Are you serious?

So, today was our first day of heading out to get something done and accomplishing absolutely nothing. Very common here. . . we just hadn't had the pleasure yet. Today's adventure involved trying to rent this great apartment we found. Great because it is compartatively large and yet, well within our budget. The staff we're working with here had found it at the end of July, and we had prayed it would still be available when we arrived. It was!

Renting an apartment in Italy is no easy task. And it costs A LOT. First, the agency that is renting the apartment required that we have an Italian bank account before we could even talk about renting. Many banks would not let us open an account with the current paperwork we have (we will literally wait for probably 6 months to get what most banks want). We found one that worked with us though, so we got that taken care of last week. So to actually commit to the apartment we have to provide the agency with this bank document that says we have SIX MONTHS rent set aside in a special fund that our landlord could access if we default on our payments. I can't begin to tell you how much money that is. . . it is the better portion of almost all of what we made on our house. Pretty much the only money we have, outside of daily expenses. The good news is that we heard that if you are required to put down more than three months, by Italian law you have to be paid interest. That sounded somewhat promising actually.

Then we went to the bank to get this document. Of course they couldn't do it right there. . . they needed the official contract from the rental agency. And then we found out that though your account earns a "very little" bit of interest (2.5%), the bank charges you an annual commission on the account that is the same as the interest you earn. Plus you pay taxes. We'll lose money every year. But that's how the system works. Anywhere else would want the same thing. Banking here is a exercise in throwing money out the window. You are allowed one deposit a month for free. Everytime you withdraw money, unless it's with an ATM, you are charged. And there are no guarantees on your ATM card, so it a little risky to just carry it around.

Oh my. We have tried really hard to just go with the flow up to this point. Today was the first day that we thought, "Are you kidding?" And in addition to all of that, we have to pay the agency a full month's rent as a Finder's Fee. Again, just the way things are. We are definitely feeling first-hand why the Italian economy is the worst in the EU. And why it is so much work just to survive. If we hadn't just sold our house, there is no way we could afford to rent an apartment. Praise God He knew exactly what we were going to need. And we feel like even though this "fund" isn't going to even return us what we initially put in it, it does guarantee we'll get our "deposit" back. If you don't set up a fund like this (it's completely up to the landlord as to how they want to handle it), then it can be difficult to get your deposit returned. That's really good with that much money involved. :)

In more encouraging news, I have a friend! Elli is who has been helping us figure the school thing out (and helped translate at the bank today). Her husband is the son of the pastor of the church we're partnering with. It's their apartment (the pastor and his wife's) that we're staying in temporarily, as we wait for our apartment. Anyway, Elli and Luke just had their first baby in May (Emma Violet). She has been a true Godsend in helping us understand many Italian processes. She is so sweet and just a delight. We've already bonded over our babies and other girl things. AND she is going to teach me how to cook some traditional Italian dishes! Yeah! How thankful I am for God's quick provision of a friend here. Earlier in the week, I had also met another Italian mom, whose daughter Anna is also starting school next week. Giovanna is her name, and she is not a believer. They just returned from 2 years in China but had also spent time in Singapore, so she speaks great English. We have a play date set for tomorrow.

At this point, you may be wondering why I put in a picture of Ben. . . just because he is so, so precious. Every day we delight in him. He continues to just go with the flow. And smile and flirt. He loves to just look you in the eye and grin and grin. He is such a sweet gift of rest for us. He makes us slow down and just be with him. That's a very good thing these days.

What a long blog! I'll close now. Ciao!