Caffè and Comune

It has finally happened for me. Less than two weeks into the new job and I was asked to go to coffee with two of the technology developers. They work in the “open space” with me and I always watch as the wander out the door to enjoy a nice caffè normale. This time, much to my delight, I was invited to share in a caffè. Now, I had just had a cappuccino not more than 30 minutes before the invite, but there was no way I was turning it down! We wandered down the closest bar, about 4 doors down and the two guys got normale and I got a macchiato. We engaged in the normal first coffee convo; where I was from, why on earth I would leave wonderful San Francisco for Pisa (the million dollar question I get everyday), etc etc….it was the best macchiato yet!

Yesterday I ventured to the forever dreaded Italian Comune. Luckily I was able to just go to the local one in Capannori and not the one in Pisa or Lucca that would be fifty times crazier. Well, for me, just getting to the Comune was quite the task. I spoke with Giuseppe the night before (was at the Picchi’s for OBAMA-RAMA…holla) and he was like, o yes, it’s super close, you can walk from your house. He told me to pass Pracchia (my favorite bar in the world), pass the post office to the stop sign, turn right and then immediately left and you can’t miss it! He then mentioned something about the building made of vetro (glass), but I didn’t fully catch what he said, and I just assumed that was the Comune (in the glass building). So, I woke up Wednesday morning, after getting to sleep in until 7:45 and headed out to try and get to the Comune by 8:45 (when I assumed they opened) to beat the morning crowds. Well, I made it to the glass building, looked around and realized that the entire building and area around it was deserted. Not like, we open at 9, not 8:45 deserted, but like we never open and/or don’t exist here. I literally walked all around the building, even went in and walked up the stairs to the different floors and thought there was no way it could be here. I called Giuseppe again and he just said maybe it didn’t open until 9:15 and I had to go up the stairs to the second floor and he said that like the stairs are so obvious that I was an idiot if I didn’t see them. Well, the stairs in the glass building were in the middle of the building through a little hallway. Not so obvious to me. So, I waited and waited. No one. It was very odd because usually at Italian government offices, lines start to form thirty minutes before they open because it takes so long. The only things there were two stray dogs, one chasing after the other the entire time. 9:00 came and went, then 9:15 did as well so I called Giuseppe again. This time I told him exactly what I did and how I arrived and where I was, exact latitude and longitude as well….and, he concluded that I was in fact at the wrong spot. “No no noooo,” he said, “you're wrong.” Great. So, turns out I had to walk down further and the Comune was passed the glass building. Sure enough…there it was with all it’s huge flight of stairs glory. I headed up and luckily found a not so huge crowd waiting.

Now the whole reason for me to go to the Comune was to get a carta d’identità. I got my little number and immediately seen. The woman then informed that first I need to register…so, back in line I went. Five minutes later I was called, turns out, my AIRE (a form for Italian living abroad) had not yet been received from the Consulate in SF. Of course not…I only filed it five months ago. So, the woman (who was really nice and wearing the cutest shoes) said it wouldn’t be a problem, we would just register me now. She went over to a cabinet and pulled out a huge paper book…aka a book of extra large paper bound together with a tearing paper cover. She wrote my name and where I was from in it and that was that. Only in Italy would they write the names of stranieri in a giant paper log that's falling apart. She then entered some info into the computer and then told me I had to wait (of course!) to get my carta. Someone was going to come to the apartment to make sure I was really living there. If I wasn’t home, they will talk to neighbors, etc, to confirm it. Once they call me to confirm, I can come back and apply for my carta d’identità.

I’ll keep you posted.
A dopo...

p.s. I'm learning about links, etc from Gregory (thanks Greg!), so sorry if they're random but I don't really have any cool ones yet!