The other week, an emergency meeting was called by our program director. I took a bus to the meeting spot (a city about two hours north) where all of the volunteers in the region were directed to gather. There are six volunteers total in my region, including myself and our dear friend Grace. When the program coordinator arrived to commence the meeting, I was surprised when she said, "Oh good, everybody is here," despite the fact the old Gracie Girl was nowhere to be found.
To make a very long and confusing story very short and sweet, this is what happened:
The program was responsible for processing both our work visas and Chilean identifications as our stay here will far exceed the stay permitted on a basic tourist visa. We filled out all of the proper paperwork our first week in Santiago and were promised to have our documents delivered within the first month. To be honest, I had completely forgotten about it and hadn't even noticed that the papers had never been delivered.
Apparently, the paperwork had gotten buried under a pile on someone's desk and were never processed. The only reason that the glitch was caught was because Grace bought and early ticket home. She was detained in the airport for FIVE days because she had been in the country illegally and could not produce the proper paperwork (I.e. a visa and Chilean ID card). They wouldn't let her leave the country or the airport. I cannot even imagine what went through the minds of the airport personnel who had detained her. I wouldn't think that Grace (Roll Mother Effin' Tide!) would be an easy one to detain. I got a good laugh at the mental image of a bunch of stumpy Chileans desperately clenching on to ropes tied around the thick-necked, Southern giantess.
I took the news fairly well. If nothing else, I have learned that when you travel to Third World countries, things don't always go your way. Anything involving the government moves like molasses and incompetence is plentiful. We were advised to, and I quote, "Keep a low profile and avoid altercations with the law until this can be sorted out." We were promised that the Ministry of Education would do everything in their power (so help us, Dios) to get the situation resolved. One of the girls, however, has a wedding date set for early August and started crying on the spot. The matter is out of my hands but I do hope that I am able to make my August 5th flight....the ticket was rather expensive. Send some good Juju (Sar!) my way!!
To make a very long and confusing story very short and sweet, this is what happened:
The program was responsible for processing both our work visas and Chilean identifications as our stay here will far exceed the stay permitted on a basic tourist visa. We filled out all of the proper paperwork our first week in Santiago and were promised to have our documents delivered within the first month. To be honest, I had completely forgotten about it and hadn't even noticed that the papers had never been delivered.
Apparently, the paperwork had gotten buried under a pile on someone's desk and were never processed. The only reason that the glitch was caught was because Grace bought and early ticket home. She was detained in the airport for FIVE days because she had been in the country illegally and could not produce the proper paperwork (I.e. a visa and Chilean ID card). They wouldn't let her leave the country or the airport. I cannot even imagine what went through the minds of the airport personnel who had detained her. I wouldn't think that Grace (Roll Mother Effin' Tide!) would be an easy one to detain. I got a good laugh at the mental image of a bunch of stumpy Chileans desperately clenching on to ropes tied around the thick-necked, Southern giantess.
I took the news fairly well. If nothing else, I have learned that when you travel to Third World countries, things don't always go your way. Anything involving the government moves like molasses and incompetence is plentiful. We were advised to, and I quote, "Keep a low profile and avoid altercations with the law until this can be sorted out." We were promised that the Ministry of Education would do everything in their power (so help us, Dios) to get the situation resolved. One of the girls, however, has a wedding date set for early August and started crying on the spot. The matter is out of my hands but I do hope that I am able to make my August 5th flight....the ticket was rather expensive. Send some good Juju (Sar!) my way!!
You were having mixed feelings about leaving anyway, right? Life's an adventure, but yours is a little more adventurous than most! :-)
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