...and am really excited. It actually was cool that the inauguration speech was on TV here, but it was being simultaneously translated, so I could barely hear the English under the Spanish, and while I was trying to understand the Spanish I missed the English.
Anyway, it's nice to hear that my fellow Americans have hope, since I'm quite pessimistic about Ecuador. The government is trying to gets its fingers into everything. Prices are going up, they're grabbing land from the rich to give to the poor, private pensions are disappearing. Oh, and the box that my Dad sent full off books, contact lenses, and a sweater, will take between 15 to 30 days to clear customs! Maybe I'll feel better once I finally get my visa.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Friday, January 16, 2009
Donations to the Government of Ecuador
Everyday we get a new call from the lawyer, saying that more documentation for my visa is needed. They now need my original diplomas. The notarized and apostilled copies apparently don't count. Those liars! Why did they tell me that they were acceptable in the first place?
Now the lawyer tells us that we have to pay a fine, about $200, because we didn't start the process soon enough. We should have started it a month before the tourist visa expired. We met with the lawyer (about six weeks before the visa expired) she mentioned nothing of the sort. Then she told us that the law has changed. Which isn't true. Arrrrgh.
Now the lawyer tells us that we have to pay a fine, about $200, because we didn't start the process soon enough. We should have started it a month before the tourist visa expired. We met with the lawyer (about six weeks before the visa expired) she mentioned nothing of the sort. Then she told us that the law has changed. Which isn't true. Arrrrgh.
Friday, January 09, 2009
Alejandro Is Right
He's right. It's not that I haven't been inspired to write, I've just been lazy. I wish that I could have said "busy" instead of "lazy".
So, what shall I complain about first. I think our attempts to get me a work visa is at the top of the list. My tourist visa expired on December 30th. So, for the month prior, Carlos and I were researching and collecting what documents we needed (yep, I'm working for him now) and even my parents were getting diplomas apostilled for me prior to their visit. We called our lawyer here about once a week and she assured us that we had all the documents that we needed. Well, she was wrong. Really wrong.
For the past three weeks, yes even during the holidays when practically everything is closed, we have been getting calls from the lawyer everyday, saying that we need one more form. Actually, we are now working with one of her partners since he has deemed her incompetent on this issue.
Carlos did most of the running around, since lots of the documents needed applied to him rather than me. But I did join him for one round of documentation. It was terrible. Apparently, for my work visa, I need some insurance that is like social security. But I need to pay for the month of December (yes, even though I am not working that month and am still a tourist at that point). First I need an ID number. Carlos got that for me last week (I don't know how, but he did). But we had to pay the insurance in person. So we went to the institute to pay. I waited in line for over two hours before I even got close to the cashier. During this time, Carlos was running around, making sure there was money in the parking meter, getting the receipt that we needed to pay, getting money (we had not brought enough since we didn't know that we had to pay for him and me at the same time), and asking basic questions that no one could answer.
So about this line, it went out the door. One women told us that there used to be a take a number system. But apparently they changed that. Someone thought that having a security guard act as a line monitor was more efficient. Oh, and of the four windows available, only two women were working, well for at least a little while. After half an hour or so, one went to lunch. That means one cashier for a line of 200 people. Then, just as I was approaching the window, the women came back from lunch. Her counterpart basically stopped in the middle of the transaction of the man ahead of me and just left. So he finished his transaction with my cashier. Then we finally paid.
Apparently many people wait in line and pay cash, because wasting two hours in line each month is easier than setting up automatic withdrawal from the bank. We are now trying to set up the automatic withdrawal. We got the form, but the bank said that first the insurance office needs to sign it. The insurance office then said that the bank needs to sign it first. So back to the bank and the women there said we need to sign it, then make four copies and come back the next day.
So, to generalize my complaint, the problem with this country is that there is no standard procedure for anything, and when there is, no one actually knows the process or if they do, no one follows it...
So, what shall I complain about first. I think our attempts to get me a work visa is at the top of the list. My tourist visa expired on December 30th. So, for the month prior, Carlos and I were researching and collecting what documents we needed (yep, I'm working for him now) and even my parents were getting diplomas apostilled for me prior to their visit. We called our lawyer here about once a week and she assured us that we had all the documents that we needed. Well, she was wrong. Really wrong.
For the past three weeks, yes even during the holidays when practically everything is closed, we have been getting calls from the lawyer everyday, saying that we need one more form. Actually, we are now working with one of her partners since he has deemed her incompetent on this issue.
Carlos did most of the running around, since lots of the documents needed applied to him rather than me. But I did join him for one round of documentation. It was terrible. Apparently, for my work visa, I need some insurance that is like social security. But I need to pay for the month of December (yes, even though I am not working that month and am still a tourist at that point). First I need an ID number. Carlos got that for me last week (I don't know how, but he did). But we had to pay the insurance in person. So we went to the institute to pay. I waited in line for over two hours before I even got close to the cashier. During this time, Carlos was running around, making sure there was money in the parking meter, getting the receipt that we needed to pay, getting money (we had not brought enough since we didn't know that we had to pay for him and me at the same time), and asking basic questions that no one could answer.
So about this line, it went out the door. One women told us that there used to be a take a number system. But apparently they changed that. Someone thought that having a security guard act as a line monitor was more efficient. Oh, and of the four windows available, only two women were working, well for at least a little while. After half an hour or so, one went to lunch. That means one cashier for a line of 200 people. Then, just as I was approaching the window, the women came back from lunch. Her counterpart basically stopped in the middle of the transaction of the man ahead of me and just left. So he finished his transaction with my cashier. Then we finally paid.
Apparently many people wait in line and pay cash, because wasting two hours in line each month is easier than setting up automatic withdrawal from the bank. We are now trying to set up the automatic withdrawal. We got the form, but the bank said that first the insurance office needs to sign it. The insurance office then said that the bank needs to sign it first. So back to the bank and the women there said we need to sign it, then make four copies and come back the next day.
So, to generalize my complaint, the problem with this country is that there is no standard procedure for anything, and when there is, no one actually knows the process or if they do, no one follows it...
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