We’ve now been two months in Italy, and for the first time in so long, I can finally say that things are going well for us *knocks on wood.*
I am not used to this newfound feeling of things actually going my way, I can tell you that much.
While there’s so much to do still, these past days have been the first time that I have been able to wind down and just take things easy, slow, nice and steady — I’m still relearning how to do that, though, because these past years have not been easy, and I’ve been too stressed for too long that I forgot how to simply sit down and chill.
The first few days were marked by near day long rain and rather low temperatures (relatively speaking for me), still trying to get used to the cold but Spring is finally here, and that’s temperatures that I’m very much used to, it’s my optimal operating temperature range lol.
I mentioned in the previous update that now that we have a place to rent the next order of business was to get our local paperwork in order. I’m happy to announce that it’s gone great so far.
We went to the Comune (Town Hall) shortly after arriving to initiate the residency application process. One of the Venezuelan women from the group helped us translate. We signed the stuff and then came the next step. The way it works is that a police officer will knock on the door sometime within the next 45 days after submitting the application to verify that you in fact are living in that place as you mentioned in the statement.
We waited a couple days, then, on a Monday, we went to the supermarket at noon to get groceries. In what is very much a Kaleb moment, the police officer called me while we were halfway done, telling me that he’d be there in a few minutes.
I took whatever we had put on the cart, paid for it, and rushed all the way back. While on route, the kids from the nearby school were leaving, slowing down our march home. The funny moment occurred as we were almost there, each running with one bag in hand. The police officer that was going to check happened to be the one directing traffic to allow the kids to safely cross the street.
He looked at us and went “Ciao.”
He did in fact knock on the door mere seconds after we arrived, did his questions, and signed the stuff.
With the police inspection done, we could finally apply for our local ID cards. Not much to say here, we took our photos, filed the paperwork, signed the stuff, and we got told to wait a week.
While we were waiting, I began doing other things like ordering a replacement battery and SSD for this laptop I got sent from someone, getting a new SSD for my old 13-year old Mac laptop that I use to write, and restoring it with OCLP so that I can resume work on Sword. All that went smoothly as well.
The lady from the Venezuelan group in the region invited me and my brother to a Saturday event in Turin. It was our first time going to something of that nature. It was a cultural event with several groups including Romanian, Moroccan, Peruvian, Venezuelan, and others.
Hope you're having a great weekend. This all to new to us, my brother is having a good one so far. pic.twitter.com/XYuN8ZNfpL
— Kaleb (@KalebPrime) March 9, 2024
Free food, some nice performances, it was great, and most importantly, my brother had a good time. Unfortunately, I most certainly caught a cold on the way back because it was raining and it was very cold.
I spent the past ten days or so being rather sick. Yesterday was the first time that I could sleep without coughing my insides out every night. I had fever during the first five days or so, then just a malaise that wouldn’t go away. Thankfully I’m all better now, and my brother didn’t get sick, so that’s good. For what it’s worth, I did last one month and a half without getting sick despite the sheer weather difference between Caracas and northern Italy.
Despite being sick, we went to pick up our ID cards on the day we were told. With those in our hands, the next step was the Healthcare stuff and opening a local bank account.
Years upon years of me trying & getting bsed around because of one letter in my last name, then more years of me singlehandedly correcting decades of paperwork omission, followed by more obstacles & even more bs, but now today I can finally say:
— Kaleb (@KalebPrime) March 14, 2024
How do you do, fellow Europeans? pic.twitter.com/bnEz9TJQup
For the healthcare stuff the Venezuelan women helped us go to a hospital located in a nearby town to go through the signup process. We now have a doctor assigned, just gotta schedule an appointment now, hopefully this week. Other than that, it’s just a matter of waiting for the healthcare card to arrive in the mailbox.
As for the bank account, that too went well. I opened it a couple days ago. Now, yesterday I began the process to transfer all of the savings that I had been stashing away these past years in another account that I had opened in 2021, and that’s the thing that has me a bit anxious and worried. It’s not a fortune by any means, but it’s our savings, it’s what I’ve been saving from working on some stuff and help received throughout the years.
That other bank account, which is a bit restrictive, did tell me that the transfer was done correctly, and that it should arrive within a few days in Italy. Here’s hoping and praying that it goes well.
Once that money is here the first thing I’m going to do is buy a chair and a table because this dining table chair I’m using is doing a number on my back.
I’ve also resumed work on my novel at last, and am planning to add more content to my website soon now that I’m finally done with most of the paperwork and banking stuff here. After that, it’s all up to me now, gotta work hard to build that new life for my brother, it’s the promise that I made to my mother on her deathbed. Next week is going to be the sixth year since having made that promise to her.
These past days have allowed me to start visiting the nearby towns in the area like Cuneo and Saluzzo, I can’t wait to get to know more of them, Italy, and Europe as well, but one step at a time lol.
Hope you’re all doing great, thanks for everything, see you soon!
-Kal
