The Power of Attorney

(picture borrowed from google images)

This isn't the most riveting of posts, but people have asked what we're up to and we're not currently engaged in the most riveting of activities. We are still working on in-processing to base, as well as many other things. This post, although not the most exciting, is very informative and an update of one aspect of our activities.

On the very first day of my arrival here, the wife of our sponsor family poured out her wealth of advice to me as we were being toted from place to place getting set up and settled in. I was vastly sleep deprived and was only catching bits and pieces of what she was saying, but managed to make rough mental notes of most of it.

            One of the tips she gave that stuck out most was getting a power of attorney. I had heard the term before, but really didn’t understand what it meant. It sounded very official and serious and not something that I would need. I learned that, in short, it is a document signed by my husband (in my case at least) and that it makes me the “agent” and gives me authorization to act on his behalf whether it be private affairs, business, or other legal matters. Understanding what it meant, I was still perplexed as to why I would need such a document. We are married, and for some reason I held the naïve belief that this meant I could sign whatever he could sign for and we’d be good. We were a certified team and partnership, why shouldn't this be the case? But apparently that isn’t so, and particularly with the military, it is near impossible to make progress in some matters without a spouse's signature.

            My sponsor shared her stories of why she had to get one. Her husband was sent on a temporary duty assignment just a few months before they were to PCS (Permanent Change of Station, or basically to relocate) to the base in Italy. Knowing there was much work to do involved with PCSing, she attempted to start the process and was met with roadblocks at every turn, including attempting to get their daughter a passport. They refused to issue a passport to their daughter without the signature of her husband. She did her best to convince them that she wasn’t kidnapping their child and simply wanted to make sure they would have it on time for the move, but they would not budge. When her husband finally got back from his temporary duty assignment, they had a ton of work to squeeze into a short amount of time, and most of it was on his shoulders as there was little she was permitted to do to help.

            They did let the movers come and pick up their furniture for shipment (as it takes months for it to travel to Italy) while her husband was away. However, when they received their shipment in Italy months later, they were missing furniture. And I don’t mean a few small pieces, they were missing entire sofa sets and desks! They also had some broken and damaged goods. The standard procedure now would be to file a claim and get reimbursed for your loss (like we did with the damaged hubcaps). However, since her husband hadn’t been there to sign off on the papers when the furniture left the states, they deemed the wife’s signature invalid and refused to refund them for their losses. Due to these and other instances, she advised me to get one. I made a mental note to get one at some point, in case I needed it, though I didn’t think the occasion would arrive very soon.

            Four days later I found myself in a class at the hospital. Through the hand of God I was able to get on this in time. The hospital offers this class for pregnant women about to deliver, and it’s a valuable crash course in everything military and baby related, particularly all the forms, birth certs, and processes required. However, they only offer this class every couple months, and this was really the last one available before I was due. I happened to meet another pregnant woman with my due date who hooked me up with the higher ups who were able to squeeze me into the class the afternoon before and then she picked me up and took me to and from the class as we didn’t have a license or car yet. (whew, things really fell into place there in such a short amount of time!) It was crazy and exhausting, but I’m so glad I made it in! The vast amount of forms and knowledge I procured would have been very difficult and frustrating to attempt and find on my own. It was like an info fair, where all the necessary organizations on base come to you and give you their spiel and forms. Otherwise I’d have to go out and find them and figure out the proper order of things myself.

            I, having arrived so late in my pregnancy, was even farther behind on this paperwork than others, and I spent four hours that afternoon filling out papers and taking notes on everything we’d need to do. There were 27 other women there, all due in January and February, and the majority had their spouses. My DH was unfortunately unable to attend. My hubby has been fantastic and has attended every doctor appointment, ultrasound, hospital tour, birthing class, and form filing-out session possible, but being that it was our first week here, he had a ton of work to do and mandatory briefings regarding work, moving in, living abroad, etc etc and simply could not take out the time block to attend this meeting.

