As we prepared for our year in Latvia, we knew that we were required to obtain a visa, since we are going to stay longer than 90-days. The process entails a lot of paperwork, both on our part and from the Cesis Church. Everything from medical permits to housing leases have to be documented, signed and stamped.
Pastor Olegs has worked diligently to get everything prepared to be be submitted. We were informed that we could take our application to the Immigration Dept. in Riga (the capital city). Olegs made the appointment and we found out that we had been misinformed. We must go to an embassy in a foreign country and make application there. They will then send the application back to the Immigration Dept in Riga where we were trying to apply in the first place. Makes perfect government sense, right?
So, Agris (head of the deacons) said he would take us to Tallin, Estonia so we could turn our papers in at the Latvian embassy. This was great offer because it would save us a bus ride, etc.
We head out at 6:00am on Thursday for the 3.5 hour trip. Reinis, one of the young men is along with us as he is a pretty good translator. It is really a beautiful drive as the highway goes up the coast of Latvia and through the pine forests.
Before we left we had all double-checked that we had our passports but when we get to the border Agris realizes that he doesn't have the van's 'passport'! We tried all of the tricks for the border guard to let us through but to no avail. He wasn't going to let us proceed no matter what. I was wishing for Tony Garza who always takes care of these problems when we cross the Mexico border with the mission teams.
The only thing to do was to turn around and back-track to Cesis for the correct paperwork. We decided we would rather walk on the beach than to ride the same road we had just come on so we took a two-hour break and enjoyed the Baltic Sea.
Agris makes a flying trip back to Cesis, returns to pick us up and we make it across the border this time. We even brought a few smiles and chuckles to the same border guards who wouldn't let us across in the first place.
The next stop is for water and some snacks. The Estonian krooner is approximately .11 for one American dollar. So when you look at the price of bag of chips it will be like $7.50. It works out all the same but it is sure strange to pay $7.50 for a small bag of chips.
No further problems on the trip to Tallin; we're just having a good time going through the small towns, beautiful country-side, coastal views in some place. (there are no interstate type highways).
We reach Tallin and I really experienced the idea of muli-culturism. We stop for directions at a small store. I know the address for the embassy so I'm asking in English, Reinis is speaking in Latvian but the lady in the store is speaking Estonian. Finally, we get another lady and she is able to understand Russian which Agris speaks very well (had to serve in the Soviet army). So it is Russian, Estonian, Latvian, and English all being spoken at once! It was a pretty interesting conversation to say the least.
We get to the Embassy and there is a nice sign that informs us that they are only open from 10:00am to 12:00pm. Since it was already 1:00pm, I'm thinking the worst. There was a small buzzer on the door and we finally got someone to talk with us. She was very adamant that there was no one there to accept any visa documents. I finally told her that the Immigration Dept. in Riga had told us to come there. She then became very nice, unlocked the electronic lock and we were in. Sure enough, no one else was there but these two women. They were very nice and took all of our paperwork ... no problems. When it came for me to pay, she informed me it would be $400 in euros. Now, Latvia and Estonia are NOT on the euro system. I asked her if I could possibly pay in lats (I had brought enough especially for that purpose) and she said no, only in euros. It was euros or nothing!
We get directions from the embassy to the nearest bank. I have no idea how many lats it will take to get $400 euros. We go to the bank, I count out my lats and ask how many euros can I get for all of this? They tell me $375 euros ... so I look around for an ATM and they don't have one. She tells me where to go to find one. I hike down the street to another bank ... find the ATM. There is an ATM repair man working on the ATM next to mine. I ask him if this machine gives out euros as well as Estonian krooners? He looks at me with disgust and says that machine only gives out OUR money. Pardon me! So I withdraw a bunch of krooners and head back to the first bank. I exchange all of my lats for euros and then some of my krooners for euros until I reach the magical $400 euro mark. I'm sure hoping the nice lady was honest because I have no idea how much I gave her.
We hoof it back up to the embassy, hoping the lady is still there and is going to buzz us in again. We get inside, give her the money and she tells us she will send all of the paperwork back to Riga and we can check there in a few days for approval. How much simpler would it have been to save everybody the trouble and just let us turn it in there in the first place but .... then we wouldn't have had the adventure of the great visa escapade.
A great trip back to Latvia ensued and we stopped again on a nice beach. Agris (an avid wind-surfer, by the way) decided to go swimming, while Laura, Reinis and I were beach combing. A good meal and we were back into Cesis by dark.
Loti paldies Agris and Reinis. We'd never had made it without you!
Stay tuned for the next episode!
No comments:
Post a Comment