I thought my two bureaucratic issues were separate, but today they joined forces against me!

First, the good news — I think. I went to FedEx and sent off my newly minted fingerprints to the fingerprint people in Toronto. They should get them on Monday, and will be able to send them to the RCMP and start the next phase of the residency application. When I finished at FedEx this morning I was feeling pretty good.

However …

Cecilia and I trotted down to the Aduana, paperwork in hand as instructed, to see if we were now cleared to go to the boxes. Sadly, no. First, the guy who attended us last week was off sick, so the other three (count ’em, three!) people who had a lengthy discussion about the “problem” were new to us, and we were new to them.

They pointed out that I was a temporary resident, which of course I knew. My “precaria” expires on February 24, so technically at that point I would have to leave the country unless I have permanent status by that time. That might actually have been feasible if we hadn’t had to redo the fingerprints and all that entails, so now there’s no way I will have permanent status by February 24. However, Silvina is going to renew the precaria for a further three months, which is apparently quite normal. So now I’ve been told I have to go back when I have the new precaria and they can proceed. I can’t fathom the logic, because I will still be a temporary resident. Am I missing something?

Last week I thought I was getting closer to my boxes, but today, not so much.

Of course, today was the hottest, stickiest day of the summer and by the time we had stood waiting for all this figuring out, I was reduced to a greasy spot. Cecilia and I decided we needed a reward, so we went to the Sheraton and had a pisco sour! (After my trip to Chile with Venetia, pisco sour at the Sheraton is becoming something of a go-to remedy for life’s little ups and downs!)

Stay tuned!