Ah mon dieu!!!

Someone up there IS listening to me!!!

After the most horrendous experiences with the French consulate in San Francisco I finally have a visa in my hands! I can go to France, it's official!!!!

...Well not quite, I still have to purchase my ticket. But the hardest part is behind me.

Let me just update you on what I had to go through to get this god-forsaken sticker pasted inside my passport. Last time I tried to make an appointment with no avail since the website was down. So after going to the consulate, I was rejected -- three times.

Anyways, I almost kind of gave up on this. Actually, I did give up. I applied for a whole bunch of jobs with minor league baseball teams and sports pages across the country. So if anyone tells me I have a job, I'm probably going to turn it down. Back to my comedy of errors though. Today I'm all ready to go with all of my paperwork; I hop into my car and turn it on... only to hear the engine never actually catch. It keeps trying to start up for a very, very long time. Shit.

Although my mom just left for work an hour before, I begged her to come back home to get me and drop me off at the closest BART station in time so I could get to the city before my 11:00 appointment. But the French gods were out to get me today.

On the way home, my mom apparently encountered some light traffic, basically meaning I'd miss the train I wanted to be on by five or six minutes. Ok, no big deal, I was just praying that I'd make the train to arrive at 10:45 and then walk the 15 minutes to the consulate as fast as my little (BLISTERED) feet would take me.

Two-thirds of the way there, the BART train stopped. Three times! And at this point I'm completely panicking. So we finally get there and I sprinted. It only took me six minutes to get to the consulate from Market Street, which last time took me over 11.

I probably jinxed myself by calling my mom and telling her I had more than 10 minutes and I was going to get my visa without a hitch. She told me to hang up and go get it already. My favorite security guard was standing there and I prayed that he didn't remember me. After some snide little comment I handed him my appointment slip and passport, when he asked, "Do you have a copy of your passport?"

Of course, I have three copies of everything. But I couldn't find them! He told me not to worry, that STA Travel next door made copies. But in true French fashion, they were closed for a three hour lunch. Then my heart starts racing again. He said I could run to the corner of Bush and Market and get a copy made at an Internet café. So I sprinted, despite my burning feet. And I couldn't find the shop. I ran into a UPS store a little farther down the street and located the only copier in the building. Frantically I pressed a million buttons and the machine would not comply with me, nor would the cashier who was blabbing away on his cell phone. Luckily it worked, I threw him a quarter and ran back up the next two blocks -- with my fingers crossed so tightly they were turning purple -- hoping that I'd make it back before 11 a.m.

Instead of wonder and excitement about the French corner of San Francisco with the Tabac and cafés, I cursed it all for mocking me so. Even though I had my camera, I vowed right then and there that regardless of the outcome, I did NOT want photographic reminders of this nightmare to obtain my visa.

Of course, I made it back with five minutes to spare, my heart still racing every document they checked over, because I had a gut-wrenching feeling that I forgot something. But I didn't. So naturally, I stressed myself out a thousand times more than what was necessary.

And after my paperwork was in, I sat down in a chair to wait for them to print out my visa (an unnecessary two hour process!), sweating and trying to catch my breath. And then I found my passport copies -- figures!

At least I got to meet a few other girls who were also in the process of applying for their teaching assistant visas as well. Just talking with them for an hour made me more excited than I ever have been during this entire process! I cannot wait to go to France in one month :)