Study Abroad Blog

When I finished up the “So You Want A Student Visa” post I had just completed one of the most stressful obstacles standing between me and my timely voyage to Barcelona. Once I submitted my application at the Spanish Consulate in San Francisco, Blanca and I officially began our short, final vacation before we plan to leave our present jobs for good. We spent the rest of our day voyaging around South San Francisco trying to find our hotel and the nearest BART station so we could minimize our struggle heading back into town later that evening.

We had been invited to have dinner with two ESADE alumni and the wonderful admissions woman who interviewed me (who is also my future landlord), so I was quite excited. We all met up at the Grand Hyatt and walked to a charming Italian restaurant and opted to eat inside, as it was raining quite nicely. The conversation flowed, as did the red wine, and we had a wonderful time hearing the alumni catch up with one another, as I imagine someday I will hopefully do with members of my cohort.

After our four-hour dinner came to an end we bid each other adieu and parted ways. Blanca and I made it back to our hotel just past midnight and did our best to get to sleep quickly, as we had an 8:30 flight to catch the next morning! We were heading to Minneapolis to visit my cousin and his fiancé, as we will unfortunately have to miss the wedding. Considering my cousin was a groomsman at my wedding, I felt it the least I could do to at least pay them a visit before we head off across the Atlantic.

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At about 6:26 this morning I stumbled out of the shower and made my way to the kitchen to start boiling water for my oatmeal. Once I got the water on, I meandered on over to my laptop and gave the mouse a wiggle to awake the machine from its slumber. I continued my morning routine by double clicking the Internet Explorer icon and immediately logging in to check my email. Just as I maneuvered the mouse to view my inbox, I saw it. An email from ESADE’s Financial Aid Department with the subject heading “Congratulations.” My gut dropped and I felt my face get flush with anticipation. Licking my lips I hovered the curser over the link to open the message when suddenly…I get a pop-up letting me know “All automatic updates are complete and your computer will now reboot.”

Nooooo!!! Must…read…congratulatory message of some kind!! But my pleas were of no use. My squeamish response did no good and finally I gave up and accepted my short-term fate as I realized I had no choice but to wait for my computer to shut down and reboot so I could start the whole process over again.

It felt like a good fifteen-minute boot up, which likely only took two, but finally, the moment arrived and I got to open this email I waited so patiently to receive. It read as follows:

Dear Matt,

Yessssss!!! After reading this I was absolutely ecstatic and could hardly stand still (meanwhile, my oatmeal burned in the distance). I couldn’t wait to share the good news with my family, friends and co-workers, but didn’t want to bother anyone so early in the morning. Naturally, they were all quite happy to hear my announcement, but at a more reasonable hour!

From here, all I have left to wait on are the results of the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation scholarship, so I’ll have to sit tight about another three weeks for that. I just wanted to share this news, as I’m still absolutely thrilled and have gone back to read the email probably fifteen times today. Guess that is all I have to update at the moment. My next “real” post should come soon. That is all.

“Smile, it makes people wonder what you’re up to….” – Anonymous

I mentioned before I was going to take some time to write about the visa application process I’ve been going through the last few months, so that is what this post is all about. I initially wrote a lot of side information about my INS-esque experience with the Spanish consulate, but I have opted to omit this information for the time being. I will merely mention it has been extremely difficult (borderline impossible) to contact the consulate in any way other than in person if you have questions, and if by chance you do manage to get someone on the phone, you have about two seconds to spill your guts before you are transferred to a machine and subsequently hung up on.

What is the result of this sort of customer service? Try this one on for size: The four individuals applying for visas with appointments before mine were turned away by the officer for not having the appropriate documentation and copies of said documents. When the would-be applicants stated there was no evidence the consulate would need this information they were told “It is written on the wall in the lobby! You need to learn these things ahead of time because we are very busy and you are making our jobs difficult!” Right…should have known that one, what with this consulate having jurisdiction through Alaska, a student in Juneau applying for a visa should have no problem moseying on down to San Francisco to read what is written on the wall before gathering their documents…but I digress…

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