grasshopper on June 20, 2012 at 11:54am

Marcy...I thought your name looked familiar.  Philip has not decided yet about getting a car.  He said if he does it will be a clunker.  If your Son is coming from Norfolk then you can give him a little perspective about the size of Capo.  There is a Marine base up there name Camp Allen...really tiny.  Philip said Capo is about 3/4 the size of Camp Allen.  Support Side is probably about the size of Little Creek.

Comment by Marcy ~ Corpsman Mom on June 20, 2012 at 11:43am

Donna - I'm looking at whatsapp and that's cool! - what kind of phone does your sailor have?

Grasshopper - That's so funny, my son is leaving from Norfolk too, and also had his car from 'day one' - I won't even tell you how many miles he's put on it, but he's been no stranger to I-95, with friends all over :)  I would LOVE to see a pic of him taking the bus!  it will be "character-building" lol  (By the way, I always have gotten a kick out of moms in the Norfolk group who live elsewhere and when they visit, talk about the crazy driving - Norfolk's tame, in my book!)

My landline is with Cox, their deal is $2.99 and 7 cents per minute for international, so will be looking elsewhere :)   

Verizon has a plan for $3.99/mo which lets you call Italy for 7 cents per minute to landlines, and 36 cents (ouch) to mobile phones.

He has said he knows two people from the Portsmouth hospital who are there.  Then he told to me the other day that he already knows five people there and when I said I thought it was two? he said, I mean the people you're telling me about from navyformoms!  So yes, I too love this group and am so happy to be making new friends :)

Comment by Grasshopper on June 20, 2012 at 11:15am

Marcy...Philip has been there just over a week and this is what I/we have learned so far.  There are two bases as others have mentioned.  One is really small and is called Capo and the other is not real large and is called Support Side.  They have a really good bus system for the guys to go back and forth.  This comes from my Son that has always been totally dependent on a car.  Just came from Norfolk and had his car there from day one.  He said they drive really crazy over there.  He has been to Honduras and said they drive worse than folks in Honduras. As for cell phone, he said they seem to be a few years behind us.  His phone gets internet but it's not a droid or Iphone so can't download Skype on his Italian cell phone.  He had internet added to his room but to do that he had to pay for a land line.  I think one was 50 Euros and the other was around 36 Euros.  Sounds expensive but keep in mind they do get extra money that takes into account the difference for cost of living (my Son reminded me of this) overseas.  So we can now Facebook and Skype all we want to.  Where I live we have Time Warner Cable and I can add long distance calling to a landline in Italy for $19 per month for 1000 minutes.  I think we are going to try this for a while.  This comes in handy when wifi is not dependable and you just want to pick up the phone and call.  So far he loves it there and is signing up for trips to Octoberfest (which is actually in September) and Prague.  Philip is an MA and will be working 12 hour shifts.  He's already met up with folks he went to A School with and there are a couple of guys from Norfolk coming in a couple of weeks.  I think my Son is in for the time of his life!!  It sure does make it easier for me knowing he's happy!! 

Thank you to all the seasoned Mom's from Naples and all the information and advice you have passed along!  It's seems your Sailors have enjoyed their time there and that all of you are a close knit group.  I look forward to being a part of this comradrie! 

Comment by Marcy ~ Corpsman Mom on June 19, 2012 at 3:51pm

Jana, sounds like there's more there than we can know to comment on.  I know I'd be concerned, and I hope you can keep up your communication with your son.

Comment by Pam on June 18, 2012 at 10:24am

I have heard some mention whatsapp for free texting, but I personally have not used it.  http://www.whatsapp.com/  We have magic jack in our house and I do not like it at all.  The call quality is awful and there are times when I call home from work and my husband can't hear me so he'll have to hang up and call me back.  Other times it works great and since it's internet based, I'm assuming the more traffic on the line, the worse it is.  Jamie also had magic jack when he first got to Italy but never renewed it after a year because he didn't have much luck with it.  He does have an Italian phone but it is a pay as you go one and it uses a lot of his minutes to call International.

My husband got to skype with Jamie for Father's Day and they had a great chat!  I love the smile on my husband's face when he tells me they talked for over an hour and the video worked really well finally.  I had gone shopping and missed the call, but that's ok.  We communicate mainly by texting and email.  It's been two months since he was home on leave and I can't wait until I see him again!  Hopefully December sometime.

Comment by Marcy ~ Corpsman Mom on June 16, 2012 at 11:52pm

Hi Grasshopper!  I'm in the same situation :)  My son is due to arrive in Naples next month.  Your son is quick - has a phone after one day!  I too am interested in the best ways of texting.  For calls, I was reading an interesting article yesterday about a MagicJack alternative called NetTalk Duo, and would like to get the scoop on the best choices for international calling (Vonage, etc) vs my current landline & cell plans.  

Also - does anyone else use Apple's FaceTime?

Comment by Grasshopper on June 15, 2012 at 10:06am

Hi Everyone!  I joined this group a couple of months ago when I found out my Son was going to be going to Naples.  I have sort of read some of the posts but not closely b/c I didn't want to admit he was going to be so far away.  Well, he arrived there yesterday.  He did post on FB that he was there and had an Italian phone.  He said it's beautiful. 

 

So, I need help!  I have seen posts about some of you texting with your Sailors.  Philip has an Italian phone now.  If I text him on that with my phone is there not long distance/roaming or some sort of high fees?  If so, how do you all go about texting your Sailors?  I am familiar with Skyping and have that set up already...I'm just curious about texting.

Comment by Pam on June 6, 2012 at 1:01pm

Rachel's Mom - that is so funny.  I also check my phone as soon as I get up (even before my coffee, which says A LOT!) to see if I have a text or FB message from Jamie.  My husband was in the Army 25 years ago and still shakes his head at how much more communication we have with our military people now.  Jamie has made some great firends there and I'm sure he'll keep in touch with most through FB.

Donna - We don't know where he'll be deployed to just yet, in fact, I'm hoping that they stay put when he gets there.  He has gone through FMTB and is ready to go greenside.  Crazy kid. 

Debbie - I am good!  No plans for Chicago, but maybe one of these days we'll make it up and have lunch!  Or if you're ever passing through Atlanta, make sure you tell me!  Jamie is ready to leave Italy.  A lot of the guys that he has been with since he got there are slowing leaving now.  It's got to be hard making friends and then moving every copule of years.  I grew up and lived in the same small town in Indiana for nearly 30 years - minus one year in El Paso, Tx.

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