One last visit to the Questura

Back when Paolo had his appointment to retake his fingerprints (required to obtain his permesso), the agent scheduled a 21/04 (April 21) appointment for him to pick up his carta di soggiorno elettronica (his residence card, which states the type of permesso he has - "familiare" or permission to live in Italy as the family member of a citizen, plus other identifying information that is stored in a biometric chip.  So when I received an email the other day saying that his appointment has been scheduled for 24/05 (May 24), I didn't know what to think - after all, we'd already be back in the US by that point.

Our translator didn't seem concerned.  "Oh, the agent probably just forgot to put it in the system, so they didn't know you already have an appointment.  It happens.  Don't worry, just go to the appointment we already scheduled," she said.  So we did.

Only to find out, when we arrived at the gatehouse, that we were not on the appointment list for the day.  I thought for sure we were going to be sent away - but fortunately, the same officer who scheduled the appointment happened to be on duty again today, and remembered us, so the guard at the gate let us in after all.  The translator was right; the agent did forget to put the appointment in the system. 

So, after taking Paolo's fingerprints yet again - to verify his identity as the person to whom the card was issued - he finally received his residency permit.

Official Italian Resident

I blocked out the personal info - but this is what the front of the card looks like

It seems a bit ironic that it was issued the week before we are scheduled to return to the US.  But at least now no one can question whether he's "overstayed" his allotted 90 days in the Schengen area on this trip.  And we have plenty of time to decide our ultimate residency goals.  

Our lease is up here at the end of next week.  We will be leaving our comune a bit before that, though.  Our plan is to head to Rome (well, Fiumicino, actually) this Sunday and turn in our rental car.  We will stay there until we fly to the US on Wednesday - assuming, of course, that we both pass the required Covid tests, and that our flight isn't canceled and/or rescheduled - it seems that's a potential issue, from what I've been reading in the US news.  In case you're wondering:  we certainly will be wearing our FFP2 masks on the plane, overturned mandates be damned.  

Questura Questions

I had emailed the questura in Campobasso a few weeks ago to clarify whether Paolo could travel outside of Italy as he waits for his official permesso document that he applied for back in February.  I knew that he could go back to the US and return to Italy with just his receipt; but I was getting conflicting information regarding travel within the EU and/or Schengen Area - the issue being that he has been in the Schengen Area more than the 90 visa-free days allowed to US citizens who are not residents.  While there aren't border controls as such between the Schengen countries, there's always the possibility of having our ID checked; also, the airlines require the passport information when booking flights.  I was hoping - and had been lead to believe - that he could travel (by "travel," I mean "fly) as long as he was with me, and we had other documentation such as my ID, our marriage certificate, his permesso receipt, etc.  But because I don't believe everything I read online, I contacted the questura to get an official answer.

Last week while we were in Bologna, I received a reply to my inquiry - sort of:  

"Buongiorno, con riferimento alla pratica in oggetto l'interessato deve ripresentarsi presso questo Ufficio Immigrazione il giorno 16.03 dalle ore 08.30 alle ore 12.00 per essere nuovamente sottoposto a rilievi dattiloscopici in quanto la prima acquisizione delle impronte non e' andata a buon fine. Nell'occasione verranno fornite tutte le indicazioni per la circolazione nei Paesi dell'Unione Europea. Per il Dirigente l'Ufficio Immigrazione"

Google Translate is so much fun:

"Good morning, with reference to the practice in question the interested party must return to this Immigration Office on 16.03 from 08.30 to 12.00 in order to be subjected to tyloscopic surveys since the first acquisition of the footprints did not successfully. On the occasion will be provided all the indications for circulation in the countries of the European Union. For the Manager the Immigration Office"

Fortunately, we are just a little smarter than Google Translate (and also, we certainly don't remember Paolo's footprints being taken), so we understood this to mean that for whatever reason, his fingerprints needed to be re-taken and that he should come in on March 16th to do so.  Note that there was no answer to my actual question included, although they did at least imply they would answer the question about travel when he has the prints redone.

