The hunt begins

After all the waiting, after all of the worrying, at long last I picked up my cédula extrajería (National ID card) yesterday after receiving my visa two weeks ago. So,I can start looking for work! I finished translating my CV into Spanish about two minutes ago so will be heading into town on Shanksie's pony (on foot) tomorrow to spread the word......."Yes, I am available for interview" and "Don't call me gringo!".

What a strain having to go so long without working, especially since there is no form of benefit system here. If you ain't working then go and starve! Hopefully things will move quickly from here and we can start to lead a normal life. Better get started looking through the classifieds in the paper then. More to follow.

OK, someone please explain this one to me!

At long last it´s celebration time because I have my visa. Alright it isn´t the conjugal visa I applied for but a temporal visa. I have to renew every year upto a maximum of three years and can now work once I have my cédula. This is the bit I need explained. I can work in any profession................but not in a professional for which I am qualified!
I checked the expressions on the faces of everyone in the room but couldn´t detect even the faintest sign of a grin although I am sure they were laughing underneath. I have checked with others who received their visas and they were all told the same. Interesting times ahead then.

Hot off the press

I am in Bogotá with my wife and in the morning we will leave at seven o´clock to go to the Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores. In a nutshell we have gambled everything on one last throw of the dice. My tourist visa expires on Wednesday and I cannot renew it again for six months after that. I have in my possession yet more documents that the ministry have requested and have borrowed the money to get to Bogotá to request a personal interview tomorrow to try to resolve everything, yet I don´t have the money for us to go home.
Tomorrow could be a great day or possibly the end of the road for this little chapter of my life. It´s never easy for a couple to live apart amd six months apart in different continents does through an extra fly into the ointment. Emotionally I feel dead. I feel nothing as I´ve just been absolutely worn down by the whole process. Here´s hoping the Colombian government can do something to raise my spirits tomorrow. More to follow............