Going with the Flow

After the rescue mission of Pandy and a long journey back from Milan the next day, needless to say I was absolutely wrecked and was looking forward to getting back to Lucca, giving Pandy loads of cuddles and just relaxing and putting my feet up, but the universe had other things in store. Pandy clearly was a bit worse for wear after her long journey from Australia and whether she was excited or just stressed, proceeded to throw up on the living room floor not long after we arrived back in Lucca. I then accidentally stepped in it in my only pair of warm house socks and nearly went for a skate and jarred my shoulder. After the mopping up operations, Pandy was sick all over the pure white comforter on the bed which then needed to be spot washed and bleached and could not be used. We had also put the clothes we had travelled in into the washing machine, but the washing machine broke down mid-cycle and the internal spin cage could not be opened and so our clothes were trapped. I then had to contact our airbnb host about it. and felt terrible that somehow we had inadvertently damaged the washing machine. After many messages back and forth she said she would take a look at it the next day. All, this within hours of getting back from MIlan. In my mind I kept thinking why is this happening right now? I just want to rest. I’m so tired. Why is everything going wrong? Waah! I quickly realised there was no point resisting what was happening and making myself miserable, because you’ve just got to accept and go with the flow don’t you?

I sprung back into action and got on my phone and found a Lavenderia (laundromat) nearby as I thought I should get the comforter into a machine quickly, and so with phone in hand as the light was slowly fading. I set off with google maps as my guide. There have been a few times in my life when I am convinced that Google Maps is trying to get me killed, and this was one of them. It proceeded to take me down some backstreets. and alleys that I had never seen before, down the side of a church squeezing my way down an extremely narrow alleyway where I thought I could be murdered right now and no one would know where I was and then down a street and back up it again. I couldn’t understand why the laundromat which is literally supposed to be 2 minutes away was taking eons to find.

There was just something about the light that night, a bit eery and perhaps the over-tiredness, when the sudden realisation that I was on the other side of the world in Lucca, a place I don’t know yet, hit me. A myriad of thoughts swirled in my head, besides where the heck is this thing taking me, but also that I am ultimately responsible for myself and my mother, and what would she do if something happened to me. and who would I call if something happened to her because we don’t actually really know anyone yet? I suddenly felt a mild panic attack come on up a deserted alley of all places. I have not had one of those for years and it is so scary when it happens that I felt the urge to just drop to my knees or lie down on the ground as my head started to spin and I felt like I couldn't breathe. I somehow pulled myself together though and resisted the urge and it passed as quickly as it had arrived, like a lightning flash in the sky,

A few seconds later I was relieved to find myself on a corner that I recognised, literally a stones throw away from our house which I would have reached in about 3 left turns if that darn Google maps hadn't taken me on wild goose chase. On the bright side though I did stumble across Via San Paolina, which on further exploration has turned out to be an amazing lively street full of interesting shops, pasticcerias, cafes, restaurants and it gives me a lovely shortcut to the wall and to a park that is perfect and safe for Pandy to do zoomies in, so strange things do happen for a reason sometimes.

I finally stumbled in through the door, mum wondering what on earth had happened to me getting ready to enlist a search party to find me as I recounted may experience. I thought I would call my friend Cristina in Rome just to check in, only to find I had run out of credit on my phone! I took it as a sign that it was now finally truly time to sleep, so I made my way into the minuscule bathroom and took a nice hot shower. With the prospect of snuggling in to my bed only moments away, my pyjamas that were precariously balanced on the toilet seat unbeknownst to me, had accidentally fallen into the shower while I was drying myself and got soaked! So with most of my clothes stuck in the washing machine, my socks drying and now no pyjamas I just burst out laughing. OMG!!!!!!

The next morning which was a Sunday I was once again on a train, this time to Livorno to finally meetup with my Italian teacher Daniele with whom I had been having lessons with from Australia via video for a few months. I was a bit slow getting started and made off to the train station with only about 10 minutes to make the train, sprinting the last 200 metres into the terminal and onto the train just as the doors closed. I stumbled onto my seat, Covid mask on, it took at least 3 train stops before I had recovered my breath….and I once again thought how I really would start doing more exercise and build up my cardio fitness. Cristina called me from Rome, and seeing me in my mask asked me where on earth I was. She could not believe I was on a train yet again going somewhere considering it had only been a matter of days since we arrived and she called me a hurricane! I caught sight of my dishevelled reflection in the window and thought I certainly look like I have been through a hurricane!! The train rolled 'through the countryside outside Lucca which was lush, green and mountainous. and the next minute I was in Pisa and from the train I was thrilled to see the top of the famous Leaning Tower with supermarkets and other shops in the foreground. I thought how odd it was to see such a world famous landmark from a local train just 20 minutes away from my new hometown, and I wondered if in time I would lose the thrill and just be complacent or not even notice it at all.

