It's Finally Here...I'm Leaving
Today I depart Houston for Delhi. It is so surreal I can hardly believe it. It seems that it was just a month ago (it was) when I decided, to the confusion and surprise of many, that I wanted to go to India. For a while there, I didn't think it was possible, that it was some sort of idle fantasy. Then I really started having my doubts when I attempted to get an Indian visa.
Surprisingly, it wasn't the bureaucratic delays, paperwork, or the interference of the Department of Homeland Security that interfered with the visa process. It was some weird confluence of astrological events, or perhaps my karma. You see, for some reason I had a hell of a time getting the 2 passport pictures needed for an Indian visa application.
I set off to my local Target for the pictures and waited about 10 minutes for my turn only to find out they were out of the picture paper. When would they get a new shipment? Two weeks. No problem, I left for a few other errands and made sure to detour into a small private delivery service whose window flashed "PASSPORT PICS." Super, so again I waited for several minutes, to find out, "Sorry, our camera is broken." At this point I'm pretty grumpy but try to roll with the punches and drop in at a photography studio in a JC PENNEY. Another 10 minutes of my life down the tube while the photographer confirms what I suspected--there are just too many blond, blue-eyed, pastel-wearing toddlers around for him to find time for me today. Come back tomorrow? ARGH! At this point I would normally be pretty ticked off, having wasted more minutes and miles than 2 wallet-sized pictures should ever require. But it occurs to me....I want to go to India, land of 1.1 billion people, notorious for its bureaucratic hurdles, long lines, and erratic pace of life. I decide this is just practice for the real thing, take a calming breath, and drive to a Walgreens back on the other side of town. And....I'm in luck! Well, sort of, since it was about the most ghetto picture-taking operation I've ever seen, with me standing in the middle of a busy aisle under the harsh drugstore lights with an impromptu white placard held up behind my head. But mission accomplished, I got my pictures.
Compared to all that, the actual visa application process was a breeze.
At the end of the day, so what if my visa pictures makes me look like a strung-out serial killer, at least I'm going to India!
Surprisingly, it wasn't the bureaucratic delays, paperwork, or the interference of the Department of Homeland Security that interfered with the visa process. It was some weird confluence of astrological events, or perhaps my karma. You see, for some reason I had a hell of a time getting the 2 passport pictures needed for an Indian visa application.
I set off to my local Target for the pictures and waited about 10 minutes for my turn only to find out they were out of the picture paper. When would they get a new shipment? Two weeks. No problem, I left for a few other errands and made sure to detour into a small private delivery service whose window flashed "PASSPORT PICS." Super, so again I waited for several minutes, to find out, "Sorry, our camera is broken." At this point I'm pretty grumpy but try to roll with the punches and drop in at a photography studio in a JC PENNEY. Another 10 minutes of my life down the tube while the photographer confirms what I suspected--there are just too many blond, blue-eyed, pastel-wearing toddlers around for him to find time for me today. Come back tomorrow? ARGH! At this point I would normally be pretty ticked off, having wasted more minutes and miles than 2 wallet-sized pictures should ever require. But it occurs to me....I want to go to India, land of 1.1 billion people, notorious for its bureaucratic hurdles, long lines, and erratic pace of life. I decide this is just practice for the real thing, take a calming breath, and drive to a Walgreens back on the other side of town. And....I'm in luck! Well, sort of, since it was about the most ghetto picture-taking operation I've ever seen, with me standing in the middle of a busy aisle under the harsh drugstore lights with an impromptu white placard held up behind my head. But mission accomplished, I got my pictures.
Compared to all that, the actual visa application process was a breeze.
At the end of the day, so what if my visa pictures makes me look like a strung-out serial killer, at least I'm going to India!
posted by Julep | 6:20 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home