Our second and final trip to the Chilean Consulate in Houston followed up my last post. I hesitantly handed over an envelope full of my documents to a Fed Ex worked that was, to put it nicely, not probably the best Fed Ex has to offer, but they made it to Houston (phew), so I'll go ahead and award Fed Ex and that young man a gold medal for a job well done.
Obviously, our experience in Houston wasn't easy, because honestly, I don't think easy makes a very good story.
Day One: I'll summarize (in English, even though I spent the morning listening intently and struggling to respond). "Chile is broken. All of the ministry websites are down. Something about the cybernetic-highway. It isn't your fault. We will call you tomorrow if everything is back up. Oh, by the way, when you thought you registered your marriage, you in fact did not.. so there's that. You brought your marriage certificate? Good... yeah, you aren't getting that back." All in all, I think Chile wins no medals for this day, and we win a gold medal in patience and going with the flow. Although, we did get invited to a Chilean independence day party that will be taking place in Houston in September, and our now BFF from the consulate just hung out and talked to us (slowly for me) and then invited us to friend him on "faybook".
Day Two: Again, I'll summarize. "Chile is working again, you can come whenever." Joy! This day was much simpler, but did include a trip to the bank across the street, and the signing of a whole grip of documents. The result: a small piece of paper glue-sticked into my passport that says "temporary resident." I think I probably expected something that looked a little more "official", but it is DONE, so I have no complaints. Gold medals for everyone involved!!
I have thoroughly enjoyed watching the London Olympics!! I'm not a huge "crier", but there is something about Olympic athletes tearing up on a podium that makes me say, "Don't worry sweetie, you aren't crying alone." Obviously, the United States has had an impressive showing so far. The "Fab Five" and the other gymnasts have been so impressive, and have inspired me to do handstands and turns in the living room. I have found my favorite Olympian of these games in a gymnast from Chile. (No, I don't hate America, but this kid (and by kid I mean guy my age) is precious) Meet Tomas Gonzalez:
In case you can't tell, Tomas has an epic mustache and an eyebrow ring. More importantly, he is Chile's first EVER artistic gymnast at the Olympics. He is all alone in London representing his country. He looks so excited to be there at every moment. On top of that, he competed in two different event finals, Vault and Floor. (To put that in perspective, none of the American fellows got to compete in more than one event final.) AND he was so stinking close to getting Chile's first medal of the London games. He came in fourth, TWICE. In case I haven't convinced you, check out this Buzzfeed article:
I'm going to make it a personal goal to meet this guy and give him a high five for a job well done.
As I said before, the excitement and anticipation are mounting. August is a month that I have never really experienced due to the craziness of Summer Band, and I have to admit that not stressing about starting school is a pleasant and new feeling. Soon, I will have plenty of things to occupy my mind (including but not limited to forming Spanish sentences so slowly that people wonder what is wrong with me), but I plan on earning a Gold Medal for effort, or at least come close like my good friend Tomas.
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