San Francisco

So last Tuesday I flew down to San Francisco to apply for my Visa in person which you have to do if you are staying for a while. So my flight left at 6 and I got there around 8:30 am. But that meant leaving St. Helens at 4:45ish. This was not very good considering I had a bad time sleeping that night... But I groggily walked through security and the airport to get to my flight. I sat next to some guy and fell asleep and read Clash of Kings for most of the time. When I got to Oakland where I flew into I figured out how to get onto the BART system which is a subway system that runs through the area. I almost accidentally bought a $20 ticket but I eventually figured out how to get to work the machine. I then rode for 20 minutes to the stop I needed to get off at.

Knowing that I would get lost my mom was really helpful and made me a map! Unfortunately she blew it up so big that I had no idea where to go because the McDonalds that I was supposed to be walking away from was literally right across the street. So figuring out which direction to go in was a problem. So because I was so overwhelmed and culture shocked just from getting out of the station I decided to have some pancakes at this said McDonalds and figure out my next step. After Breakfast I decided the best way to figure out where to go was to walk around. Why not right I was only 2 and a half hours early. So I walked until I found the street I knew the place was on. I grabbed a soda at a 7-11 and continued for a while until I said to myself “Hey I must be getting close right? Where am I?” just in time to see 77 Kearney St. on a building. So I said hey I wonder what number I need. Oh look 77. WIN! SO I inadvertently and without knowing it found the building. So I went in and was in an elevator with a little girl and her mom who spoke French. The little girl was incredibly adorable and it was fun to see someone so young speaking French. I bet it was her first language.

The consulate was in the 6^th floor in a random nondescript building that had close to 40 floors so it was cool that I was with people speaking French. So I rode the elevator up and was told by the security guy that I was too early to check in. So I went back downstairs and to the nearest corner. When I looked down the road I noticed that there was a flower stand that looked suspiciously like the one that was next to the subway stop. So I walked down the block. And it WAS the same flower stand. So now I vaguely knew where I was. I decided to go find some coffee in a café that I could chill out in for two hours before I tried going back for my appointment. I ended up stumbling into a Capital One café that had chocolate croissant and free wifi to customers of Capital One. Not being a customer of capital one I took the time to enjoy my book and the closeness of the café to the building and just chilled out.

When it was close o my time I headed back over and up the elevator to the 6^th floor. I had to go through security. Which was some poor security guy sitting there with a metal detector that basically just made sure you didn’t have any guns? He looked super bored but I guess he had to be there because it was officially French territory, which was cool! Technically I have now been to French Territory!!! From security I walked 5 yards in the same room to sit down until a teller was ready for me. There was just one other guy there so I pretty much got called right up. They have a glass screen between you and the other person and they talk to you with a microphone and you slide things under the glass like at a bank. It was a pretty scary process because They were like okay “this form now this and this and a copy of this and give me the originals and a copy of these and one of these” and you know that if you don’t have something then you have to make a new appointment and come back again. This would have been a BIG pain. But luckily I had what I needed. So then they took my picture and fingerprints and said okay you should get it in 10-21 days. YES!!! The process took not even ten minutes. But they were not very personable but rather really efficient. They were a little thrown by my middle name because they didn’t know whether to do it as MLynn or M’Lynn. So they had to double check. But other than that I made it through easily and painlessly.

After my appointment I called my cousin Chris’s girlfriend Melissa who lives in the Bay area and we met for lunch. I used my ipod Maps app to figure out how to get where I needed to. It was pretty cool to see someone I knew. We went to a Vietnamese food place that was pretty full when we got there and because she was on her lunch break from work we didn’t have a ton of time to hang out but it was still nice to see her and see someone I knew. Also on the way there I found a pair of sunglasses on the ground that someone must have dropped but there was no one around to ask so I gave them to Megan when I got home. (Payback for when she found some and gave them to me.) But after I had lunch, My plane didn’t get to leave until 5:20 pm so I was bored and went shopping to kill time. I went to Target, Ross, Old Navy, and Burlington. I found some things but stupid California has sales tax so that was a bit annoying. But overall it was good. I made it back to the airport still super early. But I entertained myself by trying to find the cheapest sandwich in the airport which was actually at Starbucks for $8:50. Then on the way back through the airport I looked for the cheapest fruit cup which was $4:50. Airplane food is ridiculously expensive. But oh well. I didn’t buy those things I was just bored. Also my plane was delayed an hour so that was sucky. But overall it was a pretty good trip! A bit unnecessary I think for just a visa but it was good that I got it done early.

My visa is actually here! It arrived today in the mail! In under a week so that is very nice! Also apparently you aren't allowed to smile for the picture!