US Consulate

We had a 1:30pm appointment at the US Consulate to apply for Miranda’s visa.  We arrived around 1pm and had to wait 15 or 20 minutes outside before going through the security checkpoint.  Then we were directed to a waiting area in a long hallway and were told to wait until they called us.  We sat there and waited.... and waited.... and then waited some more.  Meanwhile, Miranda was getting rather antsy – there are only so many things to do with a 2 year old while sitting in a long, narrow hallway.  We also could overhear conversations at the counter concerning other applicants, including “Ma’am we won’t accept this document, you need to go to Zambia to get a new one issued”.   Ugh! Hearing that just raised my own anxiety level.  My experience concerning paperwork for the adoption has not been the smoothest and I was worried about what could be wrong with my documentation.  Finally, they called me to the counter and I submitted the documents. 

The next step was to pay the $400 fee.  I paid in cash and they rejected two of my $20 bills – one had a small tear and the other one wouldn’t scan.  They asked if I had any other $20 bills (I thought I was doing pretty well to have $400 in cash and didn’t know I would need replacement bills!).  I had one more $20 bill which they took in exchange for the one with the tear and they finally agreed to take the other one.  Whew! Can we make this process any more complicated?  Then we waited some more and finally, at 2:40pm, we had our interview that was scheduled for 1:30pm.  The interview went very smoothly and the man was positive regarding Miranda’s application. Next, they have to do a final review of the paperwork and Miranda’s medical report.  As long as that is fine, they will issue the visa on Wednesday so we can make our Thursday flight!

After that stressful event we went to the African Craft market in Johannesburg.  We walked into a long building filled with individual stalls that were jammed packed with crafts and souvenirs from all over Africa.  The salesmen were rather pushy and each one called out to us as we walked by and wanted us to come into their stall.  Every one assured us they would offer a “good price” for any item and tried to encourage me to buy something for Miranda.   Many of the South African crafts we had already seen but there were a few unique items (I really liked an ostrich skin wallet but it was not in my price range!)  I did barter for two carved pieces and am sure that they called someone else to come agree to the price as part of the "show".  I find bartering (especially in foreign currency) and aggressive salespeople to be a stressful environment so this was NOT a relaxing shopping experience!!   We walked through the downstairs and then went upstairs.  When we came back downstairs Dad said that I had missed a section of stalls so we turned to walk that way.  As soon as we turned to go deeper into the building Miranda started to cry because she realized we were not heading towards the exit. She must have a pretty good sense of direction since the stairs were in the middle of the building!!  I got the hint and decided to end our shopping adventure…