Bad Day

I’m having a bad day. I went down to the Questura to get the renewal of my Permesso di Soggiorno. This is the permit to live in Italy. It’s a pretty important document that is ALWAYS a pain in the…. I don’t know how other people live in this country legally. The only reason I can get this done is because someone here at work used to work in the Police so he knows someone who knows someone. This comes in handy because when I go down to the Questura they know me, and they give my paperwork a fair look, rather promptly. I take a number like everyone else but I’ve never had to wait long enough for my number to come up. From what I’ve seen I’m not sure my number would ever come out. They move very slowly and they are only open from 9:00 AM until 12:00 Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. How do they get through the crowd in waiting area? There is always a lot of people waiting and no one ever seems to leave, at least with what they were trying to get. Well I had turned in my paperwork a few weeks ago and my inspector friend said everything was fine. I returned today; because this is date they told me to return on, to simply pick up my completed Permesso. Not only is it not done, which wasn’t really a surprise, but also there are two other forms I need to fill out to get it done. I’ve been here for over 2 years and I’ve never done these other forms. I’ve never even HEARD of them!!!! Also these forms are not new. She gave me one of them and it looks like it was printed in 1970 and I have to laugh because I see one of the blanks is “Numero, Permesso di Soggiorno:________”, which I don’t have because I need to fill out this form to get it!!! I know this is going to be fun. This country WILL drive you mad one way or another. I know it’s not easy to emigrate into the USA but…..