            I figured it was no big deal, most times these sort of meetings aren’t, but I found it very difficult to fill out the forms without him. Our first presenter addressed those without accompanied spouses and said, “If you have a power of attorney, now’s the time to pull it out”. What? I thought. Here it is again, that thing my sponsor wife was talking about. Already? I figured this was low on the priority list, a back burner “I’ll do this when I finally have a breather” sort of to-do. Women without spouses, primarily ones whose husband’s were deployed, pulled out their “power’s of attorney” and whisked through the forms. I was stopped every time it came to a highlighted box asking for my husband’s signature. I know his signature well and can forge it easily, however with each presenter standing right there and directly collecting the forms, there was no way I could pass off as having him present. It was rather frustrating, as if he doesn’t have enough to do without being dragged to more meetings, particularly when some of the things they were asking his permission for seemed so absurd. It seemed ridiculous to me, we are married, why can’t his signature or mine count for both our voices?? Instead of getting to turn in as many forms as everyone else, I was collecting a stack of forms and jotting down notes of where and when I’d have to turn them in after I was able to get his signature, thus creating a much longer to-do list for him and myself as well. I knew then I needed to get this power of attorney ASAP, if only so I could fill out medical forms for our child while he was at work!

            First chance we got upon having our car and licenses, we were over at the hospital where we spent another hour filling out forms (an hour! And we were flying through these forms and each had our own stack. Sooo preposterous. If you wonder where the amazon rainforest is going, I’d blame the gross amount of forms required by the military, but I’ve digressed…) The next day we were running errands and my DH had an appointment in a certain building. I noticed that the legal office was in the same building as his appointment so I went upstairs to talk with them. I have found most things in the military require several processes and forms leading up to the form you actually want to get, so I wanted to do my preliminary research and see if I could make an appointment to meet with someone, what forms they would require, how long the process took, etc etc.

            When it was my turn at the front desk I asked the woman about obtaining a power of attorney and what was involved with that process. “What do you want it for?” she asked. I replied that I just wanted a general power of attorney so I could use it for any number of things. “Oh we don’t have general power’s of attorney. You must have a specific instance”. I was confused, I was sure that’s what my sponsor had advised me to get. I thought for a moment about a specific instance and recalled the previous day’s medical fiasco. I told the woman I’d like a power of attorney that allowed me to sign off on medical related things for our child. “A medical power of attorney? There is no such thing.” She gave me a look that seemed both bored with me and as though she really didn’t want to talk with me. I was confused again as I recalled all the other women who pulled out their “power’s of attorney” and were able to submit their medical forms without their spouses. I tried to probe further but she drummed her fingers and became engaged with her computer screen, barely acknowledging me. I knew I was right and I concluded that she was either new and ignorant, or had decidedly chosen not to be helpful. Regardless, I knew I wouldn’t get further with her, so I smiled and thanked her and left. My brother, also in the air force, once told me that you can get anything you want to happen, you just have to find the right person and fill out the right form. How true that is, and apparently this woman was not the right person. That was fine by me, I could wait for another day or perhaps come back on her lunch break and hope someone useful would be in her place.

I met with my husband’s sponsor’s wife who showed me her forms after I explained what had happened. Emblazed across the top of her form where the words: “General Power of Attorney”, precisely the thing I had originally requested. Like I had previously suspected but was not positive of, it did indeed exist and was an option, the woman at the front desk was just ignorant. I expressed this to our sponsor’s wife and she disagreed. She said I’d need to haul my hubby up there and have him demand one. She said that in the past, such power’s have been abused as it could give you full reign over banking and any other sensitive issues. She said, although rare, there have been men who come home from deployment to discover their property legally sold in their name and the wife and kids gone and things like that. She said due to things like this, it is unlikely they would be cooperative with me or any woman coming in questioning for such a thing. Ah… I understand now. I also understand why, despite being married, I require his signature and approval for everything. It is because there are some people who abused the system and have ruined it for everyone else. Because others have mistreated their power (and I mean in marriage alone, not including with this legal document) that it is now required for both spouses to sign vast amounts of paperwork for every insignificant detail of their lives.

