Saturday, October 30, 2010

Exciting adventures in TEgu

Yesterday we visited Tegucigalpa for the first time in the 4 months since we've been back. I wasn't all that excited like I usually am to go because I had to come to pay a fine for overstaying my VISA. My friend had to go to immigration also to pay for an extension, which is a LOT cheaper than paying the fine. We wanted to get an early start so we could get in and out of immigration early and then go to a women's retreat with Amber.
We wok up at 3 when Beto realized he hadn't put gas...er diesel, in the car. He went to the station and it was closed. A worker at the bus station said it didn't open until 6, so we went back to sleep(not me) and left at 5:45. We went to pick up Crystal when I realized I forgot some important paperwork. So we went back to the house. We went to get gas and they told us they'd opened at 4:30! oh well, now we know. So we finally started out around 6:30. Instead of 2 hours it took 5 becuase of road work. We were afraid maybe the immigration office would close at 12 because it was Friday and this is Honduras. We were just praying hard that we could get everything done we needed to get donw. Especially that Crystal wouldn't have to pay a fine for being overdue just becuase we were late.
We didn't even know where the immigration office was or how to get there but Beto had the great idea of dropping us off to get a taxi and he took us quickly. We finally made it and there wasn't even a line!
But then the computer system shut down.
And they told me I had to present my old passport that I used to come into Central America and if I couldn't present it within five days I'd have to leave the country...and pay the fine.
So I called my lawyer who has my old passport because she's working on my residency. She came within the hour with all my paperwork and I was able to also pay for a two month extension until December so that I won't have to come back to pay another overdue fine. It turned out to be way more expensive than expected but still cheaper than leaving the country and coming back again to get my passport stamped, and I can rest easy until we go home in December.
AFter being in Immigration for alsmot 3 hours we toook a taxi to meet Beto and Santi. They had hung out in Pollo Campero the whole time and Santi had a great time in the play area. We went to McDonald's to eat and relax. All this time we'd been trying to call Amber and her son Darwin to see about meeting up with her for the retreat and couldn't get a hold of either of them. So we changed plans and went to see if Darwin was at home. He wasn't but we were pretty sure he'd be home soon. So we hung out at the mall, did some shopping. By this time we were all just ready to crash!
I finally got a hold of Amber using Crystal's phone. She said Darwin's phone had been stolen and gave me his new number. We met him at home and all fell asleep at 8!
Today we go back and i'm excited to get back home to the relaxing and cool environment of La Esperanza!

1 comment:

  1. WHEW!!! YOU made me tired!!! Sounds like life here, except for McDonald's. No great sacrifice there to give that up, though.

    ReplyDelete