The Umbrellas of Siena

The Umbrellas were out in force yesterday. It was a big day for Siena, called the Estrazione delle Contrade,  when the ten Contrade which will compete in this long-awated Palio of the 2nd of July were decided upon by the drawing of lots, separating the lucky ones from the seven that will not run this time. 

After about ten days of nothing but blue skies with temperatures creeping up towards the mid-thirties, the skies decided to open up. But nothing could dampen the spirits of Siena's inhabitants- and the excitement on the Campo had reached fever pitch by  19.00 when the windows opened on the Palazzo Pubblico and four trumpeters became visible,  sounding a fanfare which announced that the drawing of lots had been accomplished. The first Contrada Flag was now put up on the facade- It was DRAGO which caused a mighty roar to go up from that section of the crowd; a new fanfare followed  and the next flag went up until the last flag, that of the TORRE made the ten complete. 

A great evening for Siena of course, and I took part in the excitement in the company of Carol and Antonella, in whose jolly company I  managed to forget my sorrows all evening.

And what are those sorrows? Well, we have not been able to start the project yet...although I have spent interesting and creative times with Paolo, putting the last touches to the project - it is fun to watch the drawings take shape on the screen in his studio- we are ready to go! BUT alas, we have had to deal with the other people in my building who called an emergency meeting and were very worried and upset and in fact quite aggressive towards Paolo, our engineer and me- even though we have done everything by the book. They demanded new drawings and new reassurances that the work will be done according to the rules etc- which is of course no problem, but it slowed down everything yet again. 

 However, the one thing that is causing me great frustration and worry and which gives me no wish to write anything here is the fact that the all-important document from the UK government called the S1,  has not arrived although it was sent from England on the 11th of April. The arrival of this document will unleash a series of  essential events:  it  will enable me to be registered with the Italian Health Service; this  will  give me the right to register as an Italian resident which will in turn enable us to present the renovation project to the Commune,  the Town Council. 

Nothing can be done until this blasted paper arrives. I cry every afternoon when I get back from School and there is nothing in the letter box. Tomorrow I shall have to ring them again- that is a process which takes about an hour of waiting before they pick up. Even when and if this finally arrives, it will then take us at least another month before the project is given its go ahead by the Commune!

I guess it is clear why I don't feel in the mood to write here...