ROME: HOW TO SURVIVE TO A THEFT, CELEBRATE A BIRTHDAY AND SIGHTSEEING IN THREE DAYS

Maybe no one believes me but days before all the ' nightmare ' happened, I have had an occasional intuition and one of those weird thoughts that sometimes appear in your mind and leave you thinking and asking yourself : 'Hey , why am I thinking this?'

The truth was that the trip to Rome was planned pretty spontaniously, as a way to escape to the anxiety accumulated I had the days of that February.

The stress of preparing all of my documents before travel: passport, visa , money, etc. consumed my mind (Although I love to travel , I confess that checks at airports trouble me) and perhaps for that very reason of my mind being clouded with thoughts, that in one way or another the 'predisposition' influenced what I was about to happen ...

Friday February 8, 2013

Everything was ready, bus ticket from Bournemouth ( South of England ) to London Stansted. Plane expected to land at Ciampino (Rome ) at about 10am and my arrival at the centre of Rome at around 12pm.

I should add that I almost missed the bus at midnight from Bournemouth coach station to the airport, but finally I made it in time to sleep in a seat between luggage, sleeping bags and weary travellers .

Ryanair ( European low cost airline ) announced the departure to Rome Ciampino , by that time I did not know whether to be excited because I would discover a new destination, because I would see my friends or simply because I could rest a bit once i arrived.

CIAO ITALY

"Finally I've arrived' I thought. I immediately went to buy a bus ticket to the city center and take the underground to ' Piazza di Spagnia ' where we would stay. Already tired I went to a newspaper ‘Kiosco’ to ask with my very Hispanic Italian for directions on the underground to reach where I was staying.

That's when I relaxed a little more and I realised I was in another destination than where I started, I had escaped (or so it seemed until then) of stress, depression and all mental 'junk' that hadn't stopped for a few days in England ... so I started to enjoy myself.

With almost no strength, I reached the Hotel Panda, I found two of my traveling companions who i hadn't seen in a few month. They already had a couple days wandering around Rome before I arrived. Seeing them, my exhaustion faded due to a feeling of completeness after being reunited with my best friends. Those kinds of friends that will understand you even when they have time without seeing each other, the stories and laughter that go on for days. We spoke for hours catching up, eating and laughing while we waited for the fourth member of the journey from Madrid (at this point I was running on empty with less that a few hours sleep).

Tired, I waited as my two friends picked up the last of our group. After a few minutes there were no longer two but three of them approaching the hotel, the group of 4 girls were reunited, and at that point innocent of what Rome would bring.

As our four stories intertwined, we discussed how fucked up our country is and even the Miss Venezuela contest. Amid the conversation and after hours discussing it, we decided to save some money, and we would change hotel the next day.

Just in case you have forgotten, it also was a Friday night. And what can you do on a Friday night with your best friends in a strange city? Have Fun! And that in my culture has as a synonym of ‘go have a few drinks and dance’. So we did well into the night until we could no longer, and returned to the hotel to rest.

Saturday February 9, 2013

As agreed, this was the day that we would move from place so we packed our bags and left the room with direction to the metro station. Everything seemed normal until two girls younger than 18 entered and pushed their way onto the carraige. Amid the confusion, one of these girls (dressed entirely in black and suspiciously) knocked into me and in less than a blink of an eye, she and her companion were running away, with the doors shutting seconds after them.

In matters of milliseconds, all of us filled with confusion, I realised the horrible situation that was about to begin. Yes, all my mind had feared was true. This girl had stolen my passport, identity card , cash and visa ; but more than that, also all that I had been looking forward to in Rome, I had " my life " in these documents .

I panicked between tears and despair, tormented with the thought of how hard it would be to return to England, where I was studying and by that time where I thought I never should have left.

One of my friends and I decided to get off at the next station in the hope of getting help ; the other two were left to navigate the city alone with double the baggage.

Our trip then began in middle of the day when we approached the information office in the metro and did not get any solution; I hear that in any difficult situation always a leader arises , someone to follow and trust, and of course in this case it was not me. So I set out alone to listen to my friend who quickly took us to the subway exit , there we found a female police officer; who were amazed more by the fact that we were from Caracas and we had our things stolen in Italy, than for the theft that was perpetrated by two young girls that should have been studying.

Despite the shock and frustration reflected in our faces we got important information to continue the epic journey. I believe it is vital for all those who are going through, have gone through or could go through something similar to do the following things:

The first thing to do is to stay calm, search for official advices and follow their instructions. In this case the police told us that we had to report the theft in the official police station and so we did.

The stolen passport was venezuelan and conatained a student visa adjudicated by the british embassy. Once in the police station, they recommended us to go to the english consulate to discuss the case and then go to the venezuelan embassy in order to get things sorted.

With the police report in hand we walked for a couple of hours more, this time with the intention of finding the english embassy in Rome. My tears were not longer tears but sweat. My legs were shaking and my feet burning (I think we walked half of Rome that day).

Against the ups and downs we reached the Brtitish embassy where we were intercepted by two italians policemen. They were guarding the entrance of the monumental building so we had to explain what had happened. It took us 30 minutes to do so between signs and our poor italian, and the only thing we got as an answer was a "you better be back on monday".

Exhausted, we decided that leaving the whole process for monday was wisest. We thought that if the british embassy was not open, the possibilities that the venezuelan one was were none. So we started our second journey: To meet the two friends that we had left somewhere in Rome.

During this time my friend had contacted the remaining two to find out where they were but with no signal we continued the journey to the hotel. If there is something Rome has it is everything, except Wi-Fi. It is scandalous, crazy, surreal fast city. I called it Caracas with no guns.