The next chance our schedule allowed, my hubby and I went up to the legal office together. The same woman manned the front desk. My husband stated that he would like a General Power of Attorney. The woman opened a drawer next to her and pulled out a file containing many copies of this document. I found it difficult to bite my tongue and keep from making a curt remark about her sudden knowledge on the subject she was dumb to only days before. She signed it, he signed it, I signed it, and then we left. It was easy and brief. We exchanged no words and I don’t recall her once making eye contact with me.  

A few days later a friend of my husband’s who moved to this base at the same time was lamenting how much work he had to do and how he didn’t feel he could fit in the wait to file forms at the housing office (the wait alone runs around at least an hour) and inquired how Troy was arranging his schedule to fit in the wait at the housing office. Troy smiled and said, “Oh, my wife’s taking care of that”. His friend responded: “Oh you got your wife on that? Lucky…” I smiled too. Yes, I was on it, and days later when that same friend had an emergency and my hubby had to rush him to the ER in another city, I was able to keep our appointments and sign the forms without his presence. Together we can divide and conquer and hopefully get all these processes completed quicker and with less stress.

If any other military wives happen to be reading this and have experienced similar frustrations, I recommend you get a Power of Attorney. They’re only good for a year at a time, and as such must be renewed, but you never know when you’ll need it. So long as you use it wisely, it can be an asset to your productivity. :)

Piancavallo - A Snowy Adventure

Our brand new hiking boots! Found them on the 50% off rack too ^_^

Brand new waterproof hiking boots? Check! Weather forecast observed, map of the surrounding mountainous area purchased, tires filled with air, tank filled with gas, snow chains acquired, and snow gear rented from the Outdoor Rec on base. Sounds like the ingredients for a completely different sort of adventure than our trip to Venice last weekend.

            Before our trip to Venice, we thought this three-day weekend would be a great opportunity to visit Rome. We’d planned to take the overnight train with the sleeper beds and wake up in Rome, spend the day exploring, and spend the night at a hostel there before taking a sleeper train back on Sunday night. However, after our semi-disappointing trip to Venice, we decided to hold off on another touristy location, and explore the mountains just next to us instead.

            Aviano had a great amount of rain the past week, which meant that the mountain was getting fresh powder. We live in a fantastic location; we are 45 mins from the snow, and an hour from the beach in the other direction, so whichever the season, we are close to recreation.

The snow covered Dolomites just behind Aviano.

         

            Troy had decided that he wanted to explore Piancavallo, a mountain ski resort sort of town not far from here (elevation around 4,100 ft). Here's a blurb on it if you’re interested in knowing a bit more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piancavallo 

  

           On Friday we went to the Outdoor Rec on base and rented Troy a pair of snowshoes and poles, costing only $7 for the three-day weekend! I didn’t plan to go snowshoeing. I don’t mind the snow or hiking in it, but I know I currently can’t keep pace with a turtle, and thus I would significantly slow down Troy's exploration goals. Furthermore, all of my snow gear is in our “Household Goods” shipment, which likely won’t arrive until late February. So without proper snow gear and not being able cover much ground regardless, I was satisfied with the idea of exploring the wee ski town and sitting in a café with a hot cocoa and a good book. Troy doesn’t really have any snow gear to speak of (something we plan to remedy by the end of our three year stay here), but the military issued him some water proof shells for work, so he figured he would be able to get by with long johns and sweats underneath his shells.   

Driving up to the mountain

Piancavallo was a very picturesque place.

Icicles growing in the other direction. I thought this looked cool.

Cascading icicles, so pretty!

Ready for adventure!

The quiet snow covered wood

Snowshoe tracks up a steep hill, crossing a a wee bunny trail

A panorama Troy took of the view. It looks even better when you can blow it up more. 

