Mad Hunt

The hotel receptionist gave me directions to walk to the Uni. It looked like a short distance. But barely had I stepped out of the place and I was wandering which direction to head for.

So I went into a gift shop to ask for directions. I managed to compose a grammatical question. But I struggled to understand her instructions. "Scendere…" What's that? Sounds familiar, but I struggled to recall. "Go down the steps," she said helpfully.

And that was the beginning of many a steep slope climbing. I had to go through some arch, supported precariously with scaffolding, walk down a narrow path, very weary of scaffolding and men doing construction works, etc. "What kind of Uni is this, buried among ruins, " I muttered under my quickening breathe.

Lo and behold, I reached a building and some signages pointing to the Uni. But I was not sure if it was the Uni in question, or the other Uni. I asked a fashionably-dressed Asian student and she said curtly as she hurried off, "this is it", pointing to the building decorated with flags, in front of us.

At about 10.00 am, I went to the Questura (police station office within the Uni) to get my permesso di soggiorno. Was told to produce some photocopies which I'd not done so back home, buy some stamp-tax duty from the nearby tabacchi (convenience store), buy health insurance from the post office and then return to the office to get the permit. They close at one! And so began a mad rush - all on foot on this hilly slopey city...trying to locate all these places with my infamous sense of direction.

I even passed by a lingerie shop to buy underwear and socks (thanks to my delayed luggage I had to buy such things!) ... am quite sure I have not learnt how to say "panties" in Italian but socks, yes. But just didn't know why the Spanish word "zappatos" (shoes) cropped up instead.

I got side-tracked again and decided to go down another slope to the accommodation agency to pay for some service fees and security deposit. Was told the landlady rang the office to say I could move in one day earlier (ie, today) - her previous tenant had moved out.

I made it back to the Questura before 1.00 pm to get the permit to stay, and even to go to the "scholarship office" to report myself and hopefully to get my scholarship money!

She filled in some forms and asked if I spoke any Italian, and I said, "un pocco" and she went, "un po". Gosh - out had come my subconscious Spanish again.

She asked if I had wanted to join the beginner's class (for those with zero knowledge of the language) or to take the test on Wed 2nd to determine the level to put me in.

The best part was, with that, she finally signed the form allowing me to go to the bank next door to get my money. They've increased the amount from 650 euro to 700 euro, and I wasn't going to complain! After deduction of the discounted school fees, I was to get 500 euro and the balance of 50 euro after I'd passed my test and started class. I made it to the bank at the Uni in the nick of time - it opens from 8.20 am to 1.20 pm!

Getting money from the Italians is not easy. Forms were filled, documents checked and my name found in the maser list. But he had to check his PC, made at least two long phone calls and I began to wonder if I was to encounter more "Janet Loh moments" like, "oh they spelt your name wrongly in the records so we can't release the money..."