~~ HuRrY Up ANd WaiT: ThE ItALiAN WaY oF LiFe ~~

I had a great run in with the way of the Italian way of life and I forgot to share...(sorry if this is so long...I am a bad storyteller) :)

To stay in Italy I have to get what is call the Permesso di Soggiorno...it is just really like a residence permit to stay here. Thursday I asked the secretary at the school where I had to go get it...she told me that I needed to go to the police station in my area...

I proceeded to go home and ask Fabiana where that might be...she told me I should try the Caribineri Statzione first...which I new where that was, so I went there...from there they told me to go to the Stazione Poilizia di Stato...Once their I tried explaining to the officer what I needed, and with no luck they had to get another officer who spoke Inglese...

I waited for him to come...and then explained to him what I needed. He proceeded to tell me that I needed Guilio to come down there and all this other hulabaloo...I didn't think that was right so I proceeded to tell him that in not so many words...He eventually called someone who knew what I was talking about and then he explained to me the next step....I had to go to the Ufficio Poste Italiane with a copy of my visa and front page of my passport...I shoulda known right?!??!?!

I got home and was exhausted from walking around...so I figured I would do it Friday. So after school the next day, another girl and I went to the post office, but before we did that she knew that we had to get 4 passport size photos, so we looked around and found a sign with that exact description...We went up there and the guy opened the door...this man had a white button down shirt, unbuttoned far enough to show off his grotesque amount of chest hair, linen pants, standing on a fur rug with darkened glasses, a couch in front of a mirror with cologne, hairspray, combs, some aftershave...bow chicka bow bow....it was strange...It felt like we were on set...awkward...it turned out fine...we got our pics and left

From there we went to the post office where we were given a large packet to fill out...all in italian...so we started to fill it out there and then decided to go back to the school...we got some help...found out we had to pay 15Euro for a stamp and 30 Euro for the permesso...ok...From there went to look for a fotocopie place...most Tabacchis make fotocopies but not all...we were 0 for 2 when we found a fotocopie place...then it was trekking around for the "Marco da Bollo" Stamp...that you had to get at the Tabacchi too...i would thought the Post office but what do I know...who buys stamps at the post office...so for the stamp we were 0 for 4 and ended up back at the first one that didn't have a fotocopies...I had all my photocopies and all my stamps...pictures...etc.

So back to the post office...There we waited in line for a few minutes and then went to the counter. The permesso, along with the stamp fee, and what we thought was a 30 Euro fee...was actually two seperate fees...which added up to more money than I had...So the lady was yelling at me and telling me I had to pay but I couldn't use a credit card just a bank card or cash...so she was telling this Italian man who spoke a little English that I didn't understand when i actually did...so I got a little upset and said...HO CAPITO!!! She stopped saying that after I said that.

So again we left...with one portion paid for I would have to go back either early saturday morning or Monday...My friend Kim works on permessos for the american school she works for so she looked over mine Saturday afternoon...and fixed a few mistakes that the teachers made at the school....they didn't really know what they were doing...and i also needed another fotocopie that I got today...that was another trip because today is August 3rd and everyone goes on "holiday" starting the first of August, but we were only 1 for 3 on Tabacchi's today....WOOO HOOO!

After class I went back to the post office and had quite a pleasant Signora helping me out. Although I almost caught her typing my address in wrong with Giovannipoli as Giovanni Poli....That's a big no no and an automatic stoppage if the paperwork doesn't match the payment...and now I wait to see if the paperwork will go through...It is not uncommon for it to get held up. So cross your fingers...If all goes well Kim said I should have my Permesso about a month before I leave...GRANDE!

Tomorrow after class I get to go deal with the bank...my debit card doesn't work...I think it got demagnitized or something. Thankfully I have a fluent Italian speaker going with me so...wish me luck :)

Oh yeah...and today I fell up the stairs at the metro this afternoon...GREAT!!!

Buonanotte a tutti!