So, when I imagined the official term 'visa application' and paired it with the mountain of paperwork that I've painstakingly completed, I pictured meeting with a man in a suit and sitting in his office for hours at end, arguing that I didn't have the correct form. You can understand that I was a little surprised when I met Fernando, a cute eighteen year old in an abrecrombie shirt through the window. It turns out we didn't need half of the paperwork we brought, and that speaking english is not a requirement if you want to work at the embassy. Fernando would point at a form, "You need...en España...dis form en Spanish, when you en España." I got by with my minimal language skills and was able to understand a lot of what he said, but, all in all, the Visa application was incredibly easy. I've heard that it was a lot worse for other kids, but maybe the consulate in DC is less strict compared to New York and the others.
My mom and I were in disbelief when we left, and tried to get a picture of the embassy, but the camera on her phone was so horrible that I'll show you one from Goggle. I was cursing myself for not bringing my new Nikon s28000--it was my birthday present to myself. The present from my parents was a fourteen thousand dollar trip to Spain.
After the incredible relief of getting that over with, but also the terror at leaving my passport with the embassy, my mother and I did touristy things around America's Capital. We took a tour of the esteemed Georgetown University, my dream school, did some shopping, and went to Georgetown Cupcake, subject of the popular TV show 'Cupcake Wars.' We spent the night at my mom's friend's horse farm in Virginia, then made the five hour trip back home. It was a fun and rewarding trip.
I leave for Spain in a little more than a month, and I couldn't be more excited.
