Ok so I realize that my last entry was almost a month ago! Sorry things have just been crazy, I mean trying to move to another country for 6 months is a lot harder than it may seem! Plus I had my birthday so that took up some time :). Well good news... all my Campus France stuff went through and ... I got my visa!!!
That was the most tiring day ever. We got up at around 6:30 am and left the house at around 7:30 for our day trip to Chicago. My dad was kind enough to drive me and Eric up and back all in one day! The drive to Chicago wasn't too bad, except for some very ominous clouds. Our trusty GPS (named Bouboulina by my dad) helped us out through some tough times. When we finally got to Chicago we were so excited and also like 3 1/2 hours early ! We scoped out the building where the French Consulate was and then decided to explore Chicago a bit. Well I don't know if you know Chicago parking but it was only the small sum of about 26 DOLLARS to park for like 2 hours!!! So we drove around for 2 hours trying to find something cheaper and then finally realized we had to give up and give in to the exorbitant prices. We ate a relatively quick lunch surrounded by pigeons and then made our way to the consulate.
It turned out to be a lot different than I had expected. The room we went in was pretty small and it looked like it was decorated in 1966 and then never touched again. I got there like 20 minutes early but I could have gotten there 20 minutes late because I wasn't called until 20 minutes after my appointment. I thought that they would take us into a little room and then interrogate us, but instead we just went up to this little window as if we were at a bank and did everything through a plate glass. At first it was just me, Eric and another young girl but the room started to fill up. The consulate woman took all my information, I was so nervous I would forget something that I took like a million extra documents. She then kept my passport and told me to come back at 4:00. So I sat there and waited for Eric to be called and as we did we started talking to the other people there and everyone started to get so enthused about where and when they were going to France. It felt like we were all in the same boat and it gave me and I'm sure everybody else a nice feeling, to know that we are not alone!
Well Eric finally was called and then he had to wait as well. I started to realize that they had told everyone to come back at 4 for their visas so the room started to swell! It turned out that there was even someone there from Nancy! He said it was the best town to study abroad (I'm sure he was only a little biased :)). Finally my named was called and they handed me my visa!! I felt so good and so accomplished, like it was my diploma or something, even though it was just a little piece of paper in my passport. I couldn't stop looking at it! Even though it is only valid until November because when I arrive in Nancy I have to go get my residency permit which will allow me to be there for the full 6 months. But it's still a big deal!
As soon as we got the visas we loaded up in the car and headed back home. The ride home felt soo long and I thought I never would be able to just fall asleep in my bed, but we finally made it home and collapsed! I was so tired but also so happy and content that my trip for the visa was a success. I know I still have many other things to get ready before I leave in less than a month but getting my visa felt great! Ill write again soon to keep everyone up to date on my pre France adventures!
PS. The picture at the top is one I took in Strasbourg the last time I was there. I hope I can go again this year it was so beautiful!
