Monday, August 1, 2011

And the adventure continues!

Government paper work, gotta love it in the time of transition!  So, one thing we learned we needed to do when we arrived was to go to the “ministry” (aka. Consulate) in order to get our visas fixed, because when it was issued to us in the States, there was some sort of error. We do not know what the error is, just that there was an error. The second important piece of government work we needed complete was getting our ID card.
So early in the afternoon, we head to the downtown area of Bogota to go to the government buildings, which apparently close at 4pm. We arrive at the ministry only to find out that the hours are from 9am-noon!  What?! Go figure, only a government official would have such nice work hours! So we go to the next place, kind of like a DMV to get our ID cards. When we arrive, we see a long line, but quickly find out that we do not have all the paper work.   Urg.  By the time we would have all the paperwork, the office would be closed. So, this concludes the major portion of the day without getting anything really accomplished other than rounding up loose ends for our ID card. 

After running around, getting little accomplished we get on the bus to take us home. Because we have Elleazah with us, we have priority seating. As soon as I sit down with Elleazah, she realizes how hungry she is and begins to cry. I knew we were on “borrowed time” before the next feeding and she begins to wail drawing lots of attention! What am I to do but nurse her on a nice crowded bus. Hmmmm, not something I’m comfortable with, but I realize I have to do what I have to do! I am at least thankful for a cover to help with some modesty.  So, that was day one of attempting to get our paperwork completed.

Day two- We head out early because the ministry opens up at 9, and we want to get done before the crowds come. We arrive at the ministry at 9:10am to find a very full room because the ministry actually opened at 7:30!!! What?! It all worked out though because we had a baby, Elleazah. In the culture here those who are considered “senior citizens” and those with babies have priorities, which means that we were allowed to cut to the front of lines. So, a very long wait turned into a 10 minute wait! Originally, the first worker with whom we spoke told us that there was not a problem with our visas, but our translator did an amazing job at convincing him that we needed to talk with a supervisor to help fix our visa issues!?! After multiple explanations, emails were exchanged between the ministry, the US consulate and our school in order to clarify the issue.  We hope and pray that everything truly was sorted out and set straight.

Then it was time to head to the next government office to apply for our ID cards. By the time we arrived, there was a nice long line, as to be expected at a government office! Only this time, we were not allowed to have our translator with us, maybe because it was so crowded.  But we had all the documents ready, in order so that there hopefully wouldn’t be any confusion, we went to the end of the line and began to wait.  But within three minutes, an official worker ushered us to the front of the line because we had a baby.  By now, Elleazah was also starting to get a bit fussy due to a much needed diaper change and nearing her feeding time. When we it was our turn, we stepped up and handed all our paper work to the lady at the desk. She looked through the paperwork, put a paper clip on it and told us to sit and wait to be called.  Praise God, no problems so far!

We turned to look for a seat, only to find all the seats were taken. Bummer.  But then, about five people offered us their seat because of our Elleazah.  We accepted one of the seats so we could change her diaper and hopefully start feeding her. But in the middle of the diaper change, our names were called! Wow, that was fast! They took us to the back for some final paperwork, and a final picture to be put into the system saying that we had registered in the country. We were working with this wonderful lady who was entering our information who spoke about as much English as we spoke Spanish. She encouraged me to nurse Elleazah there in her office as she entered our paper.  It was a little awkward, but she seemed like a mother who understood… or maybe it is just the very understanding culture toward babies. When she came to the part where the documentation asked about religion and she saw we were Christians, she was very excited and seemed encouraged.
As soon as we adults were entered, we asked if Elleazah needed an ID card because we had heard mixed answers. She asked to see the same paperwork we needed to be issued an ID, we had everything but the printed picture and the money order (because we were hoping that she wouldn’t need an ID). Since we didn’t have those two items, she just took information about Elleazah we had filled out, then took her passport, and stamped it with a “registered” stamp!  Yea!  Praise God it was more simple than original anticipated.  This second day was so much more encouraging than the first! All government work was completed in time for us to get home for lunch! Praise God!

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