The Ongoing Quest for Licence Plates
Yesterday I joined the long line, almost an hour before opening time. Within a couple of hours, I had reached the front door, and Mayra joined me.
Before actually getting into the line to request the plates, we talked to the man at the information desk. He looked at our papers, and told us that we could use a couple copies. Also, we needed to go to a stationary store, get a magical form, fill it out, and the magical form would allow us to get the plates.
So, playing a little real-life Frogger, we dashed across the highway, got the magical form, dashed back across, filled it out, and were permitted to take a number and join the indoor line, where we could wait in cushy seats.
Finally we spoke to the man with the power, who shuffled through our paperwork and entered the information about the van into the computer.
Hmmmmm…. can’t give you plates today. You see…. [a) excuse about the computer system] and [b) excuse about personnel available today]. But come back Thursday, and everything will be rainbows, tulips and unicorns.
So we left – me, feeling very bad for Mayra who had spent all this time on a process that wasn’t hers – to no avail.
So – what can I say? Tomorrow is another day …
Anyway, it is rather frustrating when you’re still trying to catch up after being away. But when I’m not in bed (which I’ve had to be more than usual), I try to follow the wise advice hidden under this Coke cap. Where in English it would say “Please try again” (why, thank you for the kind invitation!), in Spanish it says “sigue Participando” – keep on participating.
We’re hoping to get that done soon, but it’s a bit of a challenge. Essentially, once you get your permanent resident visa, you can’t drive a vehicle that has not been nationalized. Which means you need to nationalize your vehicle (which means driving to the border) before you get your permanent resident visa.