Italian Citizenship Part II

Well, the good news is I didn't slug the Italian bureaucratic, rude woman, or get arrested, but I came close.

We fond the building in Perugia, no small task. We drove to the parking lot at the Mini Metro only to find the entire parking lot filled with items for a fair, carnival rides, you name it. More cheap junk than you have seen in one place in all of Italy. Were directed by the police to on street parking place, walked up to the Mini metro took it to the major train station then took a cab to the Ministry Office. A bit of a convoluted trip, but it kept the Stoic One from having to drive in Perugia, a major goal.

OK so we walk into the building, down a narrow hallway and then into a large room with tons of people. I ask someone if there is a place to take a number, we get in line and finally are seen by a someone. He reviews all of the Stoic One's papers, including the name corrections, the city corrections, all of the bollos...or stamps....and then wait. Here is a copy of the stamp for 200 Euros but where is the original? We don't have it. We lost it. You have to have it. We don't have it. Don't you have a record in your computer I asked the man? Wrong question on my part. He glares at me. No....Sigh. I finally came to my senses and said, since we don't have it and we must have it, what should we do. Finally a nice young woman came to my rescue and said, go to the Post Office and request a certification that you paid for the stamp. And with that we were dismissed and they were on to the next poor soul standing in line.

So we walk out tired, and discouraged. I wasn't sure if we had to go all the way back to Umbertide or any post office would do. I saw a blond woman sitting by herself and walked in to ask a question. I said I have to go to the post office to get a new stamp. What is the stamp for she asked me? I wasn't sure so I asked the Stoic One in English what was it for and the harridan turned on me, and started yelling at me in Italian. I mean literally yelling at me. She told me that I lived in Italy and I should be speaking Italian. I said I am speaking Italian to you I was speaking to my husband. She says speak to him in Italian. This is my country and you need to speak Italian. At this point. I was homicidal. I see why it is a bad idea for people to carry guns just in case you run into an idiot such as this woman. I try a different tack. I say where is the nearest post office...in Italian...She then lectures me on the fact that it is NOT her job to know where the post office is. I swear to god, was like, you have got to be kidding me. I spluttered on in a mixture of Italian and English, which I will not repeat here. The Stoic One, thinking I was going to stroke out, said let's go.

So we ask at the information office, they tell us how to find the Post Office we go. We get there, stand in line with a million people and at that moment, Italy showed me her good side. We had a very nice woman. I told her of my harrowing experience with the woman at the carabinieri, and she said she was sorry. Then she said I am also sorry but we can't verify you bought this bollo. Can Umbertide verify it, which is where I bought it? No. You have to send it in to the National office. It could take months. Oh.....Light goes on. Can we buy another stamp for 200Euros. Absolutely. She does another stamp. We walk back to the Ministry office. I walk past the blond harridan, who is still in her office alone, glare at her and keep walking to the back. We give him the new bollo. You bought a new one, he asked totally shocked. Yes! Ok. Case is now complete. OK. So how long will this take? When do you begin the submittal process? 18 months ago...At least another 2 years. Sigh.

We left and had a lovely lunch.