Whoa

The people at the French consulate very rarely answer the phone.  I can sort of understand this because the visa process is so confusing that if they did answer the phone, they would never actually get anything done.  I tried calling them all day on Tuesday and didn't succeed in getting them until Tuesday evening.  I asked if they had received my information faxed from the ANAEM office in France (which I knew the office had sent), and they said no.  I immediately starting crying again, then waited until two in the morning here when I could call France and called my boss who called the office.  The office had even received confirmation from the Atlanta office that they had received the papers, but I guess someone lost them or something.  She asked them to fax the information again on Wednesday morning.  All day Wednesday I tried to call the consulate again to see if they had received it, but no one answered.  On Wednesday afternoon I drove to Birmingham because I had a visa appointment on Thursday.  Without knowing whether they had my contract or whether I would be able to get my visa, I had to drive to Atlanta because the office wouldn't answer the phone.   In my head, I started having to plan alternatives--what to do if I didn't get my visa--buy yet another plane ticket--or even get stuck in the United States this year.  

I stayed with Brittani on Wednesday in Birmingham and Thursday morning drove to Atlanta.  Carlos was a good navigator, and I made it to the office with no problem.  By some miraculous...miracle they had my contract this time, and within 30 minutes I had my visa.  After a little jump and a scream for joy, I decided to take Carlos around Atlanta as a sort of reward for being so patient and helpful through my crisis.  We went to CNN headquarters and got the tour and bummed around Centennial park before heading back to Birmingham.

I hadn't made any plans with anyone in Birmingham on Friday because part of me was expecting to have to spend the night in Atlanta to take care of all of the visa stuff.  But as it turned out, I had time to take Carlos around--to the botanical gardens, to BSC, and to the Summit.  It was kind of surreal to be back at my old alma mater, but it was cool to see it again and to run into some of the people there.  We also met up with Dr. Norrell and my cousin Jackie, and later that night Parks, Mattie, Deanna, Brittani, and Adrienne all met us for dinner.  It was kind of strange because there's nothing like seeing your friends for a really short period of time that makes you remember why you like them so much and really miss them.  Seeing everyone this weekend is making it even harder to go back to France.  It is really hard to believe that I am leaving in a few short days.  It feels like I just got back!