Downs and ups
Oh my what a day I had yesterday. I was ready to take my Italian driver's license - theory test. I had studied a bit - not much, but was willing to give it yet another shot - round three. I have already taken the test once in English and once in Italian. It is now possible to take the test in various other languages including English and considering I have been driving since I was 16 years old, it's difficult to pick up that book and read through a bunch of rules I already know in a practical sense especially since the translation isn't that wonderful.
Now efficiency is certainly not Italy's middle name at least not in the capital city, but I would really be hard pressed to come up with a more inefficient system than the one that currently exists in getting a driver's license. To make a long story short, I ended up waiting 5 hours to take a test - FIVE HOURS - that in the end I was unable to take because someone input "Italiano" instead of "Inglese" under my name and so the test on the computer came up in Italian. Now I am fairly fluent in Italian, but I don't know driving terminology that well in Italian and my one miserable attempt at it before made me realize that I really needed to take the test in English. Also, if you fail the test, you have to wait an entire month before you can take it again. With my driver's permit about to expire at the end of March, I don't have many more tries left before I have to go through the whole expensive process - yet again - of getting my permit.
When I mentioned the error to one of the moderators there, no one knew what to do. Call headquarters!! Phone calls were made, stairs were navigated - second floor, first floor - this office, that office. I saw one, two, three, four+ different people and all of them didn't know what to do. No one could simply change the language on the test - it was out of their hands. So I was marked as "absent" in order to be able to take the test again in less than a month and I am still waiting for a phone call to find out when that will be.
Poor Steve and Paloma had waited patiently for me the entire time and 6 year old Paloma was once again treated to the vagaries of life in Italy - a life which can be so good and so incredibly bad at the same time. (The other time was at the bank the day before, but that's a different story).
After that debacle, I felt sick - hungry, dehydrated with a massive headache. I had to lie down as I felt nauseous and couldn't keep my eyes open, the light felt too bright. I fell asleep for a good 2 hours and the rest of the day was a bit of a blur.
Today the sky was blue and the sun was shining so my spirits were lifted a bit. I took care of some errands. After a day like yesterday, my mind is now turned even more pleasantly towards Bali. Steve and I decided on a house and have set the wheels in motion. It's all very exciting and very nerve-wracking at the same time. There is loads to do - sublet our home or rent it out as a vacation rental, store our personal effects, get our visas, vaccinations, travel insurance, airline tickets and certainly not last nor least - get The Beehive squared away and in ship shape so that things will hopefully run smoothly while we are gone.
We haven't made any big changes in our lives in 10 years and so the idea of going off on this adventure has me a bit overwhelmed. I wonder if I will miss Rome - I will certainly miss our friends and I do hope we'll have visitors. The girls will miss the food and even though I'm sure I'll get a hankerin' for a pizza margherita now and then, when I saw this picture of one of the many yummy meals Steve ate while he was in Ubud recently - fresh, local and organic - I think, well, perhaps I'll survive without Italian food after all.
Now efficiency is certainly not Italy's middle name at least not in the capital city, but I would really be hard pressed to come up with a more inefficient system than the one that currently exists in getting a driver's license. To make a long story short, I ended up waiting 5 hours to take a test - FIVE HOURS - that in the end I was unable to take because someone input "Italiano" instead of "Inglese" under my name and so the test on the computer came up in Italian. Now I am fairly fluent in Italian, but I don't know driving terminology that well in Italian and my one miserable attempt at it before made me realize that I really needed to take the test in English. Also, if you fail the test, you have to wait an entire month before you can take it again. With my driver's permit about to expire at the end of March, I don't have many more tries left before I have to go through the whole expensive process - yet again - of getting my permit.
When I mentioned the error to one of the moderators there, no one knew what to do. Call headquarters!! Phone calls were made, stairs were navigated - second floor, first floor - this office, that office. I saw one, two, three, four+ different people and all of them didn't know what to do. No one could simply change the language on the test - it was out of their hands. So I was marked as "absent" in order to be able to take the test again in less than a month and I am still waiting for a phone call to find out when that will be.
Poor Steve and Paloma had waited patiently for me the entire time and 6 year old Paloma was once again treated to the vagaries of life in Italy - a life which can be so good and so incredibly bad at the same time. (The other time was at the bank the day before, but that's a different story).
After that debacle, I felt sick - hungry, dehydrated with a massive headache. I had to lie down as I felt nauseous and couldn't keep my eyes open, the light felt too bright. I fell asleep for a good 2 hours and the rest of the day was a bit of a blur.
Today the sky was blue and the sun was shining so my spirits were lifted a bit. I took care of some errands. After a day like yesterday, my mind is now turned even more pleasantly towards Bali. Steve and I decided on a house and have set the wheels in motion. It's all very exciting and very nerve-wracking at the same time. There is loads to do - sublet our home or rent it out as a vacation rental, store our personal effects, get our visas, vaccinations, travel insurance, airline tickets and certainly not last nor least - get The Beehive squared away and in ship shape so that things will hopefully run smoothly while we are gone.
We haven't made any big changes in our lives in 10 years and so the idea of going off on this adventure has me a bit overwhelmed. I wonder if I will miss Rome - I will certainly miss our friends and I do hope we'll have visitors. The girls will miss the food and even though I'm sure I'll get a hankerin' for a pizza margherita now and then, when I saw this picture of one of the many yummy meals Steve ate while he was in Ubud recently - fresh, local and organic - I think, well, perhaps I'll survive without Italian food after all.
posted by lomalinda at
16:13
1 Comments:
Italy is so chaotic and crazy! I remember in Rome that every single clock in the city said a different time. The thing I adore about Italy is the great food, the coffee, the language, almost everything except the chaos. It's sort of funny unless you are a victim of it.
I hope you will get another appointment soon and will come home with your successful results.
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