Visa Experience

Let's learn about the Schengen Zone today!!

So, let me tell you what my plan was this summer. My plan was to go to Spain, finish up my undergraduate degree, then after a month in Spain, head to Germany to stay with a friend who lives on one of the Air Force Bases (Ramstein). I would spend the month in Germany, relaxing, perhaps go up and see Berlin, Frankfurt, Munich, etc. On August 22, I had a train booked from my friend's house to Amsterdam, where I would then go to Leiden for my orientation for Webster University's Global Master's of International Relations orientation. I was looking forward to a nice relaxing month, a nice relaxing train ride, and arriving at orientation one of the few people not completely jet lagged.

Well, that was the plan. But Schengen had other ideas. For those that are not aware, this is the Schengen Zone.

Schengen Zone - Also known as EUROPE

The Schengen Zone is a group of countries that have signed onto the Schengen Agreement. This agreement allows for free movement of people within the zone without internal border controls. So, you pass through customs when you enter one Schengen country, after that you will not see another border unless you leave the zone and return. There are 26 countries in the zone.

The rules for Americans in the zone are pretty simple. As an American you can travel to the zone, visa free, for 90 days in a 180 day period. So, every six months, your time "resets" and you get a fresh 90 days. If you are going to stay BEYOND 90 days you need a visa. If you get a visa in one Schengen country, you are legal in all Schengen countries.

Here is where the problem comes in. If you are going to stay in a single Schengen country for a year, let's say, it's pretty easy to get a visa. You go through that particular country and apply for a visa, no problem. But what if your TOTAL time in the zone exceeds the 90 days, but your time in any single country does not? Then it becomes a little bit harder.

See, each country will then tell you "you're less than 90 days you don't need a visa". So, the days of packing a backpack and spending a year in Europe have pretty much - died (if the economy hadn't killed that dream, this treaty did).

Now, this wasn't exactly the problem I ran into - though it came up a few times.

Webster University has 5 countries we visit: Austria, Thailand, Switzerland, United Kingdom, and the Netherlands (China is the other option in Asia). Of those 5 countries, 3 of them are in the Schengen zone. We have 8 weeks in each country, so one way or another, we will fall into Schengen violation at some point in the program.

So, Webster University has an agreement with Switzerland, since we are not in any single Schengen country for more than 90 days on our program, it is difficult to get visas, but Switzerland worked with the program to grant visas for a less than 90 day program for us. They then strategically design the cohort routes so that we fall into violation while we are Switzerland, where we have a visa and permit.

Now, Webster University has obviously gone through a lot of trouble to help us stay current and legal on all our visas, but we are told that in the end it is our responsibility to stay on top of any visas for any countries we go to (in the program or on extra trips). Had I started the Webster program by flying over from the USA for orientation, I would have been fine with what Webster set up. But, I didn't. I was in Spain in July, a full 2 months before the program begins, which means, a full 2 months of my time in the Schengen Zone adding up.

See that map I posted above? It would have been nice if I had personally consulted it before I left for Spain. But unfortunately, I didn't think about the two programs as a single, seamless amount of