Traffic was good and it seemed we would arrive in time, but then at the exit ramp there was a long and slow line of cars, bumper to bumper. It is not clear what caused the slowdown, but we were there for about 20 minutes extra and ended up late. The young missionaries carried the wheelchair up, so I only had to get Dee to the lift (including unlocking and uncovering everything). Our district meeting was thus a bit short, but very good. We really like hanging with these young missionaries, and they seem to accept us quite well. Everyone participates in the discussions and the training.
After carrying stuff up and unloading, I then headed out with Anziano Canfield to try to get him a ZTL pass for their car. I had filled out the paperwork ahead of time, using our forms from last fall as the template. It is ten stops on the metro from downtown, and there was no AC on the subway, so we were pretty hot by the time we got off the train. Then we walked about ten minutes to the place in the warm sunshine. It was nice that, when we got there, they had a little AC action going on inside the office! We didn't have to wait for very long before we got up to an agent. From there it went downhill. First of all, he (and later his boss) kept telling us that it was expensive to get a ZTL for the Vatican and that we needed approval from somebody there. I guess that, because the forms said we were missionaries, they assumed we were Catholic and wanted to drive to the Vatican. I explained several times that this had nothing to do with the Vatican. Then they asked where our office (sede) was, and I mistakenly told them about the mission office, which is not in a ZTL area, so they then said we didn't need a pass. Eventually I was able to explain that we wanted the pass for our "branch" office downtown (the Institute), not the Vatican and not our HQ, and finally they got it. They first said that it would cost over 1000€ for the year, while it was supposed to be just 800€ like ours. I asked why, and we went around back and forth once or twice. Then the boss came by and said it would cost over 2000€, since we needed to go to the Vatican. Sigh. Obviously I was not doing a good job of explaining. Finally, they agreed that it should cost 800€, but then they needed to see our parking contract. Anziano Canfield doesn't have a paid parking spot yet, so they told us we had to come back to get the ZTL, with a copy of the parking contract. I said that they had never asked me for the parking info last fall (we do have one, but I don't have a copy of the contract), but I didn't push too hard as I was afraid they might cancel my ZTL! So, we left a bit dejected, but at least we think we know what to do next. I was hot and sweaty when I got back to the Institute and thus very glad for the AC we have inside.
After that I went out to the post office to return the bogus copy of Microsoft Windows to Amazon. That went very quickly and Amazon credited my account right away. The evening before, I had gone ahead and bought a copy of Windows 10 online directly from Microsoft, and this one activated fine. I bought it from the US website, where it cost $119, while the Italian version cost 145€ (nearly $180). It isn't clear why there is such a price difference, which is not explained just by the VAT, but I was happy to have a cheaper option. Now I have a bunch of software installs and configuration to do on the new computer, but that should be smooth sailing. Dee kindly let me borrow her big monitor at home to connect to the desktop while working on it.
I also did some lesson prep for Friday in the afternoon. Dee came up with a clever enhancement for Gino, her scooter. She usually has to carry her crutches on Gino, in case she hits a curb or step, but there is nowhere to put them, so she had to hold them, which hurt her hand after a while. So she cut the bottom out of a plastic hand soap container, and I drilled small holes in the appropriate place to mount it using zip ties. The result is a nice holder for the bottom of the crutches. It was challenging because it had to not get in the way when Gino's handle folds down. She added some elastic to hold the upper part, and now her crutches stay in place unattended.
Dee made some wonderful Reeses peanut butter bars, which were devoured by four young missionaries who came by on splits. Two of them we know quite well from the past: Anziani Misa and Dunn, who came up from Catania for a day to apply for their new permesso docs. The mission spends a lot of money on travel because they have to come back to their first city to (re)apply, instead of doing it at their current location.
Dee also spent a bunch of time doing math tutoring for Martine, a former missionary companion of Joyce. Martine is originally from Burkina Faso but has lived in Italy since she was four years old, so Italian is really her native language. She served in the Milano mission and is now taking BYU Pathway classes online. Dee was easily able to handle the math, so I was free to work on my lesson and other things. Dee writes: many of the math problems are hilariously inapplicable to Italians, since they were based on converting feet to yards, and calculating totals of quarters, dimes and nickels. Italy is on the metric system! Why do this?? At least use more universal examples. They give a couple of money problems each day rather than a whole bunch to set the info in their brain. Anyway, she was the lead presenter that day, and was relieved to get a handle on it all. She is a great young woman.
Linda Di Martino came for the third day in a row, looking for some late-night socializing after her classes. We're glad she is drawn to be at the Institute.
Our District Leader gave us a two-week study assignment along with writing down our impressions in our study journal. I am looking forward to it.
I heard from Lara Condon again. She's the gal in Encinitas who is doing her husband's Italian genealogy. It was really nice to touch base with her.