You’ve Got Mail: Poste Italiane
justitalianthings – NOVEMBER
Today is the first Tuesday in November, which means it’s the day you’ve all been dreading waiting for: U.S. Election Day! If this is the first you’re hearing of it… Mi dispiace, but it’s definitely too late to vote, especially if you’re studying abroad in Italy. I finally got my absentee ballot in the mail in mid-October, and even though the Electoral College has rendered non-swing state votes particularly futile, I dutifully filled out the little bubbles on my form, sealed the ballot in an envelope, sealed that envelope inside another envelope, and was finally ready to mail my ballot all the way back to Austin, Texas. Cue, the bane of every Italian’s existence: Poste Italiane.
If you absolutely need to go to the post office, budget more time than you think would be necessary to buy a postage stamp. Why the delay? Because, despite the name, you don’t just go to the post office for your mailing needs. Poste Italiane is the largest bureaucratic hub for service distribution in Italy. When I arrived in Perugia and began my application for a permesso di soggiorno with the Italian government, my first stop wasn’t the Questura (national police department) – it was the post office. Locals stop by to pay their bills, withdraw money, purchase insurance, collect their pensions, take out a loan or mortgage, sign up for a phone plan, and even apply for a passport! In every Poste Italiane, there’s a little machine that prompts you to select the purpose of your visit and spits out a ticket with a number on it. Then, you wait. And wait. And maybe wait some more, especially if you’ve made the mistake of going during peak times, like natural breaks in the workday (lunchtime, right before/after work) or towards the end of the month. Eventually, your number will appear on a big screen, directing you to the proper window where – depending on the time of day and whether or not Mercury is in retrograde – you might just get the help that you need.
All this to say, if you’re mailing something like a postcard or a letter to the U.S., stop by a Tabaccheria instead. They’ll ask you where you’re sending it, and they should know to weigh and measure the envelope before selling you the proper postage. Then, find a mailbox (most likely – you guessed it! – outside of the post office) and drop the letter in. You’re good to go, without ever setting foot inside a Poste Italiane! However, if you need to send a bigger package or a really important envelope (like your mail-in ballot, for example), suck it up and go to the post office so you can rest assured that things are done (mostly) by the book and that your important mail will (almost certainly) arrive on time. After all, it is a quintessential Italian experience… One that also conveniently allows you to guilt your friends back home into voting. If you can brave the Poste Italiane to do your civic duty from a foreign country, then they don’t have a good excuse not to do theirs. Get out the vote!
Lindsey Elena Cottle, Umbra Intern