We're Ready to Go!

I went by myself this afternoon to pick up Elkin's passport with his US visa in it from the US Embassy. Everything is fine but it was a bit stressful.

The taxi ride there was quite the trip. A heavy storm, heavy traffic, and a semi-lost taxi driver made for a stressful trip. We HAD to be there before 4pm. No exceptions. This isn't a pharmacy or the post office - it's an embassy.

When we arrived at about 3:40pm, the place looked deserted. It was crazy outside yesterday morning with all kinds of people doing all kinds of things. Not today. There was one guard which tried to tell us that no visa work was done on Fridays and to go home (panic #1) but the agency rep I was with just kept walking and smiled and rolled his eyes. He didn't chase after us so I figured we were OK at that point.

The security checkpoint that was next was crazy yesterday and was pretty much exactly like airport security except the embassy had a super high tech full body x-ray machine. Today, the "carry-on" scanner wasn't even on and they just rushed us through the x-ray. They didn't even ask for ID. It was 15 minutes before closing time on Friday - everyone apparently wanted to go home or something.

As I walked into the embassy, the 5,000 chairs that were completely full of people were COMPLETELY empty. It was bizarre. I thought we might have been wrong about the time or what we could do at this time and that things were closed (panic #2). No worries though - I went to the window, gave the guy the little pink slip, and about 5 minutes later came Elkin's Colombian passport with a shiny US visa glued inside, along with a huge packet for immigration when we get to the States.

(On a side note, it's kind of scary being at a US Embassy in another country. It's definitely the most dangerous place we've been in Colombia if you really think about it. US Embassys are regular victims of terrorist threats and attacks in many countries.)

The cab ride back to the B&B was yet another adventure. The taxi driver was yawning as he pulled over to pick us up. I didn't think anything of it until he started in falling asleep while driving through Bogota traffic! (panic #3) I seriously thought I was going to die for a few seconds there as he was weaving through traffic with his eyes closed. I made it here so obviously everything was OK but it was maybe the scariest cab ride yet even though it wasn't the crasiest driving per se.

Anyway, we're off for the aiport pretty early tomorrow and we'll try to blog as soon as we can in the US!

Oh yea, here's that kid again :)