I wonder how long they would have waited to tell us he needed to come back, if I hadn't reached out to them in the first place about something completely different?  Because Italy.

So off we drove to Campobasso this morning.  While there is no snow here in our comune, there is a little snow up in the mountains, some of which we had to drive over in order to get to our destination (luckily there was no snow on the roadways).  I took a few quick photos from the passenger seat as we were heading into town:

Not really any snow here, just a view of part of Campobasso itself

We learned that the questura isn't usually open to the public on Wednesdays - that is, they don't schedule regular appointments for passports, residency permits, immigration, etc. - it's by invitation only.  The nice thing about that is, since there are a lot fewer people there, you don't have to stand outside waiting for so long.  You still have to get past the slightly grumpy guard at the gatehouse to enter the complex though.

The agent at the questura said that the issue with the fingerprints is that the two sets taken at the time of his appointment were then sent to Naples where they are somehow analyzed - and whatever computer program they have that does this flagged the sets of fingerprints as not matching!  Huh?!  Sigh.  Because Italy.  So once again, he had a set of prints taken at the window by the agent; then a second set taken in another office by a different agent in a lab coat - a rather cranky woman who complained that we (our interpreter and I) were talking too loudly; we were standing outside the building so she must have some kind of superhero-level hearing but whatever.

We finally got the definitive answer to the question about whether Paolo can travel to another EU and/or Schengen country while waiting for his permesso:  no.*  That is too bad, because it would have been nice to hop over to Germany for a few days while we are here.  On the other hand, since we were at the questura, we had an opportunity to confirm that the permesso will allegedly be ready before we head back to the US at the end of April.  We were able to make an appointment to pick it up on April 21.   It's too bad it won't be ready sooner - but it is what it is.  Because Italy.  Let's hope that Paolo's fingerprints match this time!!  👐

*I suppose, if we wanted to be sneaky about it, we could, theoretically, drive.  But there's always the chance we'd run into some issue where ID needs to be presented.  Also, we don't have the special sticker for the rental car that would be required if we were taking it to another country.  Plus, gas prices are crazy here - we pay about €2,25 ($2.47) per litre here (so over $9 per gallon if my math is correct).  And anyway, it would be much too long of a drive - my bladder can't hold out as long as Paolo's - he rarely wants to stop for pee-breaks.  Drives me nuts.

Passaporto e Permesso

 "Got three passports, couple of visas/You don't even know my real name..."

-Talking Heads, Life During Wartime

Well, I have two passports, not three - and it certainly wasn't no party, and it wasn't no disco, and it definitely wasn't no foolin' around...but I did it!  I finally have my passaporto italiano!  I'm so excited I think I will post another picture of it:

There are some slight differences between the US passport and the Italian one (other than the obvious ones of country and color).  For one thing, the Italian passport lists my town of residence (though not the street address). It also lists my height (in cm, which kind of makes me feel a bit taller) and my eye color.  By the way, according to the clerk at the questura here, there is no such eye color as "hazel," so for Italian purposes, my eyes are listed as grigi (grey).  The Italian passport includes two photos, not just one.  The biggest difference between the two passports is, of course, my name - because Italian women do not have the option to change their surname when they marry, it reflects my maiden name (as do all my other official Italian documents).  

There's an interesting website called Passport Index where you can compare passports of different countries.  As of this writing, Italy is ranked #2 in the world in terms of where you can go; the US is ranked 6th (taking Covid into account).

My passport was actually issued a few weeks ago, but was sent to my service provider's office rather than to my apartment address.  Since Paolo had an appointment to apply for his documentation today, I opted to have our translator bring it with her to give to me when we met for his appointment, rather than trust it to Poste italiane.

Now that I am a citizen, complete with ID and passaporto, I can live here (or anywhere in the EU), and/or come and go as I please.  I don't have to worry about the 90/180 day rules.  As the spouse of an Italian/EU citizen, Paolo has some limited rights as well - as long as he has the proper paperwork.  So today, we headed into Campobasso, the provincial capital, so he could present his documentation at the Immigration office in the questura, in order to receive a permesso di soggiorno per coniuge di cittadino italiano (residence permit for the spouse of an Italian citizen).

