We have been talking about it for three weeks at least. And it has got to get done this very week. No later. You never know what not-so-positive influence the Russian government has on the way the Canadian Embassy in Moscow works. My Canadian Temporary Resident visa has to be applied today, February the 5th, 2010 – my KaCher’s birthday – not next week, not the week after. It is now or never later!
So we looked at the last Canadian TR I had back in 2005-2007 in my previous passport. Confirmed expired. We downloaded forms, filled the forms in, and dug the fire-safety box for passport photos. I had everything ready and lined up to the very boots by the door and to the very watch to wear to the embassy this morning. The alarm clock was set. I woke up before it went off anyway! And oh, my sunglasses are wide awake for me on the kitchen counter. All ready.
By ten to seven this morning, the kids’ lunchboxes were ready. I was ready… to jump in the shower. I even skipped singing my morning Siti Payung! I was in such a hurry to beat the Moscow traffic. Alas! Hiccup number one: Emy got in late. Hiccup number two: Be got nervous and stressed out. But I… I got, uh… ready. Yep, sunglasses in my hair and all.
Ten minutes on the road, we were stuck on Volokolomskaya. Ahhh great! We’d never make it to the Canadian Embassy at 0829hrs as Be wanted to lead the line-up at the embassy gate. Instead, we were in a huge line up going towards Lenningradsky Prospekt. So I took out my current passport just to check if my memory served me right. I thought it wasn’t that long ago we were quietly making fun at the clerks at the Canadian Consulate in that Tan&Tan Building in KL.
Just when I saw the Canadä sticker on page 10, my heart stopped beating. I knew I was going to have a cardiopulmonary arrest right there and then caused by ventricular fibrillation! (Thanks to Dr. Tranquility for his medical terms that make me sound like I just had an emergency cut-n-paste case from his blog!) All the stress we had had for three !?#$%^&* weeks went from my brain down to my heart and further down and behind to my juboar and if it were a gas, I could have floated the whole city!
I just made a good mistake.
There, on page 10 of my passport, is my Canadian Visa good until October 15th, 2012!
No. We would not have had to talk and get all stressed out about it for three !?#$%^&* weeks if I had trusted my memory of those silly clerks at the Canadian Consulate in the Tan&Tan Building Jalan Tun Razak KL. Silly me! I would not have had to get into a panic mode last night looking for two !?#$%^&* highly specified visa photos for the !?#$%^&* application had I taken the time to admire my passport like I do Emila‘s paintings everyday!
Because of the mistake, Be and I had a good laugh and a good kick in the juboars for each other today, February the 5th, 2010. And because of the mistake, we had a good hot breakfast at The Real McCoy this morning… just the two of us, and got something hotter planned for the Chinese New Year.
It was a good mistake well made, indeed.
Happy Birthday, KaCher! I’m already having a good day. I know you are too!
Glossary for Neil:
juboar = [a cavity] near the hind end in quadrupeds or toward the spine in primates spelled with the letter ‘s’
For all the hours I sat waiting for words worth writing, and all the years I waited looking for reasons worth being… here’s the warmest hugs and lots of HACKS on the snowy new year’s eve from one motherless traveler in Pokrovsky to another in Jonkoping!
To all the well wishes sent by all well-wishers… Spasiba Bolshoi! I humbly dedicate each and every prayer I received today to the woman who made it all possible. Who made it all beautiful. The woman whom I was honored to be born to and through. The woman who was there on my happy birth day.
Questa è Enida 