Paperwork Saga Continued

Yesterday I set out to find the office of SENESCYT (Secretaría de Educación Superior, Ciencia, Tecnología e Innovación) in Quito to register my diploma so that I will later be able to apply for my resident professional visa.  I had a map in my backpack and a phone with unlimited internet data.  I was all set!  Except, I was still able to get lost.  Let me explain, Mom.  I was not this kind of lost: "I am in a dark forest, and I have no idea which way is up.  I will probably never see another human being again."  I was this kind of lost: "I could get back home if I needed to.  I recognize the name of these streets.  I just don't know how to get from here to where I want to go."  That said, I decided to get out my handy dandy phone and use the handy dandy map app to aid me in my pedestrial travels.  (I love making up words!)  Said phone, with aforementioned unlimited internet data, would not connect to the internet.  So much for the handy dandy map app!  I was not in the most convenient spot to whip out a large map of Quito and begin searching for both my current location and desired destination (Not because I was in a dangerous area of town, Mom.  Just because.), so since I was not far from a McDonalds, I decided to enter the famed eating establishment and therein use my map.  Also eat.  As is turned out, I was not far at all from the road I wanted, so after I ate (read: scarfed down) my lunch, I made a made a mad dash to SENESCYT, lest they should close over the noon hour, and I would miss my chance to submit my paperwork.  After one more error (right street, wrong direction), I made it to the appropriate office.  Fortunately, they were not on lunch break, and after a few minutes of waiting, I was called back to Módulo #4 to be attended.  I explained to the nice lady behind the desk that this was my second attempt to register my diploma.

Brief aside:
Immediately after I arrived in Ecuador, back in January, I had made my first attempt to begin this registration process.  I submitted all my paperwork and was told that my diploma would be registered within 45 working days.  Great.  I headed to Manabí as planned.  A week or so later, I received an e-mail from SENESCYT.  "We are sorry, but the university from which you received your diploma is not on our recognized list of universities.  Therefore, we must ask you to submit a copy of your transcripts - both registered and apostilled - as soon as possible."  Perfect.  This was something I had not thought to bring with me to Ecuador.  I responded to Ms. Ordoñez that I would be delighted to present her office with such a document, but I would have to acquire said papers from the United States.  It would take a little time.  The next day, yes, the next day, Ms. O wrote me again.  "We are wondering if you have acquired your university transcripts yet because we really need them as soon as possible."  I'm not an expert on the postal system here, but even if the university people had read my mind about needing transcripts and had put them in the mail the moment I found out I needed them... Anyway...  When I next went to Quito, I visited SENESCYT, and after a brief period of confusion in which they didn't know where my papers (the ones I had already submitted) were, I was able to retrieve everything that I would need for a later re-submission of documents.

Return to original story:
"I was told that in addition to the paperwork I initially presented (hand nice lady said paperwork), I needed to also present a notarized and appostilled copy of my university transcripts (hand nice lady said transcripts)."  "What a relief to finally get this out of the way!" I was thinking to myself.  Ha!  Nice lady says, "This is the original transcript.  We need a copy that has been notarized here in Ecuador."  For real?!  "Fortunately, there is a notary public not very far from here.  Go down the street and turn left."  The line at the notary office was not a fast-moving one, so I waited.  And waited.  Finally, it was my turn.  "You'll please need to make copies of these documents so that we can notarize them."  (She was standing right next to a copy machine.)  Fortunately, there's a wonderful place to get copies downstairs.  Fortunately, I only had four pages to copy, so the dinosaur printer / copier only took 10 minutes to accomplish the job.  By the time I got back upstairs, the line had grown.  Finally, it was my turn.  "We can have these ready for you after 4:00 this afternoon."  (It was 12:30 or so.)  "No sooner?"  Nope.  After 4:00.  I trudged back home.  Straight back home.  Without making detours.  I knew where I was now.  At 4:00 it was raining cats and dogs.  Lightning was striking a little too close for comfort, and the vibrations from the thunder were setting off car alarms all over the place.  I decided paperwork could wait for tomorrow (today).  This morning I left the suite around 8:20 and walked straight to the notary public office.  I did not get lost.  There was NO line.  I got the notarized copy of my transcripts immediately.  This was too good to be true!  I headed around the corner to SENESCYT.  After a short wait, my number was called.  I presented my documents, all in order, to the nice gentleman behind the desk.  "You'll need to fill out a different request form," he told me nicely.  "You've filled out the request form #1.  Because your university is not on the recognized list of universities, you need to fill out the request form #3."  Seriously?!  "Is there any way you can print out that form, so I can fill it out here?"  "No, you have to fill it out on the computer, and print two copies to submit to our office."  Fortunately, there was an internet café just down the street.  I pulled up the required request form online and stared at it.  The only difference between the form that I needed to submit and the one I had tried to submit was that one had a #1 written on the top, and the other one had a #3 written on the top.  The information that I was required to fill out was EXACTLY the same.  There was not one difference.  As I stared at the document trying  to find one itty bitty line that required different information, I wondered, "Could they not cross out the #1 on the form that I have and write a #3?"  Ah well.  Fortunately, this makes my job very easy.  I don't have to come up with any new information.  I can just copy.  Fifteen minutes and 65 cents later, I was en route to SENESCYT again.  The security guard gave me a funny look when I entered the building.  "They keep telling me I need different stuff," I explained.  He smiled.  Perhaps I'm not the only person to go in and out of that edifice three times in two days.  Back at Módulo 4, I handed over all my papers without a word and held my breath.  Check.  Check.  Check.  "We'll have everything ready for you within 60 working days."  "How many days?"  "60 working days."  I did hear that correctly.  Good thing I have a little time to play with; my current visa has two years.  (This is only the beginning of the process.)  Anyway, I left rejoicing that at least the process has now been restarted.  And I'm not going to check my e-mail for a while!