In my experience
of trying to initiate and maintain a blog (with my first, failed attempt being
found here: perfectlypeachy.blogpot.com), the first post is the most difficult.
I’ve spent too much trying to come up with something profound to say, getting my
thoughts on paper, and then deleting and starting over again, and again. Alas,
I have nothing profound to say, which is likely partially explained by the
state of “brain-dead” that typically accompanies the last few weeks of the
semester.
I’m scheduled to
leave for Delhi a week from yesterday (see details in the "About" page), and until a few days ago, I had a
surprising sense of calmness about the trip. I’ve gathered most of the clothes
and belongings (my suitcase has been nearly packed for about a month—neurotic
over-preparedness, I know), and I have looked over my packing list too many
times. I was actually concerned about how relaxed I was feeling. This NEVER
happens; surely, I had to be missing something…I had, and it happened to be
something rather significant.
While
procrastinating from my final papers and projects on Friday evening, I decided
to browse the U.S. Bureau of Consular Affairs website, just for fun. I started to
panic when I read that, "All U.S. citizens
need a valid passport and valid Indian visa to enter and exit India for any
purpose." and "U.S. citizens wishing to visit India are responsible
for requesting the correct type of visa from the Indian Embassy or
Consulate." ummm, what? I’ve traveled abroad plenty of times for periods
up to three months at a time, and I have never been required to have a visa. I
frantically searched the web, hoping I just misunderstood what I had read.
However, there was a lot of clarity in the consular’s statement that, “If you
don’t have a valid visa you may be immediately deported.”…to me, that
sounds like serious business. I quickly sent an email to Kim, a friend who is
living in Delhi and has been my main go-to person in planning my trip, hoping
she could point me in the right direction. I went to bed that night seriously
hoping that my panic was unwarranted, and that I’d wake up to an email from Kim
telling me that I was catastrophizing the whole thing—I’m an independent and
educated lady with a decent amount of experience traveling abroad, surely I
couldn’t have missed something so important, right?
Wrong. Kim let me know
that I do, in fact, need a tourist visa to get into India, but said that if I
take care of it ASAP, I might actually get it in time. Unfortunately, the
Indian consulate office often requires that you make a reservation at the
nearest Indian consulate—which happens to be in Chicago. The website
wasn’t much help and is quite confusing, and because it was the weekend, I have to wait until Monday to reach them by phone. I had planned all
along to drive to Chicago on Thursday night after I finished up the last of my
school and work responsibilities, spend Friday at my parents’ home near Chicago
making last-minute preparations, and leave from O’hare on Saturday. Since I
can’t get to Chicago earlier this week, I currently have an appointment at the
Indian consulate on Friday and, assuming I don’t have any problems in getting
my visa approved (although, I’ve learned that I too often assume wrong :/),
I’ll get it by the end of the day on Friday, and still be able to leave
Saturday. Talk about procrastination!
I’ve been encouraged by
other Indian travelers to find “humor in the chaos,” so I suppose this is the
first test of my ability to do so. I keep telling myself that even though the
inconvenience of trying to obtain a visa within days of when I’m scheduled to
leave is seriously not cool, its much
better that I found this out now, and not when I arrive in India and am
subsequently deported.
Just for fun, I gasped when I pulled out my travel documents and took a look at my most recent (and
extremely unflattering!) passport picture from when I was 17. Oh my, I do not miss those painfully awkward adolescent years. I cannot wait
until 2015 when I can have it renewed and have a hopefully, less embarrassing, picture taken.
Then, while completing
the online visa application, I was required to submit a recent, passport-sized.
When I looked through my photos searching for an acceptable picture, I considered
sending in this one…
Obviously not a recent
photo, but certainly one of my favorites (it was taken my senior year of college when I let my friend, Steph, cut
my bangs). I was hoping the Indian consulate would have a sense of humor
and pity, and approve my visa application. This is not the picture I sent in,
btw.
Anyway, my fingers are crossed
that, the next time I update, I will have a visa in my hands and will be on my
way to India! Thanks for reading!