We had had no communication until we reached the hotel, then miraculously we received a call from the other two, who filled with paranoia, stress and nerves of the same thing happening to them, had also began their way back to the hotel. They meanwhile, toured the metro and surrounding area with huge suitcases and despair. What we did not know until the call was that, as they did not find the hotel where we originally booked, another reservation was made in a different place; which turned out to be facing each other.

We decided to spend the night at the hotel with more security cameras. So far a police report was the only identification I had during my stay in Rome; the city that changed our plans. Rome became from historic to become catastrophic.

Sunday 10 February 2013

Faced with a chaotic Saturday we decided that sunday would be the day to tour the city and so we did. We not only saw symbolic places like the Roman Coliseum, ruins and vatican city but we also set out to peer into each of the bins and stairs of different underground stations with the hope that my passport would of been thrown somewhere. We also insist on asking for my papers every time we stopped at a different station, only receiving negative responses.

I had already given up on the prospect of ever seeing my documents again but each time I remembered my ordeal, the frustration and anger rushed back to my face and cheeks. Amid such commotion, I had to spend the night contacting everyone, sending e-mails and calls to report the theft.

This is another important fact, if you are studying abroad, the University can do magic; i.e contact embassies, call immigration and help to somehow make sure you are allowed back into the country where you were in.

Reminiscing, Rome certainly has its charms. The city is surrounded by history and could be the perfect setting for a movie '300' and its emblematic 'this is Sparta'. So I felt that I was living my own odyssey, but with no gods or emperors.

We did not leave Rome without eating pizza, pasta and dozens of carbohydrates that all the restaurants provide. In Europe, Italy is certainly known for good cuisine. As night fell, we headed to the bar that welcomed us on our fisrt day: "Trinity College", it was a small place but at the same time we felt right at home. Among the drinks and smiles, midnight struck and it was a 25th birthday of mine that I would remember for life.

Monday February 11, 2013

Not only had my passport been stolen two days before my birthday, but I also had the misfortune of my birthday falling on a monday, the universally worst day of the week. This was not just any Monday, this was the Monday that I had to go end to end of Rome of foot and buses to reach the Venezuelan embassy, to get a temporary passport, photographies and also to go to where you apply for an English visa. All in a day.

First stop: Venezuelan Consulate in Rome

It certainly was entering a bit of my country in another country, hear people complaining for late papers, the absence of the consul for hours, people made to queue, people coming and going, some happy others less so.

To make the story a little shorter, the goal was to get a temporary passport to later apply for a visa to the UK. But the embassy only offers a document entry permit for those Venezuelans who have ticket back to their country. But this was not my case, my return ticket was for England so in tears and despair I explained my situation to a man claiming to be 'right hand' man of the consul. Upon hearing the details, the man assured me that I would get the temporary passport only if the UK embassy accepted that no biometric document because my case was an emergency.

Second stop: Offices visa for England

Here you can only enter if you have a scheduled appointment but explaining to guard, who clearly did not understand English, eventually allowed us to enter the waiting room. We spent about 20 minutes to get served. When I got to the counter, I had to explain the same story again to a man who was apologetic for what it happended in his country.

This man assured me that it was possible to return to the UK with a non-biometric passport only if it had a student visa on it as in that way it would not have problems with immigration officials. As I didn't have appointment, In an attempt to aid, the guy offered to assist me without it once obtained the provisional passport the same day before 4:00 pm. To sum up, I had only three hours to return to the Venezuelan consulate, obtain a passport and return to the british offices.

Third stop: Venezuelan Consulate in Rome

We went back to the venezuelan embassy which was even worse than how we left it, this time with much more people and confusion. My friend and I had to wait for over three hours with a lot of pressure. A secretary approached to tell me that would not be possible to give me a temporary passport since the only thing granted in cases like mine is a sheet that allows you to enter Venezuela. -"I am studying in England"; "I talked to the consul's friend" were my words to her who's answer back was a "it cannot be possible".

Despite the frustration and negative, we decided to stay to be attended. Whilst waiting, the man who I had previously spoken to entered the room saying that all people's cases were going to be considered but we had to be patient.

4:00 pm and some people had already left the consulate; while we were still waiting for a positive response. Around 5:30 pm my friend and I were the only ones there. Another secretary approached me and told me that provisional passports are only acquired by elderly people who are in extreme emergencies, but as they had considered my case, I was going to be granted one of the only three remaining documents.

An hour and a half for the whole process of: filling out forms, verify authenticity, pay for the paper, apostille, stamped and signed by the consul to be done. 6:20 pm and I already had provisional passport and a police report. By then I just needed my visa back.

My friend and I returned to the hotel with the new document. At bed time I checked my uni e-mail where I found a reply stating that I could enter the UK alone with the provisional passport and other documents as proof of studies and police report.

Tuesday February 12, 2013

Following the positive information I received on Monday, we prepared to leave the hotel to the airport. Three of my friends returned to Madrid and I was going back to England. At the moment of check in, some staff from the airline stopped me to clarify that it is not possible to travel to the UK with no biometric passport and a visa. I had to show them police report, provisional passport and email from uni, while explaining everything that had happened during my stay in Rome.

The airline's manager took me to her office to wait until she made phone contact with the authorities in England. After several calls and explanations, they told me I could take the flight to London.

We landed in the british land so I headed to Immigration and explained everything in detail. Before finishing the story the official asked me to take seat and wait a few minutes. On his return he said "oh, you're the girl from Venezuela", "My boss has told me everything", "Do not worry, go back to rest at home."

PS: Always leave your passport at the hotel and have a copy with you.

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