   

            After dropping Troy off at his chosen start location, I got to practice my snow driving while exploring the resort town. I eventually settled at a wee snack bar and café, ordering a hot chocolate and small slice of… something. It looked like a chocolate cake with a fruit filling. Looking around I found there was nowhere to sit, but a kind Italian family saw me scanning the room and asked me to sit with them. So I sat down and we attempted to converse in broken English and Italian. Just as this Italian family was leaving, a group of women came in that I happened to know. I didn’t recognize them at first, but one of them came up to me and said how good it was to see me. I apologized and said I couldn’t recognize her as she was all bundled in her snow clothes. She laughed and pulled off her hat and scarf, and it turned out to be my prenatal yoga instructor. (I’ve been attending the free classes at the gym on base)

She was with her girl friends and their families and they asked me to join them. Turns out I’d crossed paths with many of the other women at the table, one even recognized me from the day before at Outdoor Rec even though we hadn’t exchanged words. So in the end, I got to enjoy some Italian food, Italian company, and finally some company from fellow Airforce members and made some new friends! I never got to my book, and only departed their company when I received Troy’s call a few hours later that he was back ready to be picked up.

            Troy said he’d had a lot of fun exploring and getting a hike in, and that his gear worked well and he was able to stay dry and warm for the whole trip. You can see from the above pics what he was able to see on his snowshoeing adventure, and we both agreed that we had enjoyed our snowy day in the mountains much more than we had our day in Venice. We’ll still be sure to hit up the tourist and historical locations, but we will definitely be planning more outdoor excursions to explore the beautiful countryside we’re living in.

Driving in Italy - Part 2: On the Italian Roads!

Contrary to common belief (at least, I think it’s common, as I’ve gotten so many questions on it), the Italians do not drive on the “wrong” side of the road, they drive on the “right” side of the road. (And really it would be the “left” side and we would drive on the “wrong” side from their point of view, but that’s another issue... lol) Thankfully that was one less thing to get used to!

At the “Right Start” orientation they showed us this video: http://www.lifeinitaly.com/flash 
I recommend you give it a view, it’s super short and comical. I can’t attest to the accuracy of the entire video, but the first half regarding driving has been accurate in my experience. They are rather ridiculous here.

Comments from the Video

Do you recall that part about the Italian car reaching an intersection with tons of signs and being very confused? The signage here is veerry difficult to get used to. First, signs aren’t consistent. By that I mean, sometimes you’ll come to a road and it’s labeled, other times you’ll pass many roads/hwys with no signs indicating their title. We’ve also encountered many signs that simply have a nearby town name with an arrow pointing in the general direction and lacking the distance or any other such useful information. However, these aren’t always pointed in the correct direction. One day while driving back from Pordenone we saw a sign pointing left for Aviano. The road on the left did not lead to Aviano, it was sorely misplaced. After driving a long way and consulting a map, we went back to that location and took the road on the right. After some distance we saw another sign indicating Aviano up ahead.

Most people on base recommend purchasing a GPS, but many admit that they aren’t perfect and can often mislead you as well. Troy and I were loaned a GPS from the base for our house hunting and are considering purchasing an extensive map book of Italy for our travels, as we both prefer maps to a GPS. I can’t stand GPS systems, even when the bossy robot voice is shut off they can be just as misleading in small country towns, and I prefer the detailed maps that I can scribble personal notes into the margins.

Drivers are pretty crazy here, which everyone finds quite odd as Italians are so slow and methodical with everything else. They like to take their time, have many holidays and time off of work, and simply do things one at a time. However, driving is an exception to their laid-back life style, and when they’re on the road, they mean business. I’m quite certain the speed limit signs on the side of the road are invisible to them. I know my mother wouldn’t survive driving here; tailgaters were always a peeve of hers, and here EVERYONE tailgates. Despite going 10 kph over the speed limit myself, I’ll always have an Italian on my tail, sometimes flashing headlights to urge me faster. I don’t like to go more than 10 kph over the speed limit though, particularly because I’m told that Police like to target Americans and will give us less slack than speeding Italians. So I stick around the speed limit or 10 kph over and I will inevitably be passed the first chance they get. When you are being passed, it is your obligation to move as far over to the right as possible. This is really quite difficult as the roads are so narrow and there is really no shoulder. After the edge of the road (for often there is no "white boundary line" on the edge) that's it, and it will drop off or turn into dirt. This leaves cars a very small margin for error...

