so today i thought since i have the whole week off i should get on renewing my visa, since i know how troubling they can be and how much work can go into it! well i had no idea what i was doing or where i was going. pero i found a place to get passport photos, and i managed to print out the documents i needed. then it was off to the oficina de extranjeros! well i found one online and i went there and there were about 40 people standing around outside rambling nonsense and luckily it wasn't a line so i just pushed past them and got inside, where there were probably 100 people sitting down waiting. maybe more. well i figured i should ask if i was even in the right place before waiting my life away and i managed to ask in spanish and they said no, i was in the wrong place. i was pretty much relieved though because that meant i didn't have to sit there for hours. so they told me the place i should go, which is actually a police station i think. and i got out at the metro station they told me and pretty much ran around the area looking for the right street. literally, i was running around, asking randoms where carrer de guadalajara was. i had past it twice without knowing it, because of course it is hidden. but alas, i found it, only to realize it was after 2pm. when everything closes for the afternoon. and it turns out the police station doesn't open back up later like most places.
so! tomorrow i must return and i am hoping it is the right place and it will be an okay process, but i'm not expecting much because i know how these things can be!
i talked to my roommate about getting the visa before i came here and she said she only got the visa for 6 months because the one to stay longer was such a hassle and she had to get everything translated and legalized, blah blah blah, and i told her that's exactly what i had to do. but i'm surprised even though she came from germany she still would have to go through all that. but i'm glad i'm not the only one who thought it was an issue!
but now supposedly i can renew it "easily" and once i do it it will be good for a year and then if i want i can get it renewed again for another year, and so on.
but as i was running around the city i saw so many cool things and i want to buy EVERYTHING!!! it's not fair, because i'm spending all my money on food an metro tickets and i just want to blow it all on souvenirs =) but you walk down the street and the smells are overwhelming and you can't stop yourself from trying a tasty treat from a cafe or "forn de pa" (catalan). by the way, catalan is the devil. half french, half spanish, completely confusing!!!!!!!!!
but i was told that i can actually work with my student visa, some places won't allow it but many places will! and a lot of people are looking for americans to help teach english. so it sounds perfect! i just don't know where i'm supposed to look for these kinds of jobs. and i also think i should just worry about school first, and try and see if i can understand what's going on in class =)
okay that's all my complaining for the day. the weather is absolutely gorgeous so i really can't complain, it's beautiful out!
(sant sebastia = fantastic)
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