24 April 2022
To say it’s been a full week is the truth. Every day here is an adventure. Even those days when all we do is go the grocery or the hardware store. We always seem to find something interesting.
There were several highlights this week, though.
On Sunday we were invited to a party at another expat's house, Ann and Dave. They are remodeling a house on a lovely hillside not far from us. We were able to meet a few other expats and have some lively conversations. Ann offered to introduce me to a woman who owns a horse ranch and I'm looking forward to that.
On Wednesday, we returned to Lanciano to the Questura. There were no other people waiting this time, and Mike’s documents were already laid out for the officer. After several minutes of waiting for the officer to get Mike’s information into the computer, he tried again to take Mike’s fingerprints. No luck. So he processed my paperwork, took my fingerprints, and told us to wait for the forensic agent to take our fingerprints. We waited about an hour. Finally a nice young man called us back to an office and took our prints on a more sophisticated machine. Then he escorted us out. I asked about next steps, and he said that we would get an SMS message when everything was ready. Who knows how long that will take. I believe that we get a Permisso di Sogiorno and take that to the commune here in Casalanguida to establish residency. Who knows how long that will take. Patience.
We had decided to drive the autostrada to Lanciano and that was a good idea. It was a much easier drive, about 45 minutes. I had packed sandwiches for us in case things took too long, which they did. So we cobbled our lunch and headed back home, to take a nap. Another good idea.
Angela had invited all of the neighbors to dinner that evening. What an event! So much fun and such delicious food. You have to see the photos. Antipasti, pasta, beef and vegetables, ribs and French fries, and multiple deserts. All spread out over four hours. The whole evening was wonderful.
One thing that came out of this evening was a new friendship with our neighbors Julia and Valerij and their daughter Danielle. They live in Berlin, but love Italy and bought their house about four years ago with plans to retire there. Since they are both still working, they are able to come only twice a year for a week or two at a time. And retirement for them is at least two years away. Julia loves the house and it hurts her to leave it vacant for so long.
So it was somewhat of a surprise to us when they came to our house the next day and made us an offer that we could not refuse. After some light negotiation, we agreed to care for the house for them. We will have full access to the house (heat and air conditioning) and the beautiful grounds. We are committed to our little stone cottage, but that won’t be a problem since we are just a few steps away. Mike and I are very excited about this opportunity. It’s a win-win for everyone. And another adventure for us.
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