Paciencia

I have never really considered myself too terribly spoiled (gulp...as I type on my personal computer, check my cell phone, and download music to my IPOD - I am sooooo guilty). Nonetheless, I have still always thought of it in terms of products instead of services. It has really hit home this week that I am a much much bigger instant-gratification -addict than I previously thought. The concept that there aren't any new phone numbers available in Costa Rica is foreign to me, that if you don't have a phone (land line or cell), the wait is five months, por lo menos. If you want to pay a bill, you go to the bank and deposit the money in the person's account - that way you are the one walking around with all the cash, not your landlady. You don't want to walk around with cash because then you are a target, but you need to carry cash because you can only use cash. You hide money in all of your pockets to try and spread it out - I am sure the laundry service folks make a killing by just checking all of the pockets when people drop their clothes! My friend Megan told me that once she had to travel quite a long ways in San Jose with her passport, so she duct-taped it to her leg, which worked great until she had to remove it. I think she lost a whole layer of skin. Painful. But not as painful as losing your passport. However, I think that the whole safety thing could turn into a very effective savings plan for me...too much effort!

Take today for instance, part 52 in the ongoing series of "How To Get My *#@! Documents Approved". I called the Ministry of Foreign Relations for instructions. I was told the following - deposit $80 (for four documents) into this account number and bring the receipt to us. I have my Spanish teacher call to verify. They say the same. I go to the bank - with my passport bag and money shoved down the front of my pants and an empty purse over my shoulder - and stand in line for over an hour. I make the deposit and take a taxi to the office. I then take a number and wait in a line to buy the stamps, another hour. I then take another number and wait in line for 2 hours. Although all of us have been instructed to take a number, there are people who come in and ignore that fact, walk right up to the desk, and simply shove their papers into the hands to the attendant, who always takes them, which then sparks a constant stream of people engaging in the same behavior. Injustice!! This is injustice!! Finally, they call number #63. I rush to the window, but a lady jumps in front of me at the last minute - no number. I am told to step back and wait my turn. Not fair! Not fair! Not fair! - I throw an imaginary temper tantrum in my head, which ends in me being thrown out by the guard and banned from the office forever. I step back silently and wait my turn. Finally, my real turn comes. I am so happy to get to the window. The lady takes one look at my receipt and tells me that this receipt is invalid. You see, I have four documents - I need four separate deposits for $20 each. One deposit of $80 simply is unacceptable. Go back to the bank, have them return your $$, and then have them redeposit it but divide it up into four separate payments. I really really wish they would have told me that when I called. I go back to the bank, stand in line for another hour, and then try to explain to the teller that I need him to return my $$ and then deposit it again. He looks at me like I am crazy. I give him the "Sorry! I am a foreigner...not so bright!" smile/shoulder shrug. He hands me my receipts, I discreetly shove my documents back down my pants, and head home. At this point, it is ten till five. I am calling it a day. Note to self: tomorrow, bring a book, because there will be a line. The trick for me will be to develop enough patience and grace to be thankful for the wait.