Before I could visit or even move to
Luanda, I needed to get an Angolan visa. Adam assured me that it would be easy considering he did not have any
problems getting his visa renewed a few months prior. Easy, that is the keyword
in this story. Angola had recently changed its policy requiring us to make a
physical trip to either the embassy located in Houston, Texas or the one
located in Washington, D.C. We decided that a little two day getaway to D.C.
would be more exciting than a trip to Houston. What we didn’t know was just how
exciting that little two day trip would be.
We arrived in D.C. right on
schedule. Adam called the embassy to inform them that we were on our way.
Unfortunately the lady that was scheduled to meet with us was unable to meet us
that day and needed to reschedule for the following day, the day we were
supposed to be leaving. As a perfectionist and planner, the little hiccup in
our plan began to worry me. My worry-free fiancé reassured me that it would be
fine, and I had nothing to stress over. We spent the rest of the day visiting
popular museums including the Crime and Punishment Museum. Spending the
afternoon learning about crime and criminals made me realize that my anxiety
over our rescheduled meeting may have been a bit dramatic.
We
woke up early and headed to the embassy. We were scheduled to meet with someone
at 9am, but I hate being late and talked Adam into going early. Everyone loves an
early bird, right? WRONG. We arrived at 8:30 on the dot. I was excited to get
there early, get the application process over with, and get to the airport for
our flight home. When we arrived, we realized that the meeting was scheduled at
9am because the offices in D.C. don’t open until 9am. Who would have thought
that one of the most important and influential cities in our country sleeps in?
Adam gave me the “I told you so” look but before he could say anything, I suggested
that we find a coffee shop knowing that a good cup of coffee would mean instant
forgiveness from Adam. We found a Starbucks just down the street from the embassy.
It was just Adam, our luggage, a few coffees, and me.
After
breakfast we headed back to the embassy. We gave the paperwork to the woman and
waited for her response. She looked over the paperwork with a confused look on
her face. Apparently we printed off and filled out the paperwork for the
Houston office instead of the D.C. office. Adam and I scrambled to flag down a
cab and find a print shop. The cold air, anxiety of possibly missing our flight,
and stress of not getting my visa application submitted began to take its toll
on me. I could feel the tears materializing in the corners of my eyes. The next
thing I knew, I had icicles forming down my cheeks and chin. Adam helped me
keep it together long enough to get the paperwork filled out and head back to
the embassy. We had just enough time left to get the forms turned in and get to
the airport. But that would be too easy, right?
The
next bomb dropped on us before we really even knew what was going on. We needed
a money order, and STAT! Adam ran three blocks (thank you P90X and a weekly
workout routine) to the nearest store and got a money order while I babysat our
luggage and watched as the minutes ticked away and our flight got closer to
departing. We finally turned in the application, grabbed a cab, and headed to
the airport just in time to catch our flight home. The journey to Africa was
beginning to be more of an experience than I had originally expected. We hadn’t
even left the States yet and things were already adding a little excitement to my life!
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