     Other differences include that it is mandatory for everyone to have either snow chains or snow tires for your car (we were unable to find them at regular stores because nearly all gas stations sell them). Headlights are required basically everywhere, and since there are so few exceptions to when you can have them off, it is advised to simply keep them on at all times. Everyone must also have reflective vests and a reflective road triangle in case of an emergency. Italy also seems to have a ton of roundabouts. They are everywhere and people zoom through them. There are also some different road rules. The one I struggle with most is NO right turns on red lights. I struggle simply because it’s automatic and habit from the states, and often it’ll be clear and I start to go before I (or my hubby) remind me that that’s not allowed here. Definitely going to have to remember that one.

Something else that I have to stop and remind myself of, is their rule of “right-of-way”. Generally in the states when you come to a four way stop, the person who was there first will proceed, someone will kindly wave you on, or the person on the right will go first. Here, the vehicle on the right has right-of-way, however if there are a line of cars behind him, ALL of them have the right of way and get to proceed before you do. So there’s no taking turns, you go, I go, sort of thing. If there’s a bunch of cars lined up on the right, they all get to go before you. Often when approaching an intersection there is a yellow and white diamond sign, which means that you on are the priority road and have the right-of-way.

Another difference is the intersections. I have found that, for the most part, intersections in the states are where four roads meet in one location. Here, there may be four roads, but they don’t line up. I’ve been at a stop light on a hill where I wasn’t able to see the roads to the left and right; after it turned green and I traveled up the hill further, I’d pass them with their stop lights. Because the roads don’t always meet up, you personal stop light is generally off to the road and on your right, instead of hanging in the middle of the intersection (since not all the roads would be able to see it if it were). Furthermore, the intersection lights aren’t always green, yellow, and red. The first time we came to an intersection with different colors, we were quite confused, as they had failed to mention this in our driver’s training. Instead, they will have all white lights and the shape of the light indicates whether or not you can go. We quickly observed that a vertical white bar meant we could proceed, and a horizontal white bar was equivalent to a red light.

Gas:

If you are hoping to go on a weekend trip in Italy, you have to plan ahead for your gas, because Italian gas stations are not open on Sundays, and have very limited hours on Saturday mornings. So I would recommend purchasing it the Friday before, unless you are sure of a gas station’s Saturday hours.

Gas in Italy is also really pricey. For the military, we purchase gas coupons, which is at a discounted rate determined by the DOD. It basically means that we pay gas at the average American cost, not the average cost dependent on the Italian economy. Below are pictures of what our gas coupons look like. 

The coupons have different amounts in liters.

On the left you must fill out the date and sign it, in order for it to be valid.

When you arrive at a gas station, you pull up to an empty pump and wait for a gas attendant to come and assist you. You tell them how much you would like, pay for it (in our case, with the coupons), and then they fill your tank.

Parking in Italy:

            Italian cars are far smaller than American cars. My DH and I thought we were purchasing a small car when we got our Toyota Camry, but after arriving here we realize it’s rather large compared to Italian cars. Everything from cars, to roads and parking spaces are much smaller here. We have great difficulty squeezing into parking spaces. Parking spaces are also different colors. Blue means it requires payment and you must go in search of the often elusive ticket area. White is free parking, and pink is for expectant mothers! Below is a picture of my favorite parking spot! Well, spot plural I suppose, as this sign designates them in various locations. On base my designated parking spot is even closer than the general's. aw yea...

I feel like I see far more of these here than in the states. Why aren't there more?? lol

Police in Italy:

Police, or Carabinieri as they are called, are also different here than in the states. Although they do have cars with sirens and lights, the most common form of being pulled over comes from being flagged down. The Carabinieri are generally pulled off to the side of the road and standing outside of their vehicle. They flag you down by waving a sign that people have nicknamed “the lollipop”, as it’s a stick with a red circle on it. (see pic below. I did not take this pic but found it online, not sure how to site it…)

Picture not mine! stolen from google images... lol.

