The story is, I needed to go to the US embassy to get some simple advice about one thing pertaining to my residence/work permits. I had a map and some idea of where I was going, and embassies are simple to find anyway because you just look for the flag of the represented country. In the city center of Bratislava, most the streets are lined with shops, cafés, banks, offices, etc. but the separate places are so close to each other because they are actually all a part of one building, although sometimes with many different facades. (It's the same in downtown Flagstaff, and probably in lots of places.) The US embassy is also in a building that's like this, with different things attached to it, except there is a huge fence surrounding the part of the structure that belongs to the embassy! Getting inside the fence is challenging, unless you have a badge. If you don't have a badge, you have talk to the security guard through the glass window. Our conversation went something like this:
Leah: Hovoríte po anglicky?
Guard: Ehhh, a little
Leah: I need to go into the embassy
Guard: It's closed at 2 pm
Leah: Closed at 2pm, ok, I understand. Umm, so right now it's a little after 12:45. Is it open now?
Guard: No. Two. Two. Close at two. (Shows me his watch and two fingers) Come at two. Two.
Leah: Oh, ok, two...now I think I get it. Thank you.
I was so hungry (because all I ate for breakfast was a brownie and some kefir), so I ate a slice of pizza (for 1 EUR) and a salad (1 EUR), and drank some sparkling water (1.70 EUR). Then I sat in the sun and read a book. And finally back to the embassy at 2pm
There was already another American there talking to the guard. He was trying to get his wife's identity card that had been lost and returned to the embassy. Either he was easily exasperated by nature, or he had already been through quite some trouble trying to get the card back. (I don't really want to try to explain what I think his situation was because he didn't tell me all the details and I don't want to frighten anyone out of putting themselves into a situation where they may need to deal with the US embassy.) When it was my turn, I spoke with the same guard...
L: I need to ask a question at the embassy. Can I go in.
G: Civil services or... (I forgot the other option he gave me)
L: Civil services
(That's what I said, but I wasn't really sure. The other one just didn't seem relevant.)
G: I need to see your passport.
L: (I passed him my passport through the little slot)
G: (makes a call and speaks in Slovak...)
(While he's talking, I notice some things behind him that look like x-ray machines)
G: Do you have an appointment?L: No. Is it necessary?
G: Yes, you need an appointment.
L: Ok, thank you.
And that was my super interesting trip to the embassy. I think I'll just look on the internet for the answer to my question instead...
The book I'm reading lately is called The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton. It's about many different things, but the one part of it that's particularly resonating with me is that one of the main characters is a woman who lived in Europe for years and years, but then she moved back to New York and is finding that she cannot fit in at all, and she doesn't understand anything about how people want her to act. I don't really want to write about how that makes me think of my own life... I'll cross that bridge when I come to it, I guess.
This afternoon, I bought running shoes. It just seems like that time of life again, to start running. I figure it's a faster way to see things around the city, and good exercise too. I forced myself to walk up the stairs at the mall to get to the next level where the sports stores are but my legs felt like they're made of lead. Hopefully that's not a foreshadow of how I'll feel when I wake up tomorrow... I want to run before meeting a friend at 11a for cakes! :)
Haha, going to the American embassy is the worst thing ever, you are lucky to be an American!
ReplyDeleteThe book sounds very interesting! I hope you don't turn into the main character!
-Xuchen