Fingers Crossed....

With just under six weeks until I depart for Spain on August 26th, I'm already in a state of panic. Spain, of course, is one of those lovely countries that requires American students to acquire a visa if they plan on staying more than three months. So, after compiling all my documents and sending them home with my family, my best friend went to the Spanish Consulate to turn over the paperwork to apply for my visa.

My phone rang twenty minutes after her scheduled appointment with bad news: They want a letter from Spain that I simply don't have, and won't have until I arrive in Seville.

Needless to stay, I'm completely freaking out and have e-mailed everyone under the sun to find out if I can get this specific letter at all (normally the letters Penn provides you to take to the Consulate are accepted without such a fuss). Currently, no luck. But that's why my fingers are crossed.

Now I don't want to scare anyone from applying for a visa one day, it just so happens that the Spanish Consulate in Chicago is particularly difficult to work with. So for those of you future Spanish travelers -- apply for your visa in New York, which opens its doors to any student whose school is within in its jurisdiction (that includes Philadelphia, thus Penn).

In the meantime, I'm savoring my last few days down the shore before I head back home, and back to work. And if I have to go to that Consulate myself kicking and screaming for that document, I will be taking the train up to Chicago to get the job done.