When we first arrived in Italy the only other resident in our building was an old lady upstairs. She had a little balcony out front, so often, as we would come and go, she would be out there watering her plants and we exchanged greetings.
That winter she suffered a fall somewhere in town and broke a wrist.
The following spring she fell down the stairs in the courtyard and broke her other wrist. We started worrying about the next accident. Naturally, we were concerned, especially since we were the ones who found her lying in the courtyard, in the cold, in the dark....and I attempted to find someone to help as my husband got her up off the floor.
Last year, in the late spring, this same woman moved out of the upstairs apartment and into the small studio that is next door to us downstairs. We are not sure of all the details, but it seems that the neighbor may be related in some way to the woman who owns the studio apartment.
This studio was previously a cantina, which means it was simply a storage room. A kitchen and bath were added approximately 15 years ago. It really is just one big room with a couple of windows facing north. The woman who owns it came to our door the second day I was here. I was without heat, extremely tired, a bit disoriented and also busy trying to arrange for a new boiler to be installed, a new refrigerator, we needed a decent bed, and acclimating my dog to his new surroundings.
Ding-dong!! Someone is at the door. I open it to find a dark haired mature woman who said, "My husband died"...that part I understood...took me a couple of minutes to figure out she wanted to know if I was interested in buying the studio. It was very strange. She kept showing up and asking...so I looked at the place...it's cute, sort of. We could use extra storage and it would be nice to have a separate place for my daughter when she visits....but, ultimately, once I was able to pry it out of her, the asking price was ridiculous.
So, there it sat for almost two years until the old lady upstairs moved downstairs. The upstairs is owned by a realty company and is now rented to a working man who comes and goes and generally minds his own business.
The old lady upstairs was innocuous while she was upstairs, but downstairs she became a bit of a pain. First of all, she had someone move all of her plants downstairs. There isn't room in the studio for them all. We told her, repeatedly, to put as many as she could out front but she refused. She had them all lined up in the courtyard. The enclosed, dark and often very cold courtyard. And there she continued to water them every damned day as if they were still in full sun and getting lots of windblown air. We watched in horror as they inevitably, one by one, began to wilt and die.
I gleaned from various people and my own experience that this woman is hard of hearing but also stubborn and clearly not very bright. She is someone who makes me wonder how the hell she managed to get through life. Seems that someone must "look after" her somehow.
Again, we don't know who nor do we know the relation, but someone sends a cleaning lady to her three times a week. Three times a week the floors are thoroughly cleaned and also the courtyard. Someone brings by bags of groceries.
I feed the feral cats in the courtyard often and caught the old lady trying to kick a cat one day. My husband caught her in the act just recently. Once when I was sitting out there, supervising the cats, she toddled out and asked why I wasn't wearing shoes. (I had socks on) Then she asked why I don't cut my hair. I got the distinct feeling she disapproved of merely sock covered feet and longer than short hair and frankly, Scarlett, I don't give a damn.
Then there was the gas. We kept smelling gas from time to time. The part time occupants of the fourth apartment smelled it when they were here for Natale.
I walked through the courtyard one day and felt nauseous from the strong odor. It was REALLY bad! So, we called in our neighbor/handyman....it was coming from the studio. It wasn't a leak, either, she left a burner on!! For days!!! Can't she smell??? It wasn't the first time and probably won't be the last, but by this time I had begun to really dislike our next door neighbor. Sort of amazing she didn't manage to kill herself and take the rest of us with her.
Now we come to the piece de resistance. We have been here two and a half years now. Only recently, within the last few months, my husband has noticed a leak outside, under our apartment, where the rest of the cantinas are. It's a bit hard to describe, but we are built into a hillside, so the house is ground level at the front door, the courtyard...but in the back, we are about 7 stories high. Beneath our feet are cantinas belonging to the woman who owns the studio and the agent that owns the apartment upstairs.
Back to the leak. Over the course of the last several months, it has been noted that this leak is getting worse and there seems to be a crack in the bricks of the building. Seems there may be a broken pipe somewhere...but exactly where? And whose pipe?
We contacted an engineer (the same one whom we employed when we had the balcony reinforced) and he asked if there were any damage inside. We didn't know. Well...there is. The cantina that belongs to the agency...has a bad leak inside. Cement is falling off and disintegrating. Ancient bricks are getting damaged. My husband saw this cantina last summer and there was no damage at that time.
It also turns out that OUR pipes (kitchen, bathroom) are running under the floor of this cantina, so it isn't our pipe. It seems that it belongs to the woman who owns the studio where the old lady now lives. And the timeline fits...she moved in about nine months ago.
Seems simple to an American...BUT...since there are multiple owners here, we supposedly are ALL responsible for something like this. At this point, I don't think anyone has contacted the owner of the studio. I don't know if anyone has a way to contact the part-time people or if they would even care. The agent is trying his best to deflect any and all responsibility. None of this would be a big deal, except that it really is because........if the leak is causing structural damage to the foundation, the city could declare the building closed. As in...get out and find someplace else to go. !!!!!!!!! That is, we are told, the worst case scenario. Well, hallelujah! As the Beatles say in a song, "Can't get much worse!" Second worst...we have to move temporarily until it is declared safe to come back. Best case...fix the damned leak and repair the damage done and we all chip in.
There are 2 engineers and 2 plumbers coming Saturday to evaluate the situation. Monday is my husband's birthday and our beloved dog is dying. Perhaps I will have an addendum to this on Saturday. Did I mention I can't freaking stand the sight of the old lady next door?
Addendum: Two engineers and two plumbers later and it seems we will not need to vacate the premises. However, the leak is coming from a pipe that belongs to the owner of the studio next door. It is causing considerable damage to the cantina that belongs to the realty agency. The leak is somewhere inside a wall that has to be revealed and we still are not sure who initiates the repair, which really needs to be done quickly. Haha.
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