Wine Time/Things I've Accomplished

I don't know if I want to talk about making wine in the Motta's basement or brag about all of the stuff I've accomplished while here.  Well you all know I'm going to opt for the bragging thing, but let's see if I can do both.

Fabri and I have been living together in Italy for one month now.  (Well one month and a couple days, I'm a little late writing this post).  We are still living in Fabri's parents house which is a bit unfortunate, but our house is coming along and I do still plan on moving in there the first week of November if not on Halloween.  Paint fumes or no.  My next post will be all about the house drama and should even include some photos!

What have I been doing this month besides working on the house?  When I first arrived I had to go and apply for permission to stay.  That actually takes months and I won't get my real permission until February.  I have been using a temporary one in the meantime.  

In the same day I also got an Italian social security number so that I can get a bank account and became a resident of Savigliano.  

With that accomplished Fabri & I focussed on finding a car with an automatic transition.  You saw that in my first post.  I drive it just about every day.  Usually back and forth from the Motta's house to my house to check on the progress and such.  Driving in Italy is not so different from driving in the US and I'm doing well.  But I will never drive in Naples because those people are crazy and drive against traffic and on the trolley tracks and are just insane.  I plan on driving to Florence at the end of December with Laura and Liz.  

While we were car shopping, I also became a joint account holder of Fabri's bank account (woohooo) and got an ATM card and a VISA card.  Now with access to money and increased mobility with the car, I have plans to take many shopping trips!  

Last Tuesday I went to the town hall with Fabri's cousin Gaetano (who works there) and got my Italian Identity Card.  Of course nothing can go easy and I had to go get new pictures taken because the background of my photos was too grey.  That was ok because I looked horrible in those photos, but I didn't have any small bills or euros for the photo machine.  So I ended up stealing 3 euros from Antonio's (Fabri's Dad) coin bank!  I have paid it back, but I felt silly.  So then I went back with much prettier photos and the town hall said they couldn't make change for my 50 to pay for the Identity Card.  What the hell? It was 15.50 euros and I tried to pay with a 50.  They totally could have made change (I saw the change in the drawer), but they were too lazy.  So Gaetano ended up having to pay for my card, but now I have it and have been showing it off!  

On Friday I went with my friend Erika (formerly Fabri's friend Erika) to get my national health card and sign up for Fabri's dad as my doctor so that he can write me prescriptions.  I don't plan on going to Antonio as a doctor as that would be weird, I will just talk to Fabri or Maria Pia and they will tell Antonio to write the prescription.  That's how it works in this family of doctors....  

Anyway, on Friday I went with Erika to get my health card because she speaks English pretty well and I knew I was going to need a translator.  Also she's very sweet and agreed to help immediately.  First we went to the office for the health system in Savigliano.  They said that I either needed to sign up with the unemployment office first or Fabri had to pay a monthly tax for me to get the national health card.  So Erika and I went to the unemployment office (also in Savigliano) and signed up.  It's a little silly though because we told the woman I'm not actually looking for work right now (that's one of my plans for next year) and I'm just signing up to get the health card.  Apparently that's fine with them because she didn't ask me for my skills or even my phone number in case a job comes up.  She gave me a form that says I'm good for one year and then I guess I have to look for a job or just get it renewed.  With that, Erika & I returned to the office for the healthcare system and they printed me up a card.  I was able to get Antonio as a doctor with out a problem with is apparently something of an accomplishment as Gaetano's wife Detta and a family friend, Antonio Pace have been wanting Dr. Motta for months.  The office knew I was his daughter in law so that might have had something to do with it.  Or maybe it's because I'm awesome.  

Well look at that, I wrote so much about what I've accomplished immigration-wise I don't have time to talk about making wine.  Oh well, something else for you to look forward to!

Italian Wedding Reception

On Sunday, September 28, the Motta's hosted a wedding reception open house for Fabri and I at their Bed and Breakfast "La Ruffianella."  Here's a link to their website for those of you who are interested: www.laruffianella.com.

For the party there were 4 large tents set up in the backyard.  It was a beautiful sunny day luckily and it was very pleasant until the sun went down and it got cold.  There was plenty to eat and drink though Fabri and I were too busy greeting our guests to have any of it.  At one point I realized I was really hungry and sat down for a plate of pasta.  We showed Dad's wedding music video on a semi continuous loop and received many, many compliments for that.  

All of Fabri's friends came and after eating we danced and sang.  Fabri was not optimistic about the musician the caterer hired, but he turned out to be really great.  He played tranquil piano music for the aperitivo and then later in the evening he switched to more upbeat and dance music.  There was even a little karaoke where Antonio and Maria Pia sang with some of Maria Pia's colleagues.  Later Fabri's friends Albi & Mia stole the show with a couple of songs.  I wished we could have danced a little more and serenaded a little less, but it was fun.  

After the party I drove Fabri and I home which was exciting because it was in Fabri's car which is a manual.  I only stalled once or twice and I did not stall on a hill where I had to stop, so I consider that a success.  It has yet to be repeated....

Welcome

I guess I should start with a little bit about who I am and what I'm doing here, but I don't expect anyone who doesn't know me to read this, so I'm going to skip that and go straight to writing about what I've been up to.  

Ok, let's get started.  I have been in Italy for 26 days now and have accomplished a lot.  Though the immigration process is not complete, I do have residency in Italy and an Italian SSN.  With these things I have procured a bank account which I share with Fabri and we bought a car with an automatic transmission.  It was very lucky we found the car.  There were basically two automatic vehicles in the whole province and the other one we saw was pretty bad.  Now I'm the proud owner of a 5 door Hyundai Getz (in Italian pronounced "Jets"; a Jets for Jess).  

Fabri and I are still living in his parents' house.  I am counting down the days until we can move into our apartment and I pretty much freak out when there are any set backs.  The kitchen was installed on Friday which was very exciting.  The kitchen is awesome, better than I imagined and I can't wait to get in there and start cooking.  The electrician is almost finished.  The painter starts this week.  The plumber comes back next week to finish things up and the furniture arrives October 30.  I plan to move in on Halloween if not the 30th!!!  

One last exciting thing.  Fabri and I bought tickets for Thanksgiving in Washington.  We got the best deal ever and the tickets are just 300 euros each.  A patient of Fabri's mom gave up a trip which we traded in for a discount of 200 euros and paid just 400 euros for two tickets from Malpensa to Dulles.  We're arriving November 26 and leaving the night of December 7th.  We hope to see everyone and do a lot of shopping in that time.