CENSO...

So after a late night at the bars (which was really fun with the new group), I slept in today. When I got up, I took a shower and then my mom called me for lunch. And guess what?? We had TACOS!! Real tacos, with guacamole and ground beef. Sooo good.

After that, I decided to attempt and get my CENSO so that I can legally leave the country this time. Since CIMAS is no help whatsoever, I attempted to look up the list of things you need to bring with you online. Again, a huge bust. So I called Marlo, and she told me what she could remember, but they only have to renew theirs, so she didn't remember for sure what you need the first time.

So I took what I had and headed to the Immigration Office. When I got there, there was a list posted of all the things you need, but the list was in Spanish, and I didn't really understand what it said. Like what is a "sobre manilla"? "Sobre" means "about" and "manilla" means "envelope" so what is an "about envelope"? One of the things that Marlo said was that there was a little copy shop two buildings down that could help me and make copies if I needed, so I left the Immigration Office and went to try there. Before I left I tried to ask an immigration officer if I had the right things, but all he told me was that I needed color copies (not black and white copies, which I had).

When I got to the copy shop, the lady behind the desk looked at all my stuff and made copies of my passport that I didn't have done, and helped me put the packet together. [By the way, a "sobre manilla" means that they want your packet in an envelope with your personal info on the outside]. She also told me that my black and whites were fine, and I chose to believe her over the other guy at Immigrations. So with packet in hand, I went back to the office and got a number.

And then I waited....

...and waited....

...and after two hours, my number was called. In this time of waiting, I was talking to an English guy about this whole process, and he told me that he thought that you only had one month after arrival to get a CENSO or you had to pay a fine, which his wife told me was about $200. Great. So when my name gets called,  I go up to the counter, and really the actual CENSO-obtaining was not terrible. I had to fill out a form and he looked over my documents, and then he printed it out.

Two hours and four dollars later, I have a CENSO. Apparently the fee is only if you have an unregistered VISA, but mine is registered so it was no big deal. And thank goodness, because I didn't have $200.

Now I am back at home, and I plan on doing laundry and reading for the rest of the day. Everyone is going out again tonight, but I will not be going becaue 1.) going out is expensive, and 2.) two nights in a row seems excessive to me.

Tomorrow morning I am meeting some CIMAS people at the bus station and we are going to Otavalo for the day. I really like the people that I am going with (they are the people who are NOT in the Greek system at home, Greek vs. non-Greek has created quite the divide in this group), so it should be a fun trip!