Melbourne

We arrived in Melbourne after five flights (CUE-UIO-MIA-LAX-SYD-MEL) and two days.  I won't rant about how much the airlines in US really suck, but US domestic flights are an abomination.  I mean, we were treated so much better on the four hour flight from Quito to Miami than we were on the six hour flight from Miami to LA.  We were given food and blankets on the international flight, but on the domestic one we were starved and frozen.  The 15 hour flight from LA to Sydney was a pleasure compared to all the others, even though it was the longest.  It had the best food and service, but probably because it was Quantas rather than American Airlines (even though there was a code share).

Not Every System Here is Broken

While I'm still trying to figure out how to conclude my naturalization process (which now involves my parents' passports, even though people in this country have told me that it is not a sufficient proof of citizenship...I was told that I need a letter or document from the US government to prove that my parents are US citizens...I'm sorry, but considering that you need proof of US citizenship to get a US passport and a US passport can only be issued by the US government, why is it such a document unacceptable?), I have been doing some other paper pushing here in Cuenca.  And it took less than 45 minutes!

Preparing for Oz

I know you've all been waiting for the Australia series, so here it goes...

I should start by mentioning why we ended up in Australia in the first place.  The excuse was my great aunt's 90th birthday (Dad's mom's sister).  When I was home last October, my dad mentioned that he would be going to Australia for a week in December for this birthday party/family reunion.  It tied in perfectly with the week he would spend in Hong Kong for work.  He also mentioned that he was bringing my brother. 

Just When You Thought it was Safe...

So I returned to Quito on Wednesday to finally finish the naturalization process.  I had everything I needed.  All I had to do was go back to the Civil Registry, pay my money, and wait.

The morning went well enough, even though I had to wait two hours for a process that I was told would take half an hour.  But I finally got my papers and all I had to do was walk over to the "rectifications" desk and they would input my data and I would be able to get my ID (NB - apparently I technically am a citizen already, but have no way of proving it until I get my ID, which I need in order to get a passport, which I need to get back into the country if I leave since my work visa expires in three weeks).