Monday, March 16, 2009

Finally I get to go back!!!!

Well my planned three months in Canada has now turned into 4 and a half months instead of 3. Why you ask? My VISA. Wow, what a hectic time from getting my radiological report to the South African Embassy having my passport for close to two months.
I got back mid January to -50! Eish! One of the coldest winters in years! Here we are in mid May and it's still a wee bit chilly, 8 above. Looking forward to the plus 20 weather next week!!! Yeah.
My time here has been good. I just stayed under the radar and didn't socialize too much. It's just easier for me to do that when I'm here for a short time. I filled in most my time with work and yes I went back to Joey's Only:o)
Mid March came around and I started to work on getting the proper documents for my VISA. Everything was going fine until my radiological report. To get a VISA from South Africa you have to get an X-ray of your chest to prove that you don't have TB. I don't have TB, but the problem was getting back the form that the radiologist had to sign. What usually takes a week took a month.
I finally got all my documents collected for my VISA by the end of April. Now just to send it in. Before I sent in all my documents I called the embassy and asked them how long it takes. They said it would take 7-10 business days.
Just a note. I've had problems with the embassy before. The very first time I went to South Africa I had to change my ticket because I didn't get my passport back in time, so this time I wanted to make sure they had enough time before I booked my ticket. Also, I wrote them a note to contact me as soon as possible if there was problems.
I gave them a month. Bad plan!
3 weeks after I sent in my documents and a week before I was supposed to leave, they called. There was a problem with my acceptance letter for college. I got a new acceptance letter and sent it to them via e-mail 3 days before I was supposed to leave. They called me the day before I was supposed to leave and said they just received my e-mail. I had to change my ticket. I asked them before I changed my ticket if two weeks would be enough time for them to process my VISA and the embassy told me yes. So I gave them another two weeks. Bad plan again!
A week after I got a call from the embassy to tell me there was another problem with the acceptance letter. I got a new letter done and sent it to them right away. This accpetance letter was fine but there was a problem with my itinerary. They needed an updated one. I sent it four times by e-mail and they said they didn't receive it. My goodness!!!
I didn't get my passport in time so I had to change my ticket.. Again! As soon as I got my new itinerary I faxed it, e-mailed it from both my accounts and my travel agent sent it, so they had no excuses!!!
Just to add onto the stress I couldn't get in touch with them. All I wanted to know what was going on. I called several times, as did my travel agent. And they NEVER call back. They only call when they need to get a hold of you.
Well they called back last week and to tell me my passport is on it's way and today I opened up my mail box and there it is! My precious passport!

I'm going/coming back to SA baby and I couldn't be more stoked!!!

Whoo hoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

1 comment:

desertsands said...

Mabruuk Habibi! Yay, ya Cindee! I'm glad that everything has come together and that you are going back. Welcome to embassy life!

Enjoy your time and we'll see you in a couple of years! Good luck with your schooling.

Love,

You're bro and sis-in-law (the ones in Cairo)