Update!

Been home from admitted weekend for a week now, still can't say I'm sleeping soundly, but oh well. I guess I should get used to it.

We booked the apartment! I sent the reservation through yesterday (and found out that my bank now charges $45 per wire transfer!!!) and Alexa and Ladina (our 3rd, Swiss roomate) and I are all very excited. Now if we could only find a 4th roomate! We've been advertising and reaching out and trying, but nothing definite yet.

Finding an apartment kinda ruins mine and Alexa's plans of going there June 22-28 to look for an apartment, so she has changed her ticket to use it to fly over in August. Since I have to be in Israel on the 28th anyway, it doesn't quite make as much sense for me. Changing my ticket to a later date would end up costing double the price I originally paid. Luckily, Alex has been so kind as to let me stay in her flat in Barcelona while I am there for those 5 days so I don't have to waste money on a hotel/hostel. Although, I'm really not sure what I'm gonna do with myself for 6 days with no one to play with. I guess I'll have to learn how to entertain myself without spending money!

As for the visa, I called the FBI yesterday and they told me that my Identification Report should leave their office no later than Friday. So, in a world that's not out to screw me, the report should arrive on Friday and, if I bust my ass, I could get it notarized , blah blah blah and to the Spanish consulate a few hours before boarding my plane to Europe, which leaves at 5:45 pm from LAX. Really keeping my fingers crossed...

My life right now is consumed with wrapping itself up. I applied for a 0% interest for 12 months visa card from Capital One (they don't charge foreign transaction fees), which I'm hoping will arrive before I leave so I can put out Greece trip on it as well as my Egypt/Jordan adventure. Not having to pay that off for a year would be nice! I'm trying to cash out my AmEx points into gift cards for Banana and Zappos, since I wont have much of a shopping budget over the next two years.

Despite my professing for months that I will NOT be throwing myself a going away party, I am throwing myself a going away party. I want to see all my friends before I leave, and even with throwing this party, it looks like most people wont be showing due to prior plans. I'm trying really hard not to take it personally, but it does get me upset from time to time. I've tried to make it more 'fun' by adding a theme (Globetrotting! I think some people don't get it...) . In any case, the vodka will be flowing and the Russians will be there in full effect!

The other issue right now is that the only flight for me to take into Israel on the 28th gets me in at 1am.  So I'm spending this week reaching out to vague and distant acquaintances living in Tel Aviv to see if I can crash on their couches and potentially coax them into picking me up from the airport. Apparently, the trains don't run at night, and you're supposed to haggle with the cab drivers, but I can't haggle with anyone! Especially not in a country where I don't speak the language. I've been listening to Pimsleur Hebrew and can so far ask someone if they understand English. Not too much progress...We had a webcast for the Ashdod program on Sunday and, as I suspected, I will be the one of the oldest on the program of 20 girls and 8 guys. It's not as bad as I feared though - most of them are 1-2 years out of college, and not kids on their high school/college gap years.

Keeping my fingers crossed that everything works out and that I don't go broke in the process...

Consulate Visit #2 of 3 (hopefully!)

The visa complications never end. In part of my delightful conversation with the overweight blond man at the Spanish consulate, he informed me that my visa was only good for 90 days. So, if it is effective June 21^st, obtaining my NIE in time, before the visa runs out, would pose to be quite a challenge with the 5000 things I’ll likely have going on at the time. I e-mailed the school to see if I could take care of any of the NIE business during admitted weekend, but all I was told was that “This information will be available shortly”. How very Spanish…

So, via a series of back and forth e-mails with the barrier between us being more than just language, I was able to obtain from them the confirmation that, if I provided updated travel reservations, I could have my visa date changed to August 24^th. Hallelujah.

I also sent them my proof of request of FBI certificate, but they apparently insist that I actually have the FBI report itself, which the guy didn’t make all that clear when I was there in person. So clearly, to get any straight answers or straight confirmation, I was gonna have to drive my ass back up to 5055 Wilshire Blvd.

So, with time being of the essence and my presence at work not being vital, to put it lightly, off I go back to the Spanish consulate on a Tuesday morning. They accepted all my papers, although they found it necessary to point out to me that I provided some of them twice. I was excessive, I will admit, but with the bureaucratic hoops I’ve been jumping through lately, I think too much is better than not enough.

The rude blond man behind the desk assured me that my visa dates had been changed. He then spoke to me once again like I was a regular rider of the short bus and tried to make it abundantly clear to me that I would not receive my visa until I provided them with the FBI report in person. Yes yes I got it.

