No Visa for You!

Going to the Consulate General of Brasil for my Brasilian Visa today reminded me of the soup kitchen episodes on "Seinfeld". I took a number "34" from the machine counter, the lady behind the glass windows was on number "30", and I took a seat. I was prepared with my Visa application, passport-sized photos, money order, itinerary and passport all together, all in order because if I didn't have everything, then I'd have to come back a 3rd time (I went a couple weeks ago but needed the address of the hotels where I'll be staying in Brasil for my application, and I also needed a money order for $100 since cash and checks are no longer accepted). Didn't want that.

Most of the people before me succeeded at turning in their paperwork as appropriate for their forthcoming Visa, but there were a few who were turned away, told they needed more documentation, made to wait a little longer, "No soup for you!" or "No Visa for you!" (she didn't say that, but those who didn't succeed, walked out with their head hanging low like those customers on "Seinfeld" who didn't get their soup). She yelled at a lady for trying to finagle her way through having a birth certificate that didn't match the name on her passport. "You Americans do whatever you like here, but NOT in Brasil!" Oooook, hee hee, it was almost comical, but I knew I couldn't laugh, she'd remember me and hurt me later. Ha! I thought to myself, if I just follow the protocol and have everything prepared, I'll be in and out of here with my Visa ready in a week. Greet her with a smile, don't look her in the eye too long, don't fidget too much, give her everything she needs to put my paperwork through, plain and simple.

34! OK! I sprang to my feet! I greeted her with a smile, she smiled back. I sat down and neatly laid everything out for her to plainly see and access. She inspected my application with hawk eyes looking for errors and reasons to send me away. "I will need your itinerary." Ok, I brought it along just in case, woo, thank goodness I did. She checked off my flights in and around Brasil, my hotels, my plans, my life - hee hee, dramatics inserted here. I shifted in my seat ever so slightly so as not to give her the sense I was being impatient. She wrote me a receipt for my money order, took out my passport and compared it to my application and itinerary, placed my passport together with my paperwork and yelled out, "Come back Thursday for your Visa!"

I was finished? I passed? Oh what a sigh of relief. With a big smile on my face, I skipped out of the office. Obrigado! Thank you! I will have my Visa (soup) soon! :)