The questura opens for business at 9 AM; we were advised to get there by 8:30.  When we arrived at 8:20, there was already a line outside the gatehouse!  I was a little surprised, because I wasn't expecting it to be so busy - after all, Molise is not a very populous region (I think only Valle d'Aosta has fewer people).  But there must have been at least 10 people waiting in line when we arrived, and more showed up after we did.  I use the phrase "waiting in line" very loosely, as according to my personal observations, Italians don't really queue, they just mill about.   Our translator (today it was Saya again) joined us shortly after we arrived; she had all the relevant paperwork with her (we'd coordinated this last week).

At 9 AM the gatehouse opened and there was a rush to the front of the "line;" we did get through relatively quickly (after Saya and I presented our Green Passes for scanning, and Paolo's CDC vaccination card for review).  Paolo was given a little ticket (like you might get at the the deli counter); he was #76 (I couldn't puzzle out how the numbering system worked; there were not actually 75 people ahead of him, but whatever).  We walked around the gatehouse and down the side of the questura building, and entered a little outdoor courtyard to continue our wait.

We waited outside in the cold (low 40sF) until about 10:45, because there was only one person working the immigration counter.  Because Italy.  Once it was finally Paolo's turn, it went smoothly, if a bit slowly.  We handed in copies of the documents they require:  our estratto per riassunto del registro degli atti di matrimonio (extract of our marriage information recorded in my comune); a copy of every page of Paolo's US passport (yes - every single page, including the blank ones); a copy of my Italian ID card; a copy of my lease for the apartment here; some bank statements (to show he can support himself); a Dichiarazione di ospitalità or "hospitality letter," a form I had to sign that confirms that I'm letting him live with me; and a dichiarazione di soggiorno straniero - a foreigner's declaration of stay.  He also had to supply two Italian passport-sized photos, as well as a bollettino postale (it is the form that confirms the fee has been paid - kind of like a receipt that you fill in yourself - in this case, €30,46), and a marca da bollo (€16 tax stamp).  It seems as if everything needs a tax stamp in Italy.

The officer slowly shuffled through the documents and entered information into his computer; then after scanning two fingerprints (one from each hand), he handed us the very flimsy and not-at-all-official-looking-but-they-swear-it-is receipt for the permesso.  The actual permesso document will allegedly be ready...sometime in the next four months.  Because Italy.  There is a number on the receipt that you can enter into the questura's website to check to see whether it is ready to be picked up.  They do not mail them, as they must verify one's identity via fingerprints before releasing the document.  However, the receipt serves as a temporary permesso document; in fact, we were told that lots of people never bother to go back and pick up their actual permesso.  

We thought being handed the receipt indicated we'd reached the end of the appointment - but we thought wrong.  We had to go back outside (brrr!) and wait until called by another officer - this one wearing a lab coat - who scanned fingerprints from all of Paolo's fingers, as well as his palms.  I'm not sure what the lab coat was in aid of, as I can't image you get very dirty just scanning fingerprints all day.

We returned home about 13:00, lunchtime here.  Now that Paolo has proof that his permesso is being processed, we don't have to worry about anyone questioning his right to be here, and/or why he's been here longer than 90 days.  Not that we were too worried about it - except that time we were lollipopped.  Now maybe we will think about doing a little cautious traveling, especially now that Covid numbers are looking a bit better here (*knocks on wood*). 

In other news:  we heard that there is another American couple here in our comune!  They are living around the corner from us.  They only arrived a day or two ago, so we haven't met them yet, but I am sure we will soon.  They are also here for citizenship recognition.  They hail from the Philly region, too.  Small world!

San Giuliano di Puglia & Pandoro & CIE

There wasn't much happening here to report on in the last week.  I didn't get a message indicating that my Italian ID is ready (maybe today?); but I imagine as we're rolling up to Christmas things might have slowed down a bit, so that wasn't really unexpected.  The most exciting thing going on is that we've now had three whole days in a row without rain!  Whoo-hoo!  I think I will wash sheets today...