Daniele met me at Livorno station and it was wonderful to meet him in person for the first time as we gave each other a giant hug like old friends and he remarked that I was taller than he imagined. Into his waiting car I met one of his friends Allan an Irishman now living in Livorno and Daniele’s gorgeous two little girls Leia and Rebekah. Leia who is two, recognised me from our video chats because sometime she would come in asking for Baboo (daddy) There is just something about Italian kids, they are SO cute, all slightly olive skinned, big eyes. Daniele and Allan chatted with me in Italian and I probably understood 30% of what was being said, but as the day wore on I found my ear tuning in better and understanding more. We drove along winding roads in the Tuscan hills and arrived at a hill town hamlet called Lari for La Festa Rossa (The Red Festival) a festival for the workers on May Day. The town is tiny with a winding circular road that encircles the castle in the middle. It is an incredible feat of engineering, how on earth they built this place with those stones on such a circumference of a hill in the 8th Century! The town was bedecked in red flags and banners, a band was playing interspersed with passionate speakers. I met Daniele’s adorable mum and dad, perhaps the Italian version of “the bickersons” other family members and friends. Daniele seemed to know everyone there and we all chatted away, me sometimes playing charades to explain myself and them all nodding furiously and smiling when I had made myself understood. It was great fun although we spent much of our time there waiting in line to get our vouchers so we could then wait in other lines to get our food, which was all prepared by volunteers. “This is Italy” Allan remarked. The food was absolutely delicious and well worth the wait. I had the vegetarian plate which was a Tuscan stew with beans and bread in it along with other tasty morsels, fresh in-season beans in their pods and the wine flowed freely at only 1 Euro a glass.

I learned that the proceeds from the day go to help the La Rossa an association that pursues the values ​​of equality, anti-fascism, environmentalism; it is an autonomous, multi-ethnic, anti-racist, secular and non-denominational organization, my kind of peeps. The atmosphere was jovial and you could feel the unity and brotherhood of this collective of people from all different walks of life. It was a splendid day and especially wonderful spending time with Daniele and his gorgeous family and knowing I now have such lovely friends only a short train ride away.

Monday it was back to business and time to call on “Tony the Fixer.”

For months before I moved to Italy I had researched groups on Facebook and found two incredible groups in Lucca, that help each other out, hold events, publish a very useful what’s on guide, mainly for expats that have moved to, or are thinking about moving to Lucca. It is through these groups that I heard about “Tony the Fixer” who sounds like he would be out of some Martin Scorsese mafia movie, but on the contrary he is a wonderful guy who helps new people get settled and deal with some of the bureacracy to get all the paperwork sorted out. My Permesso paperwork that I had managed to pick up days before was still sitting in my bag because every time I looked at it the procrastination monster and the sudden urge to watch an episode of the sci-fi show “The Expanse” took over. It was overwhelming even looking at all the booklets in the pack, all in Italian and in need of hours or even possibly days of translation and then to figure out what exactly it is they needed to know, and why I needed to get some special stamps, and in what sequence did I do all these different steps, and so I kept procrastinating, although time was absolutely of the essence as it had to be completed within 8 days of arrival and it was now day 6.

I emailed Tony and thankfully, almost immediately got a reply, and we arranged to meet the next day at the Post Office, and without wasting any time, he filled out both our packages in about 20 minutes balanced on the radiator in the hallway of the post office building, then scooted to the tabacchi shop on his bike to get the special stamps (I still don’t understand what they are for and why he could not buy them at an actual post office!). We then stood in line at the Post Office and alakazam we both had our appointments set with the Police and Immigration departments for late June all for a very modest fee, right before the 8 day deadline. Tony saved us hours and a lot of confusion and knew all the ins and outs of what to say or not to say. We strolled home through the piazza, another mission accomplished, but this time, with “Tony the fixer” a new friend and ally in Lucca.