Visas (AHHHHH!!)

The Definition of Visa:
Visa: (noun)  1. The word that brings confusion (and annoyance)  to every person going to Spain for the year. 2. The annoying little stamp (I think its a stamp... Not sure.) that is so hard to get and costs way too much money (the visa does not cost that much but the whole process of going and getting it cost too much).

 And if you are going to Spain for the year and you are not confused (or annoyed) about your visa one of two things is occurring:
1. (Most likely) You are lying.
2. You have no brain.

Here is the basic gist of our problem:

First of all you should know that the visa process for Spain is long and complex. There are about 15 required documents you have to have and then once you have all of these papers you have to go to the consulate that "governs" your area. For some people it is like, "Yay! We get to go on a 4 hour drive to Houston!" or something to that effect. But for others (like me) we get to go, "Yay! We get to go on a 12 hour drive to San Francisco!" Super annoying. Or we could fly but it is really expensive (like my ticket to NYC in September was cheaper. Yes it is one-way but still...). And then you have to rent a car and do all of that fun stuff. Anyway, we had to get about a bazillion papers including, but not limited to an FBI background check (now I am in the system. Dangit.) and Application forms and acceptance letters from Spain and proof of Insurance and a medical thingy ( I still need to do that...) and pay the people money. And there is still more I just got tired of listing stuff. Oh, and a bunch of that stuff needs an Apostille, which as far as I know is some sort of authentication thing that says it is real, and you have to get these from your State Government and the US Government (it depends on the paper who you send it to...). And I am not saying it is wrong or overly complex; it is just hard.

Now the problem. We had to get Passport copies and parental consent forms and get those notarized and "apostilled" (i made that word up. :)  ) and then send them to AFS. But we didn't know if AFS was sending them back or not and then whether we had to get new ones or if we still had some or what. (And it turns out that the requirements for a Visa might be different depending on the consulate (which is dumb, they should all be the same)) So now we still have papers to get and other stuff to do before I can go to the Consulate.

Oh, and speaking of Consulates:

You have to go in person to a Consulate and you have to have an appointment, bring all of the documents and stuff like that. And then it takes 4 weeks for them to process you visa paperwork and mail you visa to you with you passport (they keep your passport and then mail it to you with the visa in it). And you have to make your visa appointment early because the fill up. So I made my visa appointment for July 26th (which is only in 5 weeks) and I still have stuff I need from Spain but they can't send that to me until I send them stuff from school that I still don't have that still needs to be translated before I can send it to them.

But we'll manage. I hope.

And on a completely unrelated note I have my first spanish lesson tomorrow! Yay! I am excited but I need to go study...

So basically, visas are one of the most annoying things on the planet.

Summer!

Today was the last day of school!! The next time I will be in school will be in Spain! I can't wait, it is going to be a great year!

But this summer is going to be crazy. I am going to 5 different states (6 if you count Washington...) and I still need paperwork for my visa. I need the paperwork before I can go to San Francisco, so i still don't know when I am going. But I'm going! I have never been to California and i am excited! Also, I three months i will (hopefully) be asleep after my first afternoon is Spain! YAY! (By hopefully I mean that I will hopefully be asleep, not hopefully be in Spain...) But yeah, this summer is going to be BUSY!

But it will be fun! Now only 90 days! :)

Flight Info!!!

So today started out as a normal day. The key word in that sentence was started.

When I was putting on my uniform for school my mom yelled at me. I wasn't really paying attention so i didn't hear what she said. I yelled at her to tell me what she said and it turns out MY FLIGHT INFO HAD COME!!!! and I wasn't expecting that until mid-June early-July ish. So i was REALLY EXCITED!!! :)

I went downstairs and opened my email and looked at the thingy. I get to go to Switzerland!!! :) (even if it is only for 3 hours...) Pretty cool. And I have to be in New York at 4 p.m. on September 5th, although i am still trying to convince my mom that we should go a couple of days early... I have an orientation until the 6th and our flight to Zurich leaves at 8:55. We arrive in Zurich at 10:45 the next day and at 12:25 WE LEAVE FOR MADRID!! :) We arrive in Madrid on the 7th at 2:45 pm and we go to our host families the next day! So yeah! I am now SUPER EXCITED (even more than i was before which i didn't think was possible) except i still don't know when i am going to San Francisco to get my visa. Visas are a pain.

But still, i got my flight info!!! :)