VISA

On the morning of Monday, December 15, Jane and I took Mary H., my friend from NC downtown.  Were we going sight-seeing?  No.  We were going to do paperwork!  (And shop for luggage as it turned out)

Our first stop was at the Secretary of State's office to get a couple of documents apostilled.  Never heard of it?  Neither has my spell-check!  According to the WA Secretary of State website, "An 'apostille' is a form of authentication issued to documents for use in countries that participate in the Hague Convention of 1961."   Now you've got it, right?  I found the process for getting such a thing done was much easier than understanding what it actually was!  Ten minutes in the office and we were on our way!

Next stop: Ecuadorian consulate.  Our wait here was a little lengthier, but we were still finished in a surprisingly reasonable amount of time.  I obtained a two-year missionary visa with no difficulty.  The one "hitch" was the picture.  Apparently I was supposed to bring one.  I didn't.  No problem.  They can take it there.  Great!  Oh, you want to know when we are actually going to take the picture so you can look at the camera and look somewhat normal?  We didn't think of that.  Oh well.  This will work.  Thank you, and have a nice day.  :)  Maybe this is actually what I look like most of the time, anyway!

Oh, yes.  We did end up getting to do a little touristing after all.  Mary took all those pictures, however, so I have nothing to show for it.  (Except for two lovely purple suitcases that I brought with me to Ecuador)