Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Viva USA and the Irish Postal Service!!

In October Marco and I are going back to the US for a few weeks to take care of some things. While we are there, Marco is going to be working with a professor at Northwestern University in Chicago. This professor was visiting the university in Galway over the summer and it worked out perfectly since they do work in the same area! Even though we are married, Marco still requires a visa to enter the US at this point. So, we made an appointment at the US embassy in Dublin and headed off on another "visa adventure". When we arrived at the embassy, we were both very impressed with the efficiency and order. Everyone from the security guards to the visa officer were extremely courteous and professional. Just watching how the staff interacted with people of all nationalities made us both realize that the US is a very open-minded and tolerant culture in general. Although we have been treated very well here in Ireland and by most of the embassies we have visited, we have seen that not everyone is treated the same way.

After we checked in, we joined the dozens of other people waiting to be called to the window for service. We heard lots of names being called, mostly of Irish people planning to visit the US. Then, all of a sudden, we heard "Marco Antonio Zuniga Zamalloa......numero uno, por favor." We certainly weren't expecting to hear Spanish at this point! We approached the window and the visa officer (who happened to be Irish) greeted us in Spanish and proceeded to ask Marco questions in Spanish! I told the guy that Marco speaks English, but he laughed and said he wanted to practice. :) He then asked why Marco had a Peruvian passport instead of one from Arequipa. Any Peruvians will understand this. Marco was born in a city named Arequipa and apparently people there feel like people from Texas.....they are their own country! Anyway, it was super funny that this guy knew anything about that. It turns out his wife had lived in Peru for several years and speaks fluent Spanish, so he had been there a few times himself. The best part about the experience was that they granted a 10 year visa to Marco!!!! Now, that was so nice to hear after all of the drama we have had with European embassies only granting short-term visas after requiring a ton of documentation. Anyway, viva USA!!!!

So, each time you apply for a visa you have to leave your passport with them, along with all of the documentation, and then you wait for them to process it and mail you the passport. Well, we were at the embassy on a Monday morning...yesterday. We must have left there around 10:30am to catch the bus back to Dublin. They still had to do whatever it is they do to process the visa paperwork. This morning (Tuesday) at about 8:30am our doorbell rang. It was the postman with the passport in hand! Unbelievable.... viva Irish mail!!!!!

This simple experience reminded Marco why he loves the USA and it also made me proud to be an American. :o)

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