 And, to add to the excitement of it all, it dawned on me today that, by the time the FBI actually runs my credit card, the debit card number I sent them will be expired. Of course. So, I called the FBI Criminal Records Division, and to my utter dismay, they actually had record of my submission. Furthermore, the man I spoke to was actually helpful. He gave me a contact in the processing unit who I could fax directly with the updated credit card information. Crossing my fingers…

Hello, Spanish Consulate!

Today was my first appointment at the Spanish consulate. I have a feeling it will be the first of many. Being terrified of missing my appointment from the threatning e-mails I recieved from them detailing all the circumstances under which my appointment would be cancelled, I made sure to show up early. My appointment was at 10:40, and I was parked outside the consulate by 10:15. Its located close to Hancock Park, but not in Hancock Park. Its on the ghetto side, but not scary. There's your friendly neighborhood Starbucks just accross the street. I managed to find parking on the side street, even though the entire neighborhood is 1 hour parking and in the time I spent at the consulate, I moved my car twice. Not much of a surprise there. Antoher unsurprisng fact was that they were running about an hour behind. When you walk in to the consulate, you do not get the impression that you are entering a governmental agency. Spanish soap operas are playing on two screens, one mounted flat screen on one wall and one ghetto old school tube TV on a rolling shelf, reminiscent of movies watched in 8th grade. There are a couple of couches and some tables - clearly, this area was designed for long periods of waiting. When I walked in, a young man ina suit was arguing with an employee of the consulate who was sitting at I guess is the check-in table. He didn't have an appointment and was trying to convince her to let him through anyway. He shoudl have just lied...they really didn't check. He argued with her for a solid 20 minutes, explaining to her that he needed to meet this week adn that there were no appointment available until June 6th. Buddy, no matter how many times or in how many languages you tell yoru story, the woman's not gonna officially change her mind. Just show up.

The girl with an appointment right before me apparently misunderstood what "one way ticket" referred to in the requirements for the visa. She broguth her flight from Spain back to the US. It took the check-in woman a solid 10 minutes to explain to her that you need your flight TO Spain, and not from, for the visa, so taht they know when to make yoru visa effective date. Wow. Some people.

I thought I was in the clear because the check-in woman reviewed all of my documents and said I was good to go. I guess she didn't actualy study what document i was that I handed her with the Apostille. The guy at the visa window, however, who looked wearily bored and over his job (suck it up buddy. You work 8-12 with a bunch of people excited to travel to your country) had clearly done this before. He looked at my apostilled document, squinted his eyes, and said to me suspiciously "Did you try to pull this last year?" Oy vei...Right, cuz if I knew what a nightmare this process would be, I would, two years in a row, wait until the last minute and try to get away with something that never worked in the first place. He basically talked to me like I rode the short bus to school and responded to every innocent question, asked with a smile, as if I was a little old lady asking him for the 100th time how to turn on the microwave. Our encounter concluded with him telling me I needed proof that I'd sent away for the FBI report and that then the FBI application would be accepted, and that I had until May 28th to do so. Easy enough...Additionaly, though, once I recieve the visa, its only good for 90 days. I worked it out, and that means that my visa will expire September 20th. Which means, I only have until September 20th to get my NIE. According to the school, this is a long and painful process and you need to leave yourself plenty of time to get this done, so I need to somehow figure out how to get the NIE done when I'm there at the end of June. Just one more obstacle..

I then waited for another hour, until 12:45 to recieve my "confirmation number". I complain, but there was a dude in line ahead of me that had driven in from Phoenix just to get his visa. Why the hoops, Espana, why?

You win some, you lose some

Trying to obtain my "Absence of Criminal Records" Certificate incites so much rage in me I might in fact end up with a criminal record! This week so far, and its only Wednesday afternoon, has been a series of losses and victories. First, the losses:

1. It has been 11 days since my LiveScan submission, and I was supposed to receive the results in 7. Luckily the CA DOJ provides an automated hotline where you can call, enter your ATI number (that appears on the bottom of your submission) and find out the status! Unfortunately, there is no record of me in their system. So, I call the number provided on their website, a number specifically given out if "The automated response system has no record of your submission". A woman at the DOJ picks up the phone, refuses to listen to me, tells me she can't help me, can't give me the information, yells it a couple more times, and hangs up on me. A series of phone calls later, I find myself driving up the 67 freeway to El Cajon to the main office of the LiveScan agency I submitted my finger prints through. This "main office" is a counter at a car wash. The man was very nice, but in the end, completely useless. He did do a re-submission for free, but was no help with finding out my status. I tried my luck on Tuesday as well, with the same results.

2. Alex Dickerson, a current student at IESE that went through her own nightmarish visa story, gave me a phone number and an e-mail address for the FBI Criminal Records Division. Apparently a nice man named Gary got her her stuff in a matter of days (as opposed to the 13 weeks) after she gave them her sob story. I called the number and the very nice lady sweetly informed me that there was no way to expedite, and that they were more bogged down than ever because all of the 2010 Census workers need to be fingerprinted.

