Wow! Yesterday was a crazy and totally exhausting day! I started out SO nervous and jsut got increasingly more relaxed (and also tired) as the day went on. We got up at about 8:45 and still managed somehow to get out the door by 9:30. After a quick stop at WaWa for breakfast and gas, we were on the road. The drive up was pleasantly uneventful, and the directions Scott found were perfect. (i have no *idea* that the Google directions woulda been like, but i do know they were much more involved.) We managed to find a parking garage just directly across from the Passport Office. Let me interrupt myself here to say that I iabsolutely LOVE Washington DC. I love the architecture, the beauty of the buildings, the way it jsut feels so clean and positive. Every time I go there I jsut feel so happy, excited, and proud to live in this country. It definitely improves my outlook. Now- back to the story! There was a fairly rigorous security process upon entry to the passport office. We had to show photo ID, empty pockets, get bags x-rayed and go through a metal detector (YAY for my PTFE navel ring!) and then be sorted into the correct line. We then checked in for our appt at a window by giving all of our documents to a lady to assemble into packets for more efficient processing and were given a number before being seated in teh waiting area. We were first seated next to a mother and son who were travelling to St Martens the very next day (today). they were from near us in Chesterfield County, and the little boy was sooooo cute! They'd been there on Friday and had to come back, so it was great to see the relief on the mother's face when they left with their passports. After and hour of waiting, (we'd gotten there early, so really it was right on time) we were called up to process our paperwork. When the nice man at the window asked when we were going, i replied in a strained voice "Friday..." which Scott followed with "Which is why we'd really like to get this all done today, since we haveto go apply for visas at the Philippine embassy as well." Not wanting to make a promis he couldnt keep, the manwent to talk with his supervisor, and when he returned it was with good news that they'd be processed and available for pickup that same day! We were instructed to be back in the building no later than 3PM, which is when they close the doors for the day. Everyone already inside gets to stay until their stuff is ready, but otherwise you have to come back the next business day, i guess. we had about 90 minutes, so we decided to walk over to the Philppines Embassy to see what we could find out. It was a quick and fun little walk (about 5 blocks) and when we got there we were informed that the visa processing would take overnight. So, at this point, with no real idea of when the passports would be ready, and knowing we needed them to apply for our visas, it looked like we would be in DC up to another 2 days to get the visas taken care of. This was not pleasing to either of us, but especially not to Scott who wanted to wrap some things up at work and really didn't want to do all that driving. We headed back in the direction of the passport office, Stopping for lunch ad a busy but good place called Jack's Fresh. i had a turkey club, and Scott had a california chicken sandwich. We got back to the passport office before 3 and dropped off our pickup slip, then returned to the waiting area. I passed the time by talking to a young couple who was leaving in less than 24h to go to Cancun. They were really nice, and the time passed very quickly. We ere called up and given our passports at 3:45, and in hopes of being able to apply for the visas, stay the night in town, (on the company's dime of course) and have everything finished in time to go home Tuesday night, we took off running (almost) for the Embassy. Unfortunately, upon submission of our applications we found out that they wouldnt be ready till Wednedsay after 4 PM. So, we stopped for coffee on the way back to the car and made the drive home in surprisingly light rush hour traffic. A mostly successful but exhausting day.
embassy? are u going abroad ?
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