Well, I didn't mention the Boda, so I'll mention it here. I met relatives, friends, friends of relatives, and soem people that I'm still unsure about... they are some relation, whether kin or fictive kin I'm not sure (sory for the sociological terms, but hey, I teachit, so I can't help it)
The boda lasted from 11:30 am until 4:30 -5:00 pm. I didn't know until the day before the wedding that at a Colombian boda, the bride and groom stay until everyone else leaves. According to my wife's mother, I made a good impression on everyone there. Good food, lots to drink, and lots of laughs.
Note-- Every time i talk to lawyers or professors in colombia (uncle and cousins) they ask about racism in th eus directed against Colombians. There are some seriously deep issues about unjust sentencing of colombians convicted in the US. I won't get into an opinion war at this time, but if someone wants to start a thread, I'll gladly join in...
Back to the boda, and its aftermath- I told our padrinos (er brother and a married couple) that we were going to the thermales to spend the night, knowing ful well that we were going to stay in a hotel in manizales, and I'm glad I did! Had I told them where we were staying, we'd have recieved a carload of extremely drunk visitors at about 1 am... a word to the wise for those marrying in colombia...
ta ta ta the next morning we re-packed and flew to Bogota. The first time we had been to the embassy,back in August, we were abel to enter the grounda and wal around during the morning. This trip, however, we were put in line with everyone else-- get there by 11:00 or 11:30, and you're close to the front.
here's an important note for yanquis marrying colombianas-- they layout is such that windows 2, 3, and 4, the important windows for the beginning of the process for citizens, are on the far lefthand side after you are inside. Walk immediately there and wait for a consul or security guard to give you a red card.
I had downloaded forms from the internet to fill out before I flew down for the wedding, so I was feeling pretty cocky about th etime it would take us. Much to my chagrin, I had put the already-filled forms in a file folder, and had all of my support documents in a separate folder. Of course, my already-filled forms were in my bag waiting at the airport! Panick attack time, and frantic scribbling to fill out the new forms!
A couple of notes for the embassy... (1)bring a black pen that has ink. A pen with no ink doesn't help. I know this from experience. Also, ask your wife BEFORE you get to the embasyy three things: what is your father's birthday? What is your mother's bithday, What is your parents' anniversary?
While yanquis may know these about our parents, my wife, the couple sitting net to us, and other colombianas didn't know these dates. Maybe it's not important in Colombian culture-- i don't know.
Also, take three to five years' worth of income tax returns, and 3-5 years worth of ORIGINAL w-2 forms. Or take an Original copy of an employment contract. With these, you can get the consul to notarize your affadavit of support after you swear that the documents are correct. Otherwise, you need to get your document notarized in the states before you go.
I am impressed with the consuls in the embassy, or at least the consul I worked with. She was cheerful and polite, helpful and understanding. When she found out I was flying back to the states, she scheduled Luisa for an early cita.
All in all I was stressed and nervous, (I despise paperwork, and usually make erros on government forms, thus having to fill these out in a hurry bothered me somewhat) but the entire process took less than three houres from entrance to taxi back to El Dorado for our flight to Cartagena (or my 5th bed in 5 nights in Colombia).
More to follow...cartagena. return to Manizales, and the horros of what happen to baggage between miami and atlanta after you mark the bags with 'fragile.')