3. I then e-mail this Gary gentleman my sob story, and offered to resubmit all my documents to him. As of Wednesday afternoon, I had not heard back.

So, 3 defeats for Kate. 

But, there were some victories!

1. Apparently, the US Department of State: Bureau of Consular Affairs is a lot more tech-savvy than the California DOJ. They have a status check on their website where, with simply your DOB, last name, and last 4 digits of your SSN, you can find out what's happening to your application! Mine, apparently, is in the final processing stages and will be mailed to me on Friday! Woohoo!!

2. After what will simply be referred to as "the closet incident", and a couple of days to calm down, I once again called the bitch @ the DOJ who hung up on me. She once again told me she couldn't help me that I had to check with my employer and that since I was OBVIOUSLY applying for a job, she couldn't help me. Right before she was about to hang up again, I cut her off in time to tell her "I AM NOT APPLYING FOR A JOB! THIS IS FOR A VISA!" She fell silent. Then in a soft voice said "Oh, Ok. I"ll transfer you". I then talked to a very nice gentleman who told me my submission had been received yesterday (guess that first one was a lost cause) and that it had already gone out in the mail to my home address. Wooohooo!!

3. Finally, after many fruitless attempts with other incompetent individuals, I got into contact with Mr. Joe Ewing, Notary Public. Mr. Ewing, apparently, has done this, and more than once. He knew all the steps for getting an international document apostillized, and would be able to do it all, down to picking up the document from my mom's house, and taking it back. He also informed me that there were 3 steps for apostillizing FBI records for international use:
1. COPY CERTIFICATION BY DOCUMENT CUSTODIAN AFFIDAVIT. This needs to be notarized and submitted with the document. I'm not sure why, as its the original that must be notarized, but whatever.
2. This affidavit then must be authenticated.
3. This authentication is then overnight-ed to the Secretary of State in Sacramento, where it finally gets it's apostille.

I'll obviously follow up wtih him more, just to understand the steps, but this all sounds good. I'm assuming he'll charge a hefty but if he can get it done, with no stress on my mom, its allll worth it. Hi, new best friend!

We'll call that 2.5 victories. Mr. Ewing could still turn out to be shady.

One more thing to be anxious about...

Part of my master plan for fulfilling my ambitious summer travel plans while still obtaining this elusive Spanish student visa involved one key element - obtaining a second passport. So today, I went to the post office to submit all my paperwork to obtain a second passport.

The post office on Midway was all in chaos, as people scrambled to get their taxes out. There were a bunch of people in line for the passport window. When it was my turn, though, the clerk kept asking people as they came up if they had an appointment, and if they didn't, sent them away. I'm not sure why I was so fortunate to get in without an appointment. Maybe there was some magical 1:13 pm cut off time, or maybe she decides the cut off time based on her irritation level...either way, I lucked out.

After looking over my application, she seemed confused. She looked at the additional letter I had provided that explained why I needed a second passport, and asked me what it was. When I explained to her what I was trying to do, she said she'd never done that before, didn't know how it worked, but that she'd submit my paperwork anyway. My paperwork, though, also included my Naturalization Certificate, a.k.a my most genuine proof of my legal status here in the US. Submitting it to the mercy of the United States Postal Service is gonna cost me more than one sleepless night...

I guess I am better off than the tall white guy that came up behind me that didn't have a passport and was leaving for Mexico tomorrow. Get with the times, buddy . You've needed a passport to travel to Mexico for like 2 years now. SOL.

Travel in the Middle East

I finally received a very helpful e-mail from the National Passport Information Center regarding the obtaining of a second passport for my potential travel in the middle east this summer. As it is almost impossible to find this information online, I am pasting the e-mail here:

The Department of State's general policy is that no person shall bear or be in possession of more than one valid passport of the same type at any one time, unless authorized by the Department.

There are some circumstances in which the issuance of a second fee passport is appropriate.

They are:

1. When a foreign country will deny a visa or entry to the bearer of a passport containing markings or visas showing travel to certain other countries. For example, travel between Israel and certain Arab countries. If a traveler has an entry stamp or visa from Israel in their passport, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Egypt and Syria will deny them entry.

2. When a passport needed for immediate travel is unavailable due to prolonged delays in processing a visa application, or some other governmental process for which the passport was required.

