Bureaucracy Inaction

You may be wondering why it's taken me so long to write a second post. The short answer is that I don't have my visa yet and am thus still writing this from North America. But you didn't go to all the trouble of checking my blog just to get the short answer.

My acceptance into this program happened somewhat strangely. After applying in the spring, I was put on the waiting list. By August, I had basically given up hope when I received an urgent email saying that there were still spots to be filled and to reply immediately if I wanted one. I had thought that sending an application was enough to send that message, but I replied instantly. (As it turns out, the email was due to them having empty spots in regions that no one had listed in their preferences - I guess no one wanted to go to or had heard of La Rioja).

Soon after, I got the acceptance message and began to prepare my visa application. I submitted it at the beginning of September, where I was told to call back in two weeks. It being September, they said, meant that student visas like mine might begin to get rushed through.

Since then, everything seems to have stalled. Firstly, I sent in the wrong application form and had to send in the correct one - the program manual had given a link to an out-of-date form. Secondly, at the two-week mark, the person at the consulate wondered why they had told me to call after two weeks - student visas usually take up to five weeks.

Every call since then has met with the same result. As it turns out, the application needs to be sent to Madrid to be approved. This, of course, begs the question: Why couldn't I just send the application to Madrid and eliminate the "middle man?" I think the answer comes down to sheer bureaucracy. One arm of the Spanish government has selected me for the position, while another won't let me arrive on time because of its own modus operandi.

In any case, I refuse to feel guilty for arriving late (which looks like a certainty now). The waiting, however, is frustrating. Not knowing when my visa will arrive means I can't make plans for more than a few days ahead, which effectively pins me down at my parents' house until it arrives. So if you're wondering why I haven't been posting anything, that's why - there's very little to report.

On a less interesting note, I am getting better at making (and eating) homemade pizza, as well as watching DVDs until my eyes fall out. Part of me feels like I deserve this period of utter laziness, as I never really had the chance to do so after finishing classes in April, but most of me really wants to hop on a flight to Spain as soon as possible.