Please don't take your freedom for granted

In Spanish

When we landed in Barcelona, it was hard to believe how much hassle we've gone through to get there. I had warned Jim about the troubles of traveling abroad with a Cuban passport, specially when our friends now sailing in the South Pacific on board Levana; invited us to join them. I was not about to spend the summer visiting embassies and doing bureaucratic runs, I did enough of that in Cuba (not just to leave, but to live there). Anyway, our friends in Palamos, Spain had insisted so much that we go visit them for the last two years, that we were determined to do it. After all we just had to go to the embassy of Spain is not too bad. I only needed this amount of documents:

1- Current passport with copy

2- Green card with copy

3- Proof of employment

4- Last two pay stubs

5- Last two income tax returns if self employed

6- A bank account statement

7- An invitation letter of an sponsor in Spain made in a police station or hotel reservation for the amount of time staying in European Union

8- Round-trip plane tickets

9- Travel insurance

10- Bank statements of the person traveling with me

11- Two application forms

12- 82 dollar money order

13- Police records

14- Drivers license and copy

Not too much, right? Well, since we spent great part of the summer traveling up north, we managed to get most of the documents on the way down to Washington DC. And we made a vacation out of it. We visited the Museums and Memorial and had a great time. We went to the embassy and presented all the documents. They turned them back because we didn't have the plane tickets, insurance and hotel reservation. But my interviewer say: “Once you have all the documents together, put them in a express mail envelope with another express mail envelope prepaid. We will send your passport with the visa and you wont have to come back.” Great! We thought. Easy! We got back to the hotel, packed our bags and drove back to North Carolina. That was on a Monday, 2 weeks away from our departure date. The envelope was sent to DC on Monday; then we had a date, September 3^rd. Friday morning the consulate called me because they did not understand why they were getting the application by mail, since they require a picture taken at the embassy, as well as finger prints. What? “I was there a week ago!” I said, but that didn't matter. I had no choice but to show up if we wanted to go to Europe.

So from Carrboro we went to Beaufort, to pack our bags and and get the house squared away for the time we were going to be gone. We planned to go to DC on Monday 1^st, so we could rest on Tuesday, before our flight on Wednesday. Well, we had forgotten that September 1^st was Labor Day, the embassy was not opening that day. Since we had no choice, we went to Richmond, Virginia on Monday, visited with our friends Tim and Celina for a Day. Tuesday, at 3 o'clock in the morning we were up on the road with our Europe luggage in the car, and two pillows, trying to beat the traffic. We got there at 6 o'clock, parked front of a Whole Foods Market, in downtown DC; pulled our pillows out and fell asleep. At eight in the morning the morning street noise woke us up.

At 9:00, with a Starbucks cup in my hand I walked to the corner of Pennsylvania Ave. I was the first in line and right when I was tiptoeing to get my picture taken, the computer froze. After a 30 minutes wait and 30 apologies, I got out of there with my passport and a multiple entrance visa for 35 days.

Thursday September 4^th, we walked out of “El Pratt Airport” in Barcelona; we looked at each other and then laughed. This Cuban made it to Spain, where all the history of my life began.

AnechyNotes