Buongiorno a tutti da Italia!

Hi everyone FROM ITALY! 

We hope this mini newsletter finds you all well. We do not have a lot to report on, but wanted to send a quick update to let everyone know we made it safely to Italy and entered the country with no immigration problems for Rebecca. I was confident they would let her in the country, but I was pretty sure we would have to do a lot of explaining. It turned out they didn't even ask a single question!

Getting here was an adventure though. I really can't believe we made it. Here's what happened:

A few days ago we read on Delta's website that everyone aged 6 and above had to prove vaccination, or provide a negative covid test, or prove they have had covid and recovered in the last 6 months. Rebecca and I have been vaccinated so we scheduled a test for Violet, which we got done Monday evening and thought we were good to go.

We woke up Tuesday morning and found out that, effective that day, Italy changed the rules to say you had to prove vaccination or that you had recovered AND provide a negative covid test. 

We quick went online and found a place that promised one hour testing. We went and got the test then went back to our hotel to get ready. We waited two hours and had not received any results. So I called and spoke to someone and they said they would get the results right away. We waited another 30 minutes, still no results. I called again and was told they lost our results, but they would find them and send them right away (keep in mind we spent $129.00 each on these tests).  We waited awhile and still no results, now we were getting close to time to need to check in so we got a taxi, went to the testing site and said, "We need our results right now"" They said they would rescan them and if we did not have them in 10 minutes call the manager's personal cell phone. We were going to be late so we had the taxi driver take us straight to the international terminal. 

We went to check in, even though we didn't have the results and the woman who checked us in said, "Oh, don't worry, you don't need a negative test." So we checked it and started to go through security. They told us, "We have had to close security at the international terminal. Go downstairs and take a shuttle to the domestic terminal, then take the plane train back to your gate." This worried us a little as we were getting closer and closer to time to check in. 

We go downstairs and there were no shuttles. We waited and as we waited more and more people came outside. There was no line or any semblance of order. Then someone announced to go back inside and upstairs and the shuttles would take us from there. We started to go back inside when someone said, "No, don't got inside, walk up the ramp." So, all of us started up the ramp. We got to the top and there were no shuttles. At least an hour had passed at this point and several people were saying they had missed their flights. Ours was getting close, but we were still okay. Finally, a shuttle arrived. Well, what do you think happened? If you guessed that all 1,000 or so people tried to get on that shuttle at the exact same time, you would be correct. There were no police or security at all and chaos quickly ensued. Not a single person was in charge, and several people nearly came to blows. One man tried to push past Violet. I stopped him and told him to back up. He did, but then I saw him push through another part of the crowd and nearly knock an elderly woman down. This happened with three or four more shuttles that arrived.

I looked at Rebecca and said, "This is not going to work. I think we are just going to have to miss our flight." Then I noticed that all of the TSA agents had gone back inside. I said to her, "Let's see if we can get back in the terminal." A few other people had the same idea and we all started lining up at the doors. Fortunately, this time it was a little more orderly and everyone was reasonable. A few minutes after that they opened the doors and told us we could go through security. We were pretty close to the front of the line, but now it was almost time for our flight to take off. 

We went through security anyway and started for our gate. We were very late, but we could see there were still people at it so we figured we were okay. 

We got to the gate and saw that there was a table set up outside. We went to the table and they said, "You need to show a negative covid test." I looked at my phone and there were still no results from the testing center (I had called and talked to the manager several times at this point). I explained what happened and the lady said, "You can go to gate E 14 (which was around the corner from us) and get tested. You'll get your results in 15 minutes, but you have to go RIGHT NOW." So we quick ran to the other gate and got tested. The results came back negative and we started to go back to our gate. There was a man you had to show your results to and he said, "Okay, now I just need to see your QR code from the European Union." 

WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? 

He explained we had to register with some organization in Europe in order to get on the plane. He told us the website and we got on and filled out the forms. At this point we resigned ourselves to not making the flight, but filled up the forms (which took at least another 7 minutes) then ran as fast as we could to the gate.

We walked up to the ticket agent and she said, "No." I assumed she was talking to us and was telling us we were too late. Well, thankfully, I was wrong. She was just answering a question someone behind her asked. She looked at our tickets and our tests and said, "You can board now." 

We could not believe it! We were the last ones on the plane, which was now delayed almost two hours. We were so grateful to God and I immediately prayed a prayer of thanksgiving. 

We very much appreciate everyone of you who has been praying for us throughout this summer and this process of returning to Italy. We look forward to writing you again soon to tell you about the work that YOU are doing. 

God bless you all.
The Shanahans