Working for a Justice of the Peace
Felice and I decided that whilst we are still looking for a property to buy, we will continue to rent for the next 6 months. We were offered a small apartment in the centre of Trani, in an ideal location 2 minutes from the port. We found it through an agency and went to take a look. It was nice and clean, if a little small, much like a bedsit. However for 270 euro's a month we decided to take it. We didn't know at the time but it belongs to a 75 year old ex-lawyer who is now a Justice of the Peace. We were then taken along by a representative of the agency to meet this gentleman which I think was to get his approval. My first impression was that this JP was rather cantankerous. He was giving us a difficult time because he wanted us to rent for a year rather than just 6 months. It felt as though we were in a job interview! However he soon warmed to Felice and I, if only because Felice is very diplomatic - I just sat and smiled whilst trying to understand what was being said. The JP, dressed in a stripy blue, brown and white shirt with a brown tank top, and had a thin layer of grey hair, eventually agreed to the 6 month rental period.
An hour and a half later we were still there and the conversation turned to the subject of work. The JP looked at my CV that I'd taken with me and seemed quite interested and therefore decided I could help him to type our contract. The following morning I walked to his large apartment in the centre of town that overlooks the main streets and the fountain in the main Piazza, and used his very old and slow computer to type the contract. It was rather amusing particularly as I don't have a great grasp of official Italian! However I thought I managed rather well and had to keep laughing because the JP occasionally became exasperated at my continued questioning about how to spell certain words. In my defence I responded that I wanted to make sure it was right, particularly as the document is official!
Since then I have helped him out on several occasions with the typing of a few documents but decided that the rate he wanted to pay me (a not very generous E1 an hour) was rather less than I had anticipated!