Permit of Stay

Friday, after sleeping for a while, Charlie (Illinois) and I ventured into the city to complete our Permit of Stay paperwork around 2:30 PM. Absolutely nobody has enjoyed doing this, so we made sure to wait as long as possible to get ours done. Essentially, you fill out a form claiming your expected time in Italy, pay 72 euro in bureaucratic fees, then wait in line for an hour to watch it go through. I've come to the conclusion that Italian systems of organization are inherently flawed due to their relaxed demeanor. Since things of this nature (permit of stay) are treated with little to no sense of urgency, experiences such as getting through customs, filling out a government form, or applying for a bus pass can take unreasonable periods of time. Not knowing the language particularly well can also get frustrating.

Charlie and I arrived at what we thought was the post office we needed to be at. The sign said post office. I asked someone inside if it was the correct post office to which they affirmatively replied. It was not the right post office. It took us around 1 hour to figure this out, before heading down the street to the correct, official, post office. In that time I almost accidentally paid 30 unnecessary euro for something regarding a passport that I absolutely did not need. Thankfully this was avoided. 

At the official post office, we met a line, of around 20 people, that had slowed to a crawl. I saw three employees unoccupied, but only one man was responsible for servicing our needs. Another 1 1/2 hours later we were at the front. At this point I realized I didn't have the proper envelope for the form. Freaking out, I asked the man if I could turn in my paperwork - he said, "No" which in Italian, means "No." I explained I only needed the envelope, and he directed me outside to a tobacco shop, which I then rushed to in order to purchase an envelope and put an end to this terrible experience. I had to sweat a little bit, but everything worked out. 

By the time we had finished, I had to rush to my 6:00 PM class. 

That night (Friday night) I went to bed early with a class in the morning. Although nocturnally responsible, I still got little to no sleep. A friend of mine called me at 3:30 in the morning absolutely lost in the city. It took Google Maps, a sober friend, and a few hours to guide him home safely. He also turned out OK. But I missed class.

Saturday, I was pleasantly awoken by Bena (Montreal) with promises of breakfast. I was still kind of out of it, and told her that since I didn't get much sleep so we would have to do it some other time. She then informed me that it was 2 PM. Bleary-eyed, I walked downstairs and discovered she had made eggs (with peppers and onion), meat and bread for the two of us. Quite a nice beginning to the day.

Charlie and I headed into the city again to plan our Sunday trip to Cinque Terra which I just returned from (it was awesome... but I'm going to have to write about it tomorrow). We saw the Stazione Centrale (the main train station) that I'd kind of been to on my trip from the airport to the dorm, but not really gone into. It's huge and beautiful and you'll see pictures of it soon. It took us a while to figure out our itinerary, but with our U of I brainpower combined, we worked it out. In celebration of our proactive planning, we had a cheeseburger and beer at McDonald's (that's right, they serve beer at McDonald's here... it's awesome). 

Saturday night I stayed in again (5:30 AM wake up on Sunday) and hung out with Kim, who goes to UCLA and has been at clubs with an eye-popping number of celebrities. I think next weekend we, as well as others, are bound for Venice. Anyway, I have to go to bed now because I'm extremely tired from traveling 8 hours and hiking 6 miles, but you'll find out all about that soon enough. Buona sera everybody.