observe and learn quick

The journey begins before it has begun. It is hard to wrap my mind around what I’m getting into. Observe. Observe. Observe. Meditate and put yourself there. Think around the obstacles. Over under and through them.

First it was the shots.
The tetanus was the killer. I woke up feeling like someone had thrown me into the dryer with a bunch of rocks. The typhoid vaccination, taken orally, made for early mornings and later on for some vivid dreams. Nothing too spectacular and revealing though, so everyone’s safe. :)

Next and now it still is the visa.
The day after Christmas I called my visa processor and asked what was going on. He called around and checked some things. He called back and said the embassy had made no progress on it. They’d been sitting on it all month. What to do? I asked him to send my passport back. I began scheming. Do I go without a visa and smile innocently? Do I get one from the Embassy in The Hague during my lay over in Amsterdam? After much dilemma and waiting and hurrying and waiting and hurrying, pounding on closed doors, not taking no for an answer. I’ve changed my flight to leave tentatively on the 2nd instead of the 30th so the ticket doesn’t die. This buys me time to pound on some doors with the visa. My friend from Liberia got to work right away. First she reprimanded me for not telling her sooner. She had just had a friend from Nigeria, who works for the consulate, attempt to get a visa for Nigeria. They’d been sitting on her passport. However, because she worked for the network of embassies and consulates she had a connection who then went to a colleague’s desk at the place of his employment and processed her visa, paid for it and sent it back to her. This is now the thing that she is doing for me. This is how things get done the Nigerian way. Although the antics I’ve engaged in thus far are a bit more extreme than name dropping and pulling strings. Everyone should know somebody who knows somebody who knows somebody.

Currently, I am sitting in a Panera using the internet to navigate the Atlanta transit system to get to the Nigerian Consulate tomorrow between 10 and 2 pm to entreat Mr D to issue me a visa in honor of my name dropping friend who called from Nigeria to give me this man’s name. This plan emerged last night after a fit of despair. Then, I spoke to my sister who lives down here, while online and decided to gamble for a cheap ticket on priceline. This morning at the airport I was thoroughly searched for buying this ticket so last minute. My sister will come by to pick me up tomorrow after the consulate visit. Meanwhile I am logging hours at work, writing, reading and wishing I could take a nap. I’ve only managed to catch an hour last night and four the night before, so I’ll sleep well tonight no matter where I find a place to rest my head. No car this time, though. Tomorrow bright and early I will find a place to don my disguise as a distinguished lady.