After all of my classes ended, I traveled to Catania, Sicily to visit my friend Shannon. Shannon’s dad is an officer in the US Navy and is stationed that the base in Sicily. I had never been to a naval base before, and I was very excited to see what it would be like. It was very different from what I hade expected. I thought that there would be one base where everyone lived and worked, and I expected to see sailors walking through the streets. However, there are actually three different areas for people to work and live, and the only time I saw a sailor was when we presented our IDs at the gate. The base had a distinct Italian feel in its architecture, but offered many activities found in the US such as a bowling alley, movie theater, and skating park. I was amazed that the commissary had products found in the US, such as peanut butter and salad dressing, which I desperately missed after being in Italy for almost 2 months. I loved being on the base and having the opportunity to still visit Italy, but at the same time feel like I was in America. During my stay with Shannon, I learned quite a lot about life on a naval base, which was a cultural experience in itself very different from what I experienced in Florence.
