I'm off to PERU...YAAY!

HOWEVER, I wasn't sure if I would be calling the airlines (AGAIN) to change my flight reservations at the last minute!  My passport arrived back to me THE SAME DAY I WAS SCHEDULED TO FLY OUT.  Talk about cutting it close! I was panicking up to the last minute because the DR consulate in New York sat on my passport up until ONE WEEK prior to me departing.  They hadn't even PROCESSED my Visa a week before traveling. I was livid!

 

I had been reaching out to my attorney weeks before my departure for an update and she advised me that they were still processing it.  I got tired of hearing that, so I found their phone number and called them for myself.  When I finally go someone on the phone, I was told that the reason my passport had NOT been processed yet was because my attorney had NOT submitted the processing fee of $135 to begin the process.  I had so many mixed emotions of anger, solidarity, frustration and even calmness. 

 

 Long-Story-Short: I got both my attorney and the consulates' office on the phone to get down to the bottom of everything.  I found out that The DR consulate in NY is notorious for misplacing funds, but my attorney obviously was NOT on top of the status of the process like she led me to believe...that's another story.  In the end, she was able to get them to approve my visa  in 24 hours (which is NOT common) and the consulate in NY overnighted my documents (which is also NOT common).  However, the straw that broke the camel's back for me in dealing with this particular consulate office was that I directly spoke with the lady that would be processing & shipping my documents and I had specifically requested PRIORITY OVERNIGHT\SATURDAY delivery...since everything was already approved. This office knew me very well in a weeks time.  It's funny, as soon as they heard my voice, they addressed me as "Si, Si, Yes, Sonya, Hi...blah blah blah". Well, I had asked them for the tracking number so that I can track it considering that I was scheduled to fly out from DFW at 7pm on Saturday. However, when I looked on line Saturday morning to track my passport, I saw that the shipment had indeed arrived at my local Fed Ex, BUT the nitwit that shipped it failed to put SATURDAY delivery!!  So It showed that it would arrive at my doorstep  by 8am on MONDAY. GEEEZ! I simply grabbed my purse and keys and drove over to my local FED EX office to pick up my passport that Saturday morning.  Luckily I had already packed my bags and simply needed to say my final good byes to my loved ones.  I made 2 stops in Fort Worth and another stop at my local Walmart for a couple of last minute items, then my husband drove me to the airport. 

 

You can check out my traveling scenes on Youtube (may not be finished downloading...) HERE: