Don't know where they're goin' and my friend, neither do I....

 It is time to renew our permessi yet again.  We filled out the forms.  We gathered all the materials.  We went to the post office and handed them in to be sent to the Questura (police).  The post office supposedly contacts the Questura on the spot via computer and issues you an appointment.  We are evaluated as a couple.  It's the way it is done.  We were, for the very first time, given appointments on different days.  VERY different days. !!???????  Is this a mistake?  The answer we got was a shrug.

Soooooooooooo, today was MY day.  Luckily, our friend was able to drive us.  He (they, he and his wife) picked us up at 8:30am.  Godawful hour, as far as I'm concerned.  I had to get up at 6am and get ready and have the cats fed, too.  (I got up at 4:30 am for several years, and 5am for many others.....I am royally sick of pushing myself out of bed in the middle of the night)  I skipped dinner last night and anything this morning because my stomach, after a year of trauma, can still be unpredictable.  Off we went.

The day was absolutely gorgeous and riding through the hills to Pescara there were views of homes literally dripping with bougainvilla and oleander and other lush greenery.  We arrived about a half hour early, so our friends dropped us off and we just went to the corner and sat for a bit.

 When it approached 10am we headed to the Questura, the Immigration Office.  We were happy that there wasn't a line.  I went inside because there are two (uncomfortable) benches. It didn't take them very long to call my name.  

The officer behind the desk was young and handsome.  He said, pointing at my husband, "Who is this?" He took my paper and my passport and disappeared into the back.  When he came back, he said we should have had an appointment together.  NO KIDDING!!!  I told him the post office issued the appointments.  He said we had to come back in October, on my husband's date since we were supposed to be together.  BUT......it turns out that the date he was given in October is a Holiday!!!  Yeah, so,  sorry.......and he disappeared again.  Then when he came back he said October is booked, so he took my phone number, went back again, and came out again saying we would be called.  When?  Don't know.

Ahhhhh, Italian bureaucracy.  Don't know.  November?  December?  Don't know.  

So, that was that.  We made the trip for no reason whatsoever.  If he knew immediately that it was mistake, why couldn't someone have contacted us beforehand and remedied the situation?  I was laughing, my husband wasn't. 

On the way back, we stopped for coffee at a gas station.  They have THE best cappuccino around.  Really, at a gas station cafe.  THE best.  

Got home famished and had a half sandwich of turkey.  Now we both feel like we've been stomped on.  And so I wait, phone at the ready 24/7 until we hear from them.  I do hope, I really, really do hope it doesn't take forever.