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so, it's been a while....but here goes...a new beginning...
To be honest, I hadn't intended on starting this
until much closer to my departure date, but I feel the events leading
up to leaving are worthy of beginning a little early. I had visions in
my head of how I would begin such a tale and how I would try to convey
my excitement at the opportunity of being able to study abroad...
"I think I can smell the buttery, flaky croissants (obviously pronounced kwa-sonts in my head) already!"
"I
promised my boyfriend I wouldn't start a relationship with anyone while
overseas...unfortunately I met some wonderful men named Louis Vuitton,
Yves St. Laurent (A saint nonetheless!) and Christian Dior...I may have
cheated a little. just a little though."
but in actuality, I
think the beginning of my story actually begins more with a head tilt,
a furrowed brow and words something along the lines of, "wait...WHAT?!
YOU'RE KIDDING ME RIGHT?!" (more appropriately it would have started
with many four letter words, but I'm not sure who's reading this and
didn't want to offend)
story of my life...and so it begins.
Let's back things up a bit...set the mood if you will...
April
18th, 2007: the calm before the storm. it was on this day in history
that i applied for a passport. "Okay ma'am, you're all set. you should
receive your passport in six to eight weeks. Happy travels!"
...fast
forward to June 25th. still no passport and no sign of it arriving any
time soon. Panic mode begins to set in as I have not applied for my
student visa and of course the backup about what a clusterfu*k
situation the government is in with the increased amount of
applications for passports is all over the news. Eff me. Horror stories
about people not getting their passports in time prompt me to call the
National Passport Services.
after waiting for about ever on hold
I finally reached someone who was able to help me and suddenly my
departure date was not only August 8th (not really, although I wish, I
just wanted them to hurry up the process) and my passport was in New
Orleans, Louisiana being worked on actually but would then be
expedited. YAY! problem solved.
June 28th, 2007: Thursday.
Leaving for a mini vay to Chicago (which conveniently is where the
French Consulate that all Ohioans would go to...) on the 29th. Mom
calls. "Hey Al, you got your passport!) I'm pumped as this means I can
begin my long visa process. I need the number from my passport so I ask
mom to e-mail it to me and this is the first line of what I get in
response:
ALEXNDRA (spelled on passport btw)
...
...
what??! WHAT?! my.name.is.spelled.wrong.
NAME. SPELLED.WRONG.
namespelledwrong!
WHO SPELLS A-L-E-X-A-N-D-R-A wrong?
immediately
I am on th phone with the passport people again (please believe, at
this point the passport number is in my speed dial. my fav five if you
will)
Me: Uhm, hello ma'am, I'm trying really hard to be
patient, but i've waited over ten weeks for my passport and after
needing it to be expedited because i need to order my student visa, I
received it today and my name was spelled wrong.
her: Okay, and what state are you calling from?
me: Ohio.
her: okay, well ma'am it looks like we're going to have to send it back to the agency in which it was issued to correct it.
me: okay...
her: Looks like it was in New Orleans...can you go to the agency?
me: ...excuse me?
her: can you go to the agency?
me: do you mean call the agency?
her: no. can you go there? can you bring your passport there?
...(at
this point, a lot of not-nice things are running through my head...I'm
not sure who taught this woman geography but they need to be fired. Or
maybe she was just absent that day in third grade. I'm not sure.)
I
managed to say a blunt and simple "NO." with only a slightly raised
voice. So passporty (maybe I should give him a name...like pete the
passport..yes?) is then overnighted BACK to New Orleans where it will be corrected.
July 10, 2007: I still don't have pete. BUT! I also learned today that i actually NEED TO GO TO CHICAGO
FOR A PERSONAL APPEARANCE AT THE FRENCH CONSULATE TO OBTAIN MY VISA. I
called the french consulate and oui. it was confirmed that "eet eees
ahhbsoloootely neceessarry" that I come to "Shee-cahhhgo." so. now!
instead of bring my passport with me THE FIRST TIME I WENT TO CHI-TOWN
THIS SUMMER BECAUSE I RECEIVED IT IN PERFECT CONDITION WITH NO ERRORS,
I HAVE TO GO BACK. five hour bus ride --> ten minute meeting
(literally) --> 6 hour ride home.
and
that's where we're at. called the passport people again today (here's a
thought, what am i going to do when I actually get the damn thing? A
large part of my day is spent talking to Judy* or Rob* or insert other
random name here from the NPS. Maybe i'll just call to chat....See how
they're day is going...ask them if they've seen any good movies lately.
who knows.)
Roberta* said I *should* get my passport tomorrow. If i don't, start collecting bail money.
*denotes a name change in order to protect the most-of-the-time friendly employees of the government issued passport services |
| | Posted 7/19/2007 8:53 PM - 20 Views - 2 eProps - 1 Comment
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