For not having a job, I seem to spend an endless amount of time running in circles. The city is full of traffic circles so maybe they're rubbing off.
Take today, for example. Ibis had the day off so we were supposed to go to the grocery store and market, write a few letters in Spanish to help me get an FM3 visa, take me to a lab to have some blood work done, then give a tour of our condo development.
He stopped by work because he no longer wants to work nights and wanted to tell them to switch him to another position. This was supposed to take an hour, two at most, but it took almost four. It worked out because he was given a day job as the waiters' captain at the pool - right up his alley. Meanwhile I was at home twiddling my thumbs because I need him for my tasks.
He picked me up and we raced through the store, inhaled our lunch, then left again to meet these people. I met them yesterday and they'd like to by a condo here so we arranged to show them our development. Who knows if it'll turn into anything, but after so much time of doing nothing, it's nice to help people.
After that we went to the market for our weekly supply of fruit. He leaves for class in an hour so I have a little time to myself, but when he gets back we're supposed to hang out with our neighbors. This was not run by me before he committed.
So, I have three hours to critique a chapter for a friend, write a couple letters in Spanish, edit my own work since I didn't do any yesterday, and comment for a blog blitz I'm taking part in. I realize this sounds like a typical day for most of you, but I don't understand how my day gets away from me sometimes. (Actually I do, I just don't like to blame him in public.)
Tomorrow we'll get the bloodwork done and finish up the letters, which are for a potential job I found. A new sports bar opened up near the beach and the owner offered me a waitressing job. I hung out there yesterday to meet the other employees and get a feel for the place, and it seems like a good place to work. I can't work until I get a work visa, but she's willing to wait until I'm legit - very cool!
Before you ask, the bloodwork is routine, just follow-up for some medicine I was taking. No need to be concerned. :)
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9 comments:
Hello, Melanie!
Great work, thank you.
Have a good day
Wow! I can totally relate. My day was spent spinning in circles, so to speak, in my kitchen. My Internet connection went down so I spent two hours being ticked off. A lot of time on the phone, then time on the forums, and very little time spent actually working. Feeling crappy about it, too. Bah. I should at least confine my whining to my own blog!! LOL
Running around in circles, that too is often what my days are like-litterally sometimes as my toddler likes to run around the island in the kitchen (LOL). Seriously though, be glad that you were not dealing with such work-suffering mundane tasks with a toddler in tow. ;)
Work visas can be such a pain in the rear end — not because they're necessarily hard to get, but just because of all the paperwork. I spent four months in Ireland on a student visa and one of my group almost had to hire a lawyer when she tried to change her student visa to a work visa because she decided to stay for at least a year.
I work in international business and,as you no doubt are learning, Americans have a unique sense of efficiency. It can be frustrating when life events aren't so concrete as they are in the states.
My husband is European and I am often sucked in with promises of 'just an hour' that end up being four hours. Drives. Me. Nuts.
M
Thanks for the sympathy everyone! I've written a draft of my letter & I'm sending my husband to the Immigration office to make sure I have everything. (I just had my blood drawn so I'm still a little wobbly.)
Demented - you nailed it with the efficiency thing. Being married to a Mexican, I've relaxed a little, but not that much!
I am never quite sure where my day goes. I guess some things in my life take longer than I expect them to.. but mostly it just seems like my days speed by and hopefully I got the most important things done.
Of course.. it doesn't help that I get sucked into people's blogs and have to read the last 15 entries... LOL Seems like an hour has gone by when I come up for air.
Getting a visa here was comparatively easy for me. Well, except for the massive crowds at the immigration and the lineups. Being able to work here, for me, was as simple as getting a spousal residency visa.
Unfortunately, I have to renew that visa every two years for the rest of my life. Which means an hour or two of waiting in yet more lineups in between a grand total of about two minutes of work done by officials who scan my previous application and sign on the line. Horrible inefficiency combined with them taking very very long lunch breaks, coming in late to the office, leaving early for the day, and so on. Oh, to be a government worker...
Hah! I wish it were that easy here. We were just at the immigration office and there is no simple way for me to get a longer visa. Grr.
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