Since the weather was so nice yesterday, we decided to take a drive over to the next hilltop town to check it out - San Giuliano di Puglia [note:  the Italian Wikipedia page I linked to has more interesting info than the English one; you can translate the page via your web browser if you're interested]. The "di Puglia" in the comune name reflects the fact that it was once part of the Puglia region (in English:  Apulia), rather than Molise.

San Giuliano is a smaller comune than the one in which we are living.  There was a terrible earthquake in this region in 2002, during which the elementary school in San Giuliano di Puglia collapsed, killing 27 children (you can still see obvious damage from this earthquake in some buildings in our own comune).  There is now a memorial park on the site.

Here are some pictures I took as we explored the comune:

Top of the memorial park

View of the comune.  Very far in the background you can see our comune on the next hill

Looking down the town

A devotional cross above the comune dedicated to several members of a family, I believe...haven't found anything more specific about it online yet

 

View looking down from the top of the memorial

As I was typing the above, there was a knock on the door - the vigile officer came (accompanied by my landlord) to drop off my new Italian ID card (CIE - Carta di Identità Elettronica)!  I wasn't expecting it to be hand delivered; that was nice of them.

This is what the front looks like (certain information redacted):

Perhaps not the most flattering photo, but it will do.

I just messaged Nicoletta to let her know I now have my ID; she asked me to meet her in Campobasso this afternoon, so that we can schedule a passport appointment.  The appointment itself will also take place in Campobasso, as that is where the questura is located (the provincial police headquarters - I think the closest US equivalent might be the regional State Police barracks).  The passport appointment has to be scheduled via an app that needs to be downloaded to my phone - and of course as it will all be in Italian, she will need to help me to navigate the scheduler.  

And now back to our regularly scheduled post:

The only other thing I was going to write about today was that we recently tried pandoro (or more properly, pan d'oro - golden bread).  Pandoro is a popular Christmas treat here, a kind of sweet bread/cake.  You see it in all the markets; there are a variety of brands ranging in price from quite cheap (maybe 3-4 euro) to fairly expensive (I think I saw one for about 15 euro).  It is made with yeast, and, to me, has a light texture not unlike an angel food cake, though with a denser, less "spongey" quality, if that makes sense:

As you can see, it has a very distinctive shape, too.  It seems it's often served with a dusting of powdered sugar.  I like it a lot, particularly because it is light and, in spite of the powdered sugar, not overly sweet.  This is not the same thing as panettone, which is more like a fruit cake/bread.  I haven't tried the panettone here yet; we used to have English-style fruitcakes at Christmas when I was a kid, and I was not a huge fan.  But I will keep an open mind (and palette), should the opportunity to sample some arise.

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.

First Appointment: Residenza

 “ Does enchantment pour out of every door?  No, it's just on the street where you live”

- Lerner & Loewe, My Fair Lady, On the Street Where You Live

Today I had my first real appointment relating to my citizenship! (Obtaining my codice fiscale doesn’t really count, because anyone doing business with an Italian entity can request and receive one, regardless of whether they are citizens or applying to be one).

Today’s meeting was for the purpose of establishing my residency here in our little town.  Before I can actually request that the comune review my documents and recognize my Italian citizenship, I must first establish that I live here.  This is the reason why this appointment was scheduled to take place after my signed leased was registered in the comune records. 

I had an appointment scheduled for 3 PM local time, to meet with the town clerks, of which there are currently two (one of whom is planning to retire soon, so the other clerk is learning from him in order to be his replacement).  So I (we, actually, as Dear Husband came along, of course) met up with my translator Nicoletta and her maybe/maybe not boyfriend (whose name I can never remember, because I am awful at remembering names and matching them to faces) at the appointed time in the little square in front of the municipio (municipal offices), and went in and up the stairs.  It’s a really cool old stone building attached to the Angevin Tower.  I mean “cool” in the sense that is was neat-o, or interesting; it was actually very hot inside!  There are also residential apartments in the same building, which are accessed via the interior courtyard behind me in the picture below.

