Last week I registered for our trash tax. I also went to the Comune to ask whether I could get the certificato di residenza, but the police hadn’t filed the paperwork yet.

The lady at the Comune gave me my carta d’identità instead. This was a huge deal! It is my first Italian ID card with a picture—which means that I now have a picture ID tied to my Italian name. Hopefully this will end the questions and doubt about my papers surrounding the differences in last names. Though…I forsee future questions because my credit card and other forms of payment will remain in my American name.

BIG answer to prayer. Thank you, God!

On top of that answer to prayer, today, I (Stephanie) completed my paperwork to live and function in Italy. I received not only my certificato di residenza from the Comune but also a stato di famiglia (document that tells all who legally reside with me) and an updated version of my certificato di cittadinanza. The date (2006) on my certificate di cittadinanza had been a point of contention initially because the Comune claimed that it was too old. (They argued that I could have lost my citizenship between then and now.) 🙂

As the lady at the Comune completed my documents, she told me they cost 52… Somewhere between the words “cinquantadue” (52) and the end of her sentence, I stopped concentrating at the level my brain requires for translating these conversations (the little bit I can translate). I pulled out a €20 bill (all I had) and was about to tell her I’d have to walk home to get the rest, when she laughed and said “centesimi!” (like cents instead of dollars) Yes, YES! I had cinquantadue centesimi (52₵)! That was most assuredly the cheapest government paperwork I’ve ever had done.

These documents are particularly important right now as we proceed toward Tom’s paperwork. We have scheduled a meeting for him with the Questura for April 24. The Questura needs many documents (proving my citizenship and residency, Tom’s identity, and our marriage’s registration in Alvito, Italy), and these complete the pile. 🙂 Now we await the date.

God continues to work. “The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; He turns it wherever He will.” Proverbs 21:1

*Yes, we have appreciated the comedy of taking our government ID card (and passport) pictures in the same photo booth used for silly pictures. The first thing you have to do when you get in the booth is select whether you’re getting a government photo or a fun photo.

I didn’t think it would be a good idea to submit a funny one. 😉

–smb