To request a second passport, you must complete a DS-11 or DS-82 (depending on whether or not you are able to send in the current passport), include 2 passport photos, appropriate fees, and evidence of U.S. Citizenship. You must also include a signed and dated statement explaining the nature of travel and why you need a second passport. (See below)

A second passport is valid for 2 years and can be renewed with a DS-82 form. You cannot use the DS-5504 form to extend the passport validity.

When renewing a second valid passport, you will need to submit a new application and pay the application fee. You MUST be able to demonstrate that the second passport is still needed and submit a letter explaining the continued need.

To apply, submit:

1. Completed DS-82 form (if you are submitting your valid passport) or DS-11 (if you are unable to submit the passport)

2. Valid passport or other evidence of U.S. citizenship (with DS-11)

3. Two new passport photos

4. Letter explaining why second passport is needed (must include the countries to be visited and the nature of the travel). (See below)

5. Check for passport fees (include fee for special mailing if requested)

Example of Statement:

"I intend to travel to _________ and ________. In view of the restrictive entry requirements of one of the countries that I will be visiting, it is impossible for me to complete my trip using my current passport.

Consequently, I am requesting the issuance of a second passport to facilitate my travel to the countries mentioned above. I understand one passport will be limited to two years and that it may be extended at the end of that period if my need to travel to the aforementioned countries continues.

Should either passport be lost or stolen, I will report the circumstances to the Passport Office or the nearest American Embassy or Consulate immediately.

(Signature)"

If applying with form DS-11, it will be necessary for you to apply in person through an authorized acceptance facility.  For the location of your nearest acceptance facilities, visit: http://iafdb.travel.state.gov/

How many coincidentally difficult things can one person succesfully deal with?

I guess I'll find out in the next few months. Apparently I've been a little too ambitious/greedy with my summer plans. The issues, as they have dawned on me:

1. In order to obtain a Spanish visa, I need (among other things that I CAN acquire in a timely manner) a clean bill of lack of criminal record. This involves going to get finger printed at the local police station (on the agenda for today), and then mailing this, along with a couple other forms, to some FBI Processing office in Virginia. What I didn't know the first time I looked this up (because, of course, I didn't scroll all the way to the bottom of the page) is that this process takes thirteen weeks. So, assuming this is true, the earliest I would possibly have this shiny piece of paper is July 5th.
2. My current plan has me leaving the country with no plans of returning before the winter on June 16th.

3. Once I have obtained the said shiny piece of paper, I then must go, in person , to the Spanish Consulate in Los Angeles, and submit it, along with 10 other documents. Among those documents will also be my passport which will not be returned to me until my visa is processed. Which, according to the website, takes exactly "a very long time".

4. Apparently, the US Government has realized that sometimes bureaucracy is an issue. Therefore, if you need to travel internationally and your passport is being held up by a consulate or embassy for visa processing, you are eligible to apply for a second passport. Woohoo! Problem (partially) solved. I still have to somehow present myself to the Los Angeles Spanish Consulate while being on the other side of the Atlantic, but let's assume, for the purpose of this post, that I have $1300 to spare and can fly back to show them my pretty face.

5. The reason for my departure from the US on June 16th, however, is my other plans - namely, spending a month in Israel and then traveling with Gap Adventures to Turkey, Syria, Egypt and Jordan. Now, assuming I currently have in my possession the 2nd passport that the government issued me (while my other one is being held by the Spanish consulate), I can travel worry free, right? Wrong. Apparently, the government of Syria (and officially, Jordan and Egypt, but apparently its not a problem there) will not issue an entry visa to any person possessing a stamp from the Israeli government in their passport.

6. But wait, the US government also provides for this! They state that if you are traveling from Israel to any of the above listed countries, you can apply for a second passport. Only, wait, I already did that. How about a third, guys? No? Yeah, didn't think so.


My only option seems to be traveling on my second, blank passport, and asking the ever so friendly (oh, and smiley too) immigration officials that welcome you at Passport Control upon landing in Israel to not stamp my passport. Yeah. That'll happen.

Assuming it doesn't, I can then hope that Syria will enforce their policies as "strictly" as Jordan and Egypt, and will let me in anyway. Yeah. Even more likely...Update. Just looked up the visa information on the Gap Adventures Website: 


SYRIA: As part of your tour we are able to organize group entry visas to Syria free of charge. To enable us to organize your visa, you will need to provide Gap Adventures with your passport number, issue date and expiry date a minimum of 15 days prior to departure. Unfortunately , if we do not receive your passport information at least 15 days prior to departure, we are unable to guarantee that we will be able to organize your visa. It is vital that there are no Israeli stamps of any kind in your passports, nor any entrance or exit stamps from neighboring border checkpoints which would indicate a visit to Israel. Your passports must be valid for at least 6 months prior to the departure date. Please note that there is a departure tax of 550 Syrian Pounds.