Naples, Bella Napoli

Another title for this may be Stampa, Paga, Copia, Stampa, Paga, Copia, Encora.

And this is not just about Naples. But the beginning of it is. And American Bureaucracy.

When I was in Sorrento with Mike and Wendy, I took a morning to train into Naples, visit the American Consulate, and apply for a renewal of my passport. Because I needed to keep my old passport, I would have to return when my passport was ready. I expected it to take a month or two (or three or four), being as the passport office has been flooded after the new regulations passed.

To my surprise, when I got home from Vienna, there was a message on my answering machine telling me that my passport was ready and waiting for me at the consulate. Thinking I had little better to do, I arranged to take an overnight ferry to Naples, and then either fly back or take a ferry back. I opted for one of the 'comfortable airline lounge chairs' for the ride over. Big mistake. I arrived tired and not as clean and bright as I would like. This was overlooked by the folks at the Consulate, and I had my passport in a matter of minutes.

HOORAY FOR THIS AMERICAN BUREAUCRACY. (at least we do some things right).

I decided to play tourist for the rest of the day, and get a cabin on the ferry returning to Palermo that evening. It was basically a game of finding ways to spend time. Having had luck with Hop On Hop Off bus tours in the past, I took the tour of Naples. I was constantly and consistently struck with how bad everything looked. Yes, some views of the Bay of Naples and of Vesuvius were spectactular, however, everything close up looked grungy. Even the empty fishing boats had rings around them where they had gone through the waters with a load of fish.

The commentary on the tour bus did not help, pointing only to the glorious past of Naples, and not to anything that was new and modern. The buildings surrounding the port were in sad shape, and the only modern buildings seemed to be ugly, cookie cutter financial centers or chain hotels. So sad.

We were told that Virgil loved Naples so much he wanted to be buried there. I wonder what he would think today.

As I got on the ferry, my heart was gladdened to see the tubes waiting to loaded on the boat to built more windmills, to make Sicily more energy self sufficient, and with a lighter carbon foot print. Now there is a piece of progress I can support.

But let me skip ahead a bit. When I got home, there was another message. I was to go to the Questura's office. My stampa stampa, paga paga had paid off, I thought. My permisso was ready, I thought.

Well, no, it seems that it had been returned from Agrigento, and the Agrigento office now wanted a new copy of my financial information (I was told a statement from Banco di Sicilia with a balance of over one euro would be sufficient), a new copy of my health insurance card (I pointed to the old one in my file, and although my card has not changed, they could not use the old one), and a copy of my sixteen page deed to my apartment - which will continue to have Fran's name on it until we get through that bit of bureaucracy (and again I pointed to the copy they had, but they needed another copy).

So I collected the copies they needed, and perhaps without too many more stampa stampas, I will be able to have an up to date permisso. Who knows.

Naples may not have been as pretty as beautiful Sicily, but the American bureaucracy in Naples is at least faster than the Italian bureaucracy in Agrigento.