Immigration

Early this a.m. we ventured out to acquire our resident identification cards that are necessary for living here. I think it is the last step in our Visa, resident process. We had no idea what to expect, except that this outing could take all day.

Lots of HEAVY pollution in the downtown area of Lima; so much so that I could hardly breathe. We were greeted by a mad house at the Immigration Office and having 4 kids with us didn't seem to make the process speed up. Fortunately, we had an IMB representative, who is also a National, with us. We would've failed miserably without her. She told us NOT to speak any Spanish. Well, I messed up one time and she gave me the eye, but I kept it under wraps (at least while we were standing at the counter) after that.

4 hours later we walked away with our cards. You read that right! 4 hours later. And I must say that today was the BEST day I have had here in Lima so far. Truly!

We met an American family from Arequipa, Peru that was in town for the day working on some immigration stuff. They had 5 children (by the way, Marisa, if you are reading this, please send me your blog and e-mail, because I think someone ate it) about the same ages as ours and for almost 2 hours our kids had best-friends and I had a fellow American mom with many children to converse with. It was beautiful!

After they left, I befriended another woman, a Peruvian national. She was a delight to speak with and we hit it off very well. We exchanged numbers and she said she would love to teach me how to cook Peruvian food (her suggestion) and that if there was ANYTHING, ANYTHING, ANYTHING that I needed, to please call her. She has a 1 1/2 year old baby and stays home. I hope she will be my first new national friend. Her name is Kary.

We treated the kids to McDonalds Happy Meals as a "thank you" for behaving so splendidly in the madhouse of immigration. The day was void of whining, fighting, tantrums and potty breaks (only 1). The kids didn't even get lunch until 2:15 p.m. and were still abundantly pleasant. I Definitely feel that the effects of me being home with them again are starting to ripple into our everyday life in a very positive way.

Who knew a day at the immigration office would be a day of thrills and my favorite day here so far.

P.S. Thanks to my friend Jenn for calling my mom.

P.S.S. This website has changed my perspective and brought it back to Christ in a beautiful way - www.aholyexperience.com