Thursday, January 17, 2008

Passport to Latin America

What could have been a royal pain in the neck, nay, a catastrophe, turned out to be no problem at all...just one step closer to the commencement of my journey.

When I stepped outside the front door this morning to head off to my soon-to-be x-job, I noticed something peeking out from beneath the door mat. It was an envelope that had apparently been delivered yesterday. It was from FedEx and contained my passport.

There are two countries I'll be visiting that require visas—Brazil and Suriname. I sent my passport to Ambassador Passport and Visa a few weeks ago and was desperately hoping to get it back by the 28th, which is the day before my departure. If I didn't get my passport back or if there was a problem getting a visa for Brazil, my trip would be over before it started.

I excitedly thumbed through my brand new fancy schmancy electronic passport. I got to the page containing the Brazil visa. One down, one to go. As I kept flipping, the remaining pages reduced in number until I got to the thick cardboard back cover. After carefully checking the passport a couple more times, I came to the realization that there was no Suriname visa in my passport.

After calling the passport and visa service, I realized that there had been some miscommunication. When I had sent my passport to them, I had printed and filled out some paperwork for the Brazil visa, but not for the Suriname visa. I had merely done what I had been instructed to do by the people on the other end of the line. Maybe I should've figured it out on my own.

As it turns out, I had gotten the visa that counts. When I arrive in Rio, I'll go to the Suriname consulate or embassy and get the scoop on a Suriname visa. It's not uncommon to have to enter a country within 90 days of receiving the visa. If that's the case with Suriname, then the acquisition of a Suriname visa would have been premature, anyway, as I probably won't arrive there until sometime after the coming 90 days. My tentative plan is to get the Suriname visa in Lima, Peru, depending on what I find out in Rio.

Game on.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

i looke forwar to your blog posts during your travels! Good Luck and Happy Shooting!