Lions and tigers and Patricia! Oh, my!

For the past several months, I have been communicating with a lady named Patricia who works at the Consulate General of Argentina in Houston. To make a long story short, we do not have the warmest relationship. It's sort of an estrogen-filled, modern day version of Hamilton vs. Jefferson. Of course, I am the good guy.

Anyhow, I had been dreading my inevitable encounter with this Cruella Devil. As I walked into the office in Houston, I was relieved to see a man working behind the glass-enclosed desk. I politely told the man that I had an appointment to receive my visa, thinking he would be the one to issue it.

"Sure," he said. "Let me get Patricia."

Well, fantastic. Functioning on only an hour of sleep, I was not entirely confident that I could "play nicely" with this bitch. May the peace be with me, I thought.

A few moments later, a tall, skinny, gorgeous woman walked out from the back of the office. My mind momentarily flashed to that scene in The Shining, where Jack Nicholson peeks in from the hole in the wall and says, "Here's Johnny!"

"HERE'S PATRICIA!"
This was equally, if not more, terrifying than the movie version of this scene.

Patricia was holding all of my documents (which I had sent a few days prior) in her skeletor hands. Good sign, I thought. Then she passed me the checklist, which now had two requirements highlighted. Impossible!

One was the requirement to have a return flight, which I had already discussed with Patricia via email. AFS does not provide a return flight until a few months before I leave. Patricia had assured me that as long as I had an estimated return date, the requirement would be fulfilled.

Secondly, I needed to provide secondary international medical insurance, even though AFS and my mom's insurance cover me fully while abroad. Worst of all, Patricia demanded that I read this requirement ALOUD to her. How condescending!?! At that point, I was so thankful (for Patricia's sake) that that glass was separating us. I have some tempermental Scottish blood running through my veins, and when someone pisses me off, I simply cannot control myself. I transform from Taylor to A-Taylor the Hun.

So, to correct these problems, I contacted AFS in order to book a return flight. I talked to three different people, only to be connected with the travel coordinator in NYC. As for the medical insurance, my cousin Stephanie (who was hosting us while in Houston) contacted her insurance man, who then connected us with Doug, an insurance guy in NYC. Doug apparently has dealt with the Houston Consulate on multiple occasions and provided us with secondary international medical insurance for the low, low price of $270. I feel like this whole experience has been one long MasterCard commercial.

Translations:$250
International Medical Insurance: $270
Two tickets to Houston: $700
The wonderful experience in Argentina: Priceless

Luckily, everything worked out and I will be getting my visa in the mail in about 2 days.

Oh, forgot to mention this. In the waiting room at the Houston Consulate, I met a man named Jeff. As I was talking with him, I learned that he is from Fort Collins and has lived in Buenos Aires for about 5 years. Although he was a bit evasive about his line of work, he told me that if I ever needed anything while I was in Argentina, he is close friends with the Swedish Ambassador to Argentina. SWEET! We exchanged information and I plan to contact him before I leave to thank him for his kindness. He had overheard my conversation with Patricia and said, "You know, the people are REALLY nice once you actually get to Argentina." I will be holding him to that!