A True Cultural Experience

Today we had the "privilege" of applying for a visa. We had a 1:00 appointment that evidently did nothing but get us in the door. We arrived at 12:15, after a 30 minute metro ride and thought we were doing well to be 45 minutes early. We took a number, waited for about 30 minutes, and then went to the appointed window only to be sent to get another # and to wait in another line (for an hour) to have our picture and fingerprints taken. The gentleman at this window realized that he lived in the same area as we do and took a liking to the curly, blond-headed child with us. (This pays off later in the afternoon!) We now are told to get another # and wait in the 3rd line of the day. After another 3 hours of waiting, (we're up to 5 if you're counting) we were told that only Andy & I could apply and that we would have to come back another day to get the boys visas. They also stated that we had to have an insurance # in Portugal. After stuggling to expalin that our company covered our medical expenditures I guess the lady at the window could sense my frustration. She took all our paperwork and consulted with the "higher-ups". It seemed that they had sorted it all out and the gentleman mentioned earlier had even convinced them to go ahead with the boys' visas! However, by this time, everyone was ready to leave for the day (they even had to unlock the front doors to let us out) so they gave us forms to fill out for the boys and told us to come back at 8am in the morning and come straight to the desk - no numbers. We were a bit discouraged, but everyone tells us that being told to come back is good because you usually have to get another appointment and that can take up to a month. ---- Oh, and I forgot to mention the man that went into a mad tirade and had to be removed by security! It was definitly a cultural experience.