Jet-setting off to San Francisco for the day sounds like something the rich and famous would do. I’ve come to realize it’s not as much fun as it sounds.
I didn’t sleep the night before my trip at all. I was super stressed out about having all my paperwork in order. The consulate was really strict last time I was there. I had most everything in order but there are a few documents I was concerned the consulate wouldn’t accept. My background check didn’t have the Apostille certification (I’m having a hard time figuring out what that is and how I would get one anyways). I didn’t need that last time I applied for a Spanish visa so I was hoping I could get away without it this time as well. I was also supposed to be able to show them proof of financial support of at least $2000 a month (whether it be a scholarship, savings, etc, etc.). My financial plan? Wing it…and pray…and hopefully live on the 700 euro a month that I will be paid to do this teaching…and teach private lessons if I need to. No aspect of that plan has much paperwork that I can show the consulate to convince them I won’t be living like a bum in their country.
My mom took me to the airport really early in the morning and I headed for San Fran. All I had with me was my backpack and it was SO nice. No checking luggage, not even a need to put luggage in the overhead compartments. My backpack tucked neatly under my seat and I didn’t have to deal with any of that hassle. Once I landed in San Fran I hopped on a shuttle and they took me directly to the Spanish consulate. I had been planning on taking the BART system (the subway) but it was going to take me a lot longer and I didn’t want to miss my appointment. Plus, I still needed to find a post office to get a pre-paid envelope so the consulate can mail me my visa (yet another piece of paperwork I was stressed about getting together in time). The shuttle dropped me off, then thank goodness for GPS navigation on my phone. I hustled over to the post office and back in time for my appointment. Last time I had to do this (for my Murcia study abroad trip) I didn’t have GPS navigation and spent a whole lot of time wandering around trying to follow a crappy map.
My appointment went fairly well…not perfect…but well enough. They accepted all my paperwork except my background check. It needs the Apostille certification. I was really afraid they were going to make me fly back down with the correct background check. They are going to start processing my visa while I get the background check, and then allow me to mail it to them. When they receive my background check they will mail me my visa. They estimated they would be able to send me my visa by the 8th so I would receive it by the 11th. I’m amazed. I really thought I wasn’t going to be able to leave for Spain until the end of October or beginning of November even.
After my appointment I walked to the BART system and rode back to the airport. I was blessed enough to have my mom pay for me to get on stand-by for an earlier flight. My flight wasn’t supposed to leave for hours. I grabbed a smoothie, took a nap and ended up on the earlier flight. I got home and immediately climbed into bed. I slept for about 11 hours, until I had to wake up and go to work the next day. This is such a crazy couple of weeks…
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