Vigili Urbani

 “I ain’t moving till the bailiff comes…”

- The Police, Landlord

So I actually did have my “visit” from an officer of the vigili urbani today, so he could verify that I really do live here in our apartment.  I honestly wasn’t counting on anyone showing up on the very next day after I made my my residency application, because so much of what I’ve read about other people’s experiences indicates that they usually take their sweet time about visiting (they technically have 45 days to do so, and some municipalities require multiple visits); also, the olive harvest seems to affect the timing of things here.  

About 10 AM local time, I was upstairs sweeping the tile floors of the master bedroom/bathrooms level when there was a knock on our door.  I ran down thinking I would need to unlock the door and invite them in - but when somewhat breathlessly made it downstairs I discovered that my landlord had already let himself and the officer inside.  Ok…

We basically had a three-way "conversation" in which the landlord (who speaks next to no English) was trying translate between me (who speaks very, very little Italian) and the officer, who speaks absolutely no English.  No one really understood anyone else very well.  My expectation - based on others’ experiences - was that the officer would need to come upstairs and look around, fill in a form, and maybe ask me some questions and/or look at my passport.  Nope.  It turned out he was perfectly content to just view me physically standing inside the front door of the apartment.  I did invite him upstairs, but the officer just said “No, no no!”  repeatedly while my landlord pointed to his cheeks.  

It occurred to me about an hour after they left that what they were trying to say was that the officer didn’t want to come in because he wasn’t wearing a mask (because Covid).  Sometimes I can be a little slow on the uptake.

After yet another reminder from my landlord about not parking on Corso Vittorio Emanuele tomorrow during Market Day hours, they left, somewhat abruptly.  Frankly, I was a little concerned, so I messaged my translator Nicoletta to let her know that the officer had visited but that I had no clue whether he had everything he needed from me.  She texted back to reassure me:

And that was my visit from the vigili urbani.  I found it a bit anticlimactic, really, especially since I’d been told the officer is “weird;” he didn’t seem so very odd to me (perhaps he would have if I’d been able to understand anything he said).  I will mention here that he had a very impressive uniform, complete with fancy white-topped hat, shoulder belt, and shiny shoes.  For a guy that basically writes the occasional traffic ticket and confirms residencies for the town, he really had some snazzy kit.  I wish I’d been able to get a photo with him.  He looked ready for a parade.

According to Nicoletta, I will have my second citizenship-related appointment at the town hall next week (it hasn’t been scheduled firmly yet).

Today we took a ride to the big town to pick up a set of sheets, as I realized they were necessary; laundry takes so long to dry here, we need to have another set on hand before I wash those currently on the bed (and I will have to wash the new sheets before I use them).  I’ll need to set up an actual wash line somewhere, because sheets are too large for my drying racks…and I was just thinking to myself that I wasn’t really missing my dryer until I remembered about washing the sheets.  Sigh.  

Fun fact:  the Italian equivalent of a queen-sized bed is called the letto matrimoniale (the matrimonial bed)!

Speaking of hanging out the wash to dry:  it has been and will be raining for awhile - November is the rainy season here.  We’ve had to dry our clothes on the drying rack inside rather then hanging things on the balcony.  It seems to take so much longer drying things inside - like days longer.  Ugh.

And speaking of rain/water:  one thing that Mayor Mimmo mentioned while we were chatting yesterday was that there was a severe drought during the summer.  He went on to say either that the town currently turns off the water supply between midnight and 6 AM, or perhaps he said we are not supposed to use water during those hours (the language barrier can be confusing, for sure; but aside from maybe getting up to pee in the middle of the night, we’re generally not running water during those hours, so no big deal either way).  I think that will stop once the olives are harvested, if I understood correctly.

And speaking of Mayor Mimmo - we decided to go out for cena (supper) tonight at the pizza place down the street, and happened to see him there.  He told me I need to hurry up and learn Italian!  (I’m trying, dude…).  

And speaking of the pizza place:  I had this for dinner tonight, just for fun:

Yes, those are French fries and hot dog slices on that pizza.  I wonder whether this is a regular menu option, or whether our new neighbors are poking a little fun at us...?  On the other hand, we did see a frozen pizza with similar toppings at the Carrefour supermarket in Termoli - so maybe this is really a thing here?  In which case, I’m mildly horrified.  On the other hand, I have to admit that it really wasn’t that bad.