I was a little bit surprised - pleasantly so - that the appointment only started about 10 minutes late - surprised because I've been under the impression that in Italy, appointment times are more like suggestions, not actual fixed times to meet. 

First to arrive after us was the mayor, whose name is Mimmo.  His face looked familiar - we think we may have seen him around town, and just didn’t know who he was.  He was super nice, and very patient and understanding of my lack of Italian language skills.  He does know a little English - I think he said (in Italian) that he had studied it a bit in school.  He asked questions about where I was from, and who my Italian ancestor was and where he was from.  I showed him a picture of my Poppop the Great - I enjoyed hearing the name “Cesare Pesaresi” pronounced with a truly Italian accent.  [Side note:  in America, all my life, I’ve heard “Pesaresi” pronounced as “pee-sa-REE-see,” even by my own relatives, which is not how they say it in Italy:  the real pronunciation is more like:  “peh-sah-REH-see.”  And Poppop the Great’s first name should be pronounced something like “CHEZ-ah-reh.”].  I was pleased that all agreed he was quite handsome.  Well, of course.  Mayor Mimmo also wanted to know how I liked the town so far.  I let him know (through Nicoletta) how much we are enjoying ourselves here, and that we’ve been exploring the town, its shops, and so on, and that we’ve met some interesting people.

The mayor apologized for the delay in scheduling the appointment and explained about how the olive harvest is so important to this region - it seems our little town and its surrounding area is one of the biggest producers of olives in the region.  He even asked hubby (who now insists on being called Paolo here in Italy), if he wanted to work the olive harvest!  Paolo keeps telling anyone who mentions olives that he would like to help, by the way.  🤷

We were joined by the two town clerks, Domenico (the one who will be retiring soon) and Gianluigi (his replacement).  They are the ones who will handle all my paperwork.  The mayor soon left us; according to Nicoletta's translation, he said his wife, who works in Termoli, needed him to attend to some family business.  

The clerks were both very friendly and asked basically the same questions as the mayor.  Interestingly, Domenico was wearing a black LA Dodgers baseball cap; I didn’t have a chance to ask him if he is a baseball fan, or how exactly he acquired the hat.  If someone wants to send me a Phillies cap, I will gladly give it to him!

We soon got down to business:  there were some basic forms to fill in, with information about my name, codice fiscale, date of birth, where I was born, my spouse’s name and his date and place of birth, the address where we are living here in town, my highest education level, and so on (I learned that “bachelor’s degree” translates as “laurea” in Italian, according to the forms).  As when I applied for my codice fiscale, I had to sign the paperwork using my maiden name, since Italian women do not change their names when they marry, and I had to present my passport to them so they could photocopy the relevant pages, including the one with my entry stamp.  There were the inevitable questions about my name on my passport being my married name vs my maiden name, and about my codice fiscale (because the letters in it are based on my maiden name).  I have a feeling this won’t be the last time these things come up.  They were also intrigued by my first name; it is a bit of a struggle for Italians, much as it is for Americans, although for a different reason: my name contains the letter “y,” which isn’t included in the formal Italian alphabet (which officially has only 21 letters; j, k, w, x, and y are seen only in words imported from other languages). They all wanted to know who named me (my mother) and how they came up with that name.  I agreed (through Nicoletta translating) that it’s a stupid name, and explained that -ann was tacked on at the end to please my Catholic grandfather with the appearance of the inclusion of a saint's name - at this, they all nodded in understanding.

Now that my residency forms are on file, I need to have a visit from the vigile urbani, literally, the city watchman.  In reality, he’s kind of a policeman/city official, who will come to our apartment to take a look around and confirm I (we) actually live here in order for my residency application to be approved.  Technically, he has 45 days to do so; in reality, he may come tomorrow morning, as per the town clerks.  They said they would ask him to do so, anyway, since I really can’t go anywhere else until he makes his visit.  They also described the vigile as “weird,” and kind of laughed as they did so - so I’m not sure what to expect.  I’ll give it a 50-50 shot that he will show up tomorrow, because Italy.  And also, because of the olive harvest.  We shall see!