Once they have waved it at you and you pull over and talk with them, if they decide to fine you, you must pay it then and there (and I’m told fines are at least € 40). And yes, I’m told they have card swipe machines if you don’t happen to have enough euro on you.

 

 

Accidents:

            In Italy, if you see an accident or anything happen, you are required to render assistance (Hence the mandatory reflective vests and road triangles in your car). If a military member gets into trouble, a scrape or what have you on the road, we were given a number to call so they can send a translator to our location. (Thank goodness! I was concerned how I would communicate with someone if trouble arose…)

  

Alright, I believe that should cover just about everything. I’m sure I’ll remember something else odd later and wish I’d stuck it in here, but we’ll also gain more driving experiences the longer we’re here so a part 3 may happen many months down the road. I hope this was informative and helpful :) We have a three day weekend this week! So expect an update on our weekend adventures sometime either Tuesday or Wednesday. Enjoy your weekend!!!

Driving in Italy - Part 1: Getting Started

This blog may be rather dry to some, as I'm kind of addressing it as though I were informing another military spouse of all the awesome processes they'll have to go through, so I'll understand if you skip to the pictures or another post. But I know reading posts like this before I came abroad greatly helped inform me about what to do and expect, so now I'm paying it forward. Here goes...

My DH and I were smart before moving here, and if there happen to be any military wives reading this who are about to PCS overseas, I highly recommend you do what we did. We shipped our car ridiculously early. Lol, or so it seemed at the time. Our car shipped off on November 5^th when we were back at Luke AFB. We knew we wouldn’t be arriving in Italy until January 3^rd, and not having a vehicle in the states for two months was often rather difficult. However, it takes about two months for things to reach Italy (like your car or household goods shipment).

Our car arrived just before the end of the year, so it was ready to be picked up as soon as we could register it and get our licenses. This was a huge freedom (and believe me, after a few long days of briefings and paperwork, you’ll be itching to get off base and see Italy). It also allowed us to start house hunting just days after arriving. We were able to have the comfort of our own vehicle while other families were forced to rent a vehicle until theirs came (and a car rental is not something the military will reimburse you for, unlike your reimbursements for temporary lodging and food).

            We made due for the two months without a car back in the states, and despite being 6 and 7 months pregnant, I would walk or bike to base, get groceries and goods, stuff them in my back pack, and carry them home. It was great exercise! We also had some very kind friends who would occasionally loan us their car if we had a doctor appointment or something else that was too far for us to bike to. In my opinion, it’s sooo much better to have your own car ready and waiting when you arrive at your new station than to be in a new place and also driving and paying for a rental car while waiting for yours to show. All right, enough about that. Now I will inform you what the process was like to get a drivers license and what it’s like to drive on Italian streets. 

Step 1: The Driver's License

                      Troy was able to get his license the day after we arrived. They had a "Jumpstart" program for airmen and they helped him get on the process. It was good to get it out of the way, though we couldn't get our car until the following Tuesday anyway. He came home and gave me the necessary links I would need to study for the drivers test. For those coming to Aviano here's the link: http://www.31fss.com/afrc/web/inbound-driving.html   On the top right of the page you can read through the study guide and also study the various road signs. Then you can click on the top link and take the two tests. One is a multiple choice test about the rules of the road/driving, and the other is a 50 question test on the road signs alone. I took a screen shot (see below) of the chart presented on the test.  

          

            As you can see, there are exactly 50 sign options (though you have 118 signs to study on the study pamphlet) and each option is only used once during the test. So if you think one sign can apply to two questions, you're wrong, try again. The chart will stay the same and you simply click on the sign that correctly answers the question. The test can take a long time as you have to search the chart for the sign you're looking for. In order to be granted a license you must pass both the multiple choice test and the road signs test with 100%. However don't worry if you don't get a perfect score your first time, you will be given successive chances to take the tests.

