I still don't have my Legitimati. When I left the police station last month and they told me to return in thirty days to pick up my temporary ID card, I had a feeling that there would be another chapter and there is.
The day I was to leave for Timisoara, Daniela received an urgent phone call from the young policeman asking that I return to Suceava immediately with proof that I had this new European Union insurance. She seemed to think that I should cancel my trip to rush over there. I told him that I was leaving for a few days and would go to Suceava when I returned.
Apparently, there is a new law in Romania, and now I must purchase Romanian health insurance to obtain this card. They say this is because the EU does not recognize American insurance. I think it is because it is a way to get more money from us. I have Blue Cross/Blue Shield insurance through the school. I understand it is in the top ten policies I in America. Then we have a second local policy that covers what Blue Cross doesn't. I only need to have the bills translated into English for them to be paid by my own insurance. Then I have Fulbright insurance on top of that to cover things like emergency evacuation for medical purposes. I think I have all my bases covered.
Consider this scenario. I catch a disease here or I get seriously injured in some manner, say I trip on the non-existent sidewalk, fall into the roadway and get run over by a vehicle or two while I try to get out of the road. What if the maxitaxi should burst at the seams and spew us riders out into the street? Several vehicles, both motor-driven and horse-drawn, will have run us over before anyone realizes what has happened. There would be mangled bodies everywhere. Some would be on the pavement, while others would be hood ornaments as drivers tailgate so close that there would be no room to fall to the ground.
I went to the local insurance company to purchase this new insurance. It seems it is so new that they do not have the forms yet, but the lady assured me that I could return on Friday and that she would have them. When I returned, she did have them and so 110. lei lighter, I had the necessary form.
Now back to Suceava…
Wednesday seemed like a good day to go back to try again. I went to the hitchhike station for Suceava. There were four drivers ready to take me but, of course, they needed four passengers, not one. I waited and waited. It was snowing and cold and getting later. After a half hour, I asked them if one of them would take me if I paid for all four seats and he took me to the police station. It took awhile before they understood that I would pay for all four seats. Finally one of them agreed and off we went. It actually wasn't as scary a ride as usual. He dropped me off in front of the police station and in I marched, back to the second floor, and waited. No one acknowledged that I was there. No one seemed to be in line. It was student visa day. Apparently, I pass for a student. I waited for a while. The people in the various offices rush from one office to another with sheaves of paper in their hands. They always close the doors behind them. I asked a passing woman if I was waiting at the right office and she pointed at the door and so I resumed my position of leaning on the railing where whoever goes in or out has to pass me.
There was a Moldavian student in the Office for Foreigners. He was seated on the hard backed chair that serves as perch for the official photo. He sits there and continues to answer questions. Every once in a while they ask him a question and he just sits there with no response. There seems to be an issue with his visa. He is a divinity student trying to get a student visa. He is missing some piece of paper. Rather than simply telling him that he needs to get it, they keep him in the hot seat for two hours with no resolution in sight. When I arrived he was in there. People come in and go out and he sits there. They will not let him leave. I have been waiting for over two hours now.
Finally, after watching the same man walk back and forth a dozen times, I dug out the insurance form and approached him. "You called me to say I needed to bring this insurance form."
He had a sheaf of papers in his hand. He indicated that he needed to take care of them. He had his key ring out but did not have one to fit the door. He walked to another office, borrowed the key from someone, returned, opened the door, put the papers on the desk, locked the door, returned the key, then came back to take my paperwork. We walked into his office. IT is only five feet from the one I have been waiting in front of. I am sure that he saw me standing there during his several trips back and forth to other offices. He took my certificate and examined it closely. It passed muster. I asked if it was what he needed and he nodded that I had managed to jump through all the hurdles he had laid out for me. Now he asked for the photocopy of the certificate. I did not bring that. I brought the original. I tell him to "take the original as I will not be needing it." The truth of the matter is that my Blue Cross/ Blue Shield is better than anything his government has to offer. And then there is the second policy the school carries which covers anything Blue Cross/ Blue Shield. And then there is the Fulbright insurance which will medivac me to an American hospital if need be. So why do I have this Romanian health insurance??
He insists that I must give him a photocopy. I do not have one and there is no place for me to get one nearby. I know he knows this as he looks outside and realizes that I am not going to be able to do this. He makes the decision to make the photocopy himself. He takes the certificate to another office. Soon he is back with his keys. He takes a sheet of white paper from a locked drawer and leaves again. About five minutes later, he returns with a copy of the certificate and returns the original to me.
I ask if there is anything else he needs and he indicates that it is all in order. I thought about asking what to do next, but decide that I will leave while I am ahead. He will call if he needs something else and he will call or mail the legitimati if it ever is ready. We shall see.
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