The straw that broke it

Almost two weeks after finding out about the mistaken form, we have got the new form completed.  Kinda.

There are some difficult questions, for example:

• "I attach evidence that my partner and I are not close relatives.  Yes/No." 
  What exactly counts as evidence that two people are NOT related is not clear.  I'm hoping birth certificates are enough

Then there was getting Ross' signature witnessed by an official person again.  What a pain.

Still, the embassy seems to have softened its tone a little - maybe they realised we weren't quite so thick after all.  They just want the new forms, they say.

Given that the post here takes a little over a week, I thought it best to bring the form in person - the train fare costs about the same as registered post anyhow.  However, since I'm working, Ross would've had to do it, and he (after getting us up at the crack of dawn to go to the station and complaining lots) decided it would be better to post it.  The logic escapes me.

So, we're still not any further.  I'm sick of it all.

Two steps forward, one step back (and a kick in the teeth too)

Application submitted, delivery receipt received, and a phonecall to the embassy to confirm they did actually mean it when they said 3-4 weeks processing time...  I was starting to feel like we might be on track.

And then a nasty email from the Embassy, the upshot of which is that we'd got mixed up between two types of application.

After spending a day feeling miserable about further delays and trying to understand the problem on the immigration NZ website, I decided to call before going any further.  I wanted to be entirely sure I was submitting the right form before going any further, and the details weren't clear on the website.

I'm still in shock at the absolute rudeness of the people there.  I mean, you have to work at it to be that nasty.

I could barely get a word in: "Yes, I did spend weeks reading your website and it doesn't say, that's why I called -",  "Yes, I appreciate that you're busy but I have read your email and I'm not asking you to repeat it to me -"  and "Yes, I now understand what the problem was and if you'd just listen to why I called for one second then maybe I'd take up a little less of your oh-so-precious time."  Oh, and by the way, I don't have unlimited amounts of time to listen to you mouth off about how stupid I am when you haven't even bothered to hear why I called.

Maybe this is what it means when the app says you have to meet the character requirements.  Stand in line to be verbally abused and then see if you've still got the will to continue applying.

Reconsidering move to NZ - place clearly contains some of the world's biggest assholes.

Sweet submission

After being in a very bad mood since the application failed to reach the embassy on Monday, I now have some good news to report: it is now, finally, off our hands.
It wasn't plain sailing.  We were thrown into a dilemma of, "How long will it take?"  "Will we be stuck here with no passport for months into the New Year with no job?"  "Would it be better to just go to New Zealand immediately and worry about applying for the right to work there?"
This latter option was surprisingly do-able.  I hadn't realised that with a British passport, I can just go to New Zealand.  The only requirements are a return flight within six months and some money in the bank.  No visa.
But I couldn't have worked - at least not in a straightforward way - until I got a work permit (which seems to be the same thing as a visa, except you get it from within New Zealand).

I have to admit that I felt a little nervous at having the gate opened to me like that.  Suddenly there was nothing between me and New Zealand - it all felt so unfamiliar and far away.  
Some sound advice from Ross' dad was to try and get some information out of the embassy staff about how long it would take.  One brief phonecall later and I had my answer: "three to four weeks".
Really?  Was it a lie?  A mistake?  I was expecting at least two to three months.
Well, we'll find out in five weeks.  We sent it off by registered post yesterday.

Failure

The application didn't go in yesterday.
In the brief window of time between the train arriving in Rome and the NZ Embassy closing at 12, Ross didn't manage to find a cash machine to get the fee.
Depressed.

The Maiella on All Saints Day from Passo San Leonardo

Translation Frustration

It's the end of October and our visa application still isn't ready to be submitted.

At the eleventh hour we spotted a problem - the Italian documents had to be translated.  And not only that (I'm capable of translating them myself so that wouldn't have been a problem) but they have to be translated by a commercial translator unconnected with us.  There's a half-page of rules about being on the translator's letterhead, etc. etc.  Che noia!
The past few weeks have been one such discovery after another - from remembering about the medical to having to find a registered birth certificate (thanks Dad).  I wonder if there are any others to hit us.
Well, the documents are now - I hope - being checked by the translator.  Perhaps we'll get it in on Monday.

The red and the grey

Clouds sail through the Maiella and Morrone massifs

When Ross finally admitted he would like to go back to New Zealand, it was a shock.  In the early days of our relationship, he had said that he couldn't see himself moving back there, at least not soon.  Absence, it seems, makes the heart grow fonder.
I didn't take the news well.  Although determined to make changes so we could both be happy, it felt like a foundation stone of our relationship had just dropped out.  Not to put to fine a point on it, I am an "old world" creature.  I like to be able to see and touch history, and I love Europe.  New Zealand seemed incredibly far away.
After a while, however, I noticed a change in my attitudes.

Rosehips, from wild dogroses on the mountain road above Bugnara

Italy is frustrating.  Expats have a love-hate relationship with Italy, and so do most Italians.  How nice, I began to think, to live in a country where people care about green issues, where sexism, racism, ageism and most other prejudices are considered crimes, where agriculture works without subsidies.  How nice, on a personal level, to have a better chance of making ends meet because income exceeds expenses.
Today, blue mountains are cloaked in grey-white cloud.  The valley is a riot of maroon, vivid yellow and deep fir green.  We spent a glorious Sunday afternoon collecting more pinecones on the mountain path.  When they dry out, we'll use them as kindling.
We've gone through our 100kg (€12) of oak in ten days.  I guess we did have the stove lit for long periods in that.  If there are about 120 days of winter, that works out at €150 ish for the winter.  Not bad, in comparison to the thousands we've been spending on gas.  (Okay, I admit that we'll still use gas for showers and cooking, and that the stove only heats one room.)

Preparations for our Partenza

Although we haven't lodged our application, it's looking more and more certain that we'll leave sometime in the northern hemisphere winter.  There's no sign of the financial situation improving (indeed I just learnt that income tax is not taken from my salary automatically - so I'll have a big tax bill very soon), so the sooner we get started on our new path the better.
But there are lots of things we need to do before we leave.  We agree that we'd like the house to be occupied in our absence - someone to keep an eye on it at least.  We're not sure whether to rent it out on a long-term or holiday basis.  There'd be a small demand for either, but consensus seems to be that short term is less risky because of the rights of tenants in Italy.  Anything other than holiday lets here is called a "four by four" - i.e. it lasts 8 years and is reviewable only after 4 years.  Owners can have a lot of difficulty, I'm told, in evicting unwanted tenants.  On the other hand, it would mean that someone was inside during the winter months, which is when disasters like burst pipes etc. tend to happen.  Meanwhile, holiday lets would be more work, and probably bring less income. 
Before leaving, regardless of who, if anyone, we let it to, I'm determined to finish a lot of loose ends.  There are many.  A tricky job here, a lick of paint there, getting the last internal doors, fixing a bannister, and taking rust of ironwork....  It's all time-consuming and neither of us have much desire to do it.  However, it will mean leaving the house in good shape rather than a nagging problem.
Assuming everything is in order with our application, it'll finally be submitted on Tuesday.  I'm hoping Ross can be my delegate to both collect the medical cert and then take the application in person to the Embassy.  I don't fancy trusting my passport to the Italian post if it's not necessary!
Meanwhile, the rain has stopped, the scirocco (warm sahara wind) is blowing, the sun is shining and here's a pretty red admiral  (C, S, O, E & M - this is on your front step!).