           Looking at the chart, you can probably already guess what some of the signs mean without having done any studying. The large "P" in the top row is obviously a sign for parking and two over to the right from that is a sign that anyone could guess to mean, "Don't come this way!". However not all signs are so self explanatory. In the second row you can see there are two similar signs, both blue with a white arrow pointing up. However, one is a round sign while the other is square. The round one means you must take that street and that that is the mandatory direction of travel. (After some driving I have found that there is usually the red "don't go this way" sign nearby on a street they don't want you to enter. The square sign with the arrow indicates a one-way street only.

       I recommend printing the PDF file of the road signs so you can have it all right in front of you for the test. That way it has the exact wording/explanation under each sign, as some are similar in meaning. You could also keep the tab open on the computer and flip from that to the test, but that little trick of CTRL + F won't work to let you search through the document, and I found it much harder to scroll through the pages of bright signs than to look down at the sheet of them in front of me, but to each his own. 

      After passing both tests with 100%, they will email you a certificate of completion which you will print and later give to proper authorities. My "proper authorities" were at the Right Start program the following week. On Monday they had us fill out a basic information sheet, hair, eye color, weight, etc. On the following day, Tuesday, you hand in the print out of your completed test and they will give you your license. Here's what my driver's license looks like. I was surprised they required no photo ID on it or patterns or shimmery colors to make it difficult to copy/fake, but it's supposed to be a supplement to your license from the states, which does have a photo ID. (so both must be presented if you're pulled over)

    

Step 2: Registering the Car

Now to begin the lengthy process of getting your car registered… In order to get your car registered, you must first have your license. We’ve got that, check. Next, go to the warehouse where your car was shipped. (You should be have gotten an email when your car arrived). Here they will give you the paperwork saying that yes your car has in fact been delivered and is waiting for you. It will have your vin # and other such information on it.

             Next, you must get a license plate. You can get these from the same people who processed your licenses at Pass and Registration. You give them the paperwork from the warehouse as well as proof of your insurance. (For Italy I believe only USAA and Geico offer the type of insurance needed) They will give you your new plate numbers, which you send to the insurance company. They will send you the updated insurance card by emailing it directly to the pass and registration office. Then the Pass and Registration office will print the card for you and give you the actual plates. The Insurance cards here are small and white and must be displayed in your front windshield at all times. Below you can see the plates on our car. The plates in Italy are much longer than the plates in the States. I should have gotten a picture before, when we had long pieces of blue tape keeping our plate on until we were able to buy a plate adaptor bracket at the store to fit the long plate and different screw holes.

 

Then you go to the foreign nationals at Pass and Registration and pay road tax (since we only have one car it was about $5). Then they will register your car. You take this information back to the warehouse where your car was shipped and do an inspection of your car and put the plates on. If you need to file a claim, this is the time to do so. We had to file a claim as we had a damaged hubcab. The first time my DH stopped at the warehouse he discovered we were missing three hubcabs. My first thought was, “Shoot, I didn’t take pictures of the car!”. Before leaving AZ, military spouses had told me the dangers of shipping and traveling, that things would get broken and how difficult it was to file claims if you had no proof that they were the ones who damaged it. They advised having a detailed inventory of everything, so I spent days meticulously inventorying all of our possessions, complete with pictures, dimensions, serial numbers, you name it. I realized in that moment, that I had forgotten the car, really the most expensive thing we own and I failed to document its condition.

Thankfully the three hubcabs were found in the trunk and only one was damaged. (It was missing a huge chunk, not sure how that happens…) They also agreed the fault was theirs and reimbursed us for it. 

Alright, almost done registering! Within 15 days of having the car, you must get it inspected and take that passing inspection back to Pass and Registration. (If you don’t, there are heavy fines!) We did ours the same day. We didn’t pass at first because we forgot some essentials. In Italy, you are required to have a reflective vest and a reflective triangle road sign. You are required to render assistance if you witness something or there’s an animal on the side of the road. So you pull over, put on the vest, and place the triangle a distance behind the car to warn people to slow down. So we had to go and purchase those before passing. We did this and were fully registered by Tuesday evening. Woohoo! 

Step 3: Hit the Road!!!

         We were now good to drive the streets of Italy! I will detail Italian driving and our experiences in part 2.