Victory!

Today's pre-lunch prosecco toast is brought to you by my brand new, hard earned and highly anticipated CARTA DI SOGGIORNO! Today, finally, we were victorious! We arrived this morning back at the Immigration Office of Rome (also affectionately known as the Seventh Circle of Hell) bright and early. We joined an already big, and growing by the minute, crowd of confused foreigners trying to get on with their business. We felt like seasoned pros at this point, and managed to avoid a few of the rookie pitfalls...no standing in the wrong "line," and no exploding Coca-Cola for me. An officer took my receipt and waved me in the general direction of an empty window to wait to be called. Two hours of waiting (and looking nervously around, trying to confirm we were standing in front of the correct empty window) later, a man appeared with a large stack of folders and began calling out names. I watched the first unlucky few, after having waited hours, get brusquely turned away for one technicality or another. Then they called my name. As I walked up toward the window, I could make out a large, fancy and official looking document with my picture on it - covered in every manner of fancy stamps and seals. Success! I signed quickly and hurried off with my document, suppressing fist pumps the whole way. To add icing to the cake, my papers listed my permit as Permanente - meaning it never expires, which means I walked away from Roma's immigration madhouse for the last time today. So, needless to say, if ever there was a time to drink before lunch, today was it! Cheers!