Day Thirteen ~ Immigration, Card Games, Hawaiian Hamburgers, & an Old Movie…

Thursday, April 29, 2010
I excitedly woke up today with a smile on my face, because TODAY was the day I would go finish the paperwork to receive my FM3 visa. This is what I needed to be able to stay here in the country as a teacher.

At 9:20, when Julie dropped me off at the immigration building, I was so pleased to see Nate’s friendly face, waiting for me. (If you read my entry about last Wednesday, you know that my first visit to the immigration building was a very traumatic one. This was mainly because I did not meet up with my contact person until after I’d been there nearly an hour & I just felt so lost & helpless while waiting!) So, this time, since Nate was already there waiting for me, I jumped out of the van with assurance that everything was going to be okay! We waited a little while for April, who was making copies that she needed for immigration. Everything at immigration went really well! We did paperwork, went to the bank on the corner to make another payment, went to the copy shop on the other corner to make copies of the receipt, & back into the office to finish the paperwork.

When I was putting my thumb on the ink pad, to press my fingerprint onto my FM3 visa booklet, I noticed that it said the expiration date was April 23, 2011. I was REALLY shocked by that! You see, I thought I was only applying for a 7-week allowance to teach here. Before I had come to Oaxaca, I had been told that if I decided to return for next school year, THEN, I would need to apply for a year-long visa. And, THEN, I would need my birth certificate, my college diploma, & my college transcript. Not only would I need those original documents with me, but I would need to have them apostilled in Harrisburg & scan them & email them down to Mexico to be translated before I came. When I was sitting in the very same chair, a week earlier, presenting all my official documents, the official had asked me for my birth certificate. But, Rosa had told her no, I didn’t have it, because I was only staying for 7 weeks. So, again ~ I was pleasantly surprised that it is for a year. This gives me an open door to return…if God calls me to it…

After we were finished at immigration, we walked around the Zocalo a bit, looking for some Diet Dr. Pepper for April. Then, we waited at least 10 minutes at the parking garage, while the attendant attempted to get April’s car out. I didn’t take a picture – maybe I will next time I’m down there… Basically, you need to imagine a building with no roof, big enough to hold about 7 cars side by side & about 5 cars deep (in front of each other). So, cars are just parked in there, side by side…and, when you come to retrieve your car, the attendant needs to jump in like a dozen different cars & maneuver them out of the way, so that he can get your car out. It reminded me of those little plastic puzzles. Do you remember? They had like 9 moveable pieces & one open space. So, you would need to move the pieces around, one at a time, until you got all the pieces in the right spot to show the puzzle’s picture.

All 3 of us came back to Roy & Julie’s house together in April’s car, because April wasn’t sure of the way, but Nate was. Julie had invited April for lunch. (I don’t remember if Nate stayed for lunch & then left, or if he left as soon as he got us back to the house? I actually didn’t have anything written in my journal for this day until I just started typing this. So, I’m trying to remember details.)

Then, Julie, April & I played my card game, Scrabble Slam. We had lots of fun, so much fun that both of them decided they wanted to buy the game for themselves. We played my card game Dutch Blitz too. April had played before, but it was new to Julie. That was fun too! I was glad for the opportunity to get to know April more. She’s a really neat girl! She’s a few years younger than me, single, from Texas & was a teacher. Now, she has linguistics training & is taking steps to work in Bible translation here in Oaxaca.

It was decided that April would take me with her for a movie night at Hannah’s. Hannah is a missionary kid who returned here as a missionary. She is almost finished with her year here. Then, she’ll go back to the states for the summer, to attend classes at SIL. On our way there, we decided to stop at the grocery store, because the one near where we live HAS Diet Dr. Pepper in stock, but the ones on the other side of town, where April lives don’t have it. We had great conversation in the car, found out more that we have in common.

We stopped at the place where April lives, so she could drop off the sodas & get changed. (we had been dressed up from our trip to immigration) To get to her room, you need to walk up these stairs.  Going up wasn't too bad...going down though was a little more difficult...because they're a tiny bit wobbly & you can see through them.

They have at least two dogs at the place where April stays.  One of them had a face that reminded me of my 3 nieces' dog, Beauty.

Then, we went to Hannah’s. As soon as we walked in, I smelled heaven!!! She gave us each a brownie!!! YUMMINY-YUM! We talked for awhile, just relaxing with fellowship.

Then, we decided that for supper, we’d take a walk that ended with a run across 4 lanes of highway, so that I could experience my very first “hamburguesas hawaianas” (Hawaiian Hamburger). They were grilled right in front of us at a little burger stand on the side of the road. It was SO worth it!!! I didn’t want to risk the fresh veggie toppings, so I just had mine plain = burger, slice of ham, & slice of pineapple.  They don't wrap it in foil, they stick it in a plastic baggie & twirl it around, so the ends twist closed.

  April has been here longer, so her digestive system is more used to "stuff" - so, I think she got every possible topping they had!   

Then, we watched the old Cary Grant movie, An Affair To Remember.  I had never seen it before, but parts were familiar because they were quoted & shown in the movie Sleepless in Seattle. I am not ashamed to admit it, I was crying by the end of the movie… It was a fun night!