VISA: OBTAINED.

Well, to make a long story short (except for not, because I'm pretty sure it was mentioned in every blog I wrote), I did end up getting my French visa. I went back down to New York City with a friend a few weeks ago and picked it up. The scary lady was still there, of course, and still just as scary. Last time she had asked me for a letter from my university (which I didn’t have) but I gave her a copy of my Pitt ID instead. I [incorrectly] assumed that this was sufficient, because she didn’t say anything like, you know, “when you come back, bring me a letter from your university”.

So after showing up to the consulate at 9am, waiting for about an hour in the holding pen upstairs, my name gets called. I go up to the desk and give the lady my receipt and passport. She asks me if I have the letter from my university. “Uhh… no. I have my school ID?” (which I have since lost, by the way. If anyone from Pitt has found it, please let me know…)

She scowled at me and was like “No, I already have a copy of your ID. See? I need a letter.” “Oh, I’m sorry, I misunderstood. I thought that my ID was sufficient.”

And here, she turns to the woman in the booth next to her and is like “Oh, well, she misunderstood.” And tells me to sit back down. So I do, and I happen to overhear the girl next to me say that she’s leaving in two days and still doesn’t have her visa. It was her third time to the consulate. Hmm… reassuring.

After about 20 minutes of freaking out, I finally hear my name called again. I didn’t know if she was calling me up to yell at me again and tell me to come back, or what. But when I get to the window, she glares at me, shoves my passport and my OFII form through the slit under the window, and lets me go. YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS.

On my way out of the office, I stop by the security guard’s booth thing. I ask him if he found a scarf a few weeks ago, and he turns it over. Another success. I leave with my $300+ visa and my $7 scarf.

So that was a huge load off. I’m not finished, though. of course. Once I get to France I need to go get some forms taken care of and get a medical examination and other run wastes of my time.

I would like to post of photo of my visa here- I put one up on my Facebook- but it has my full name on it, so I’ll just have to let you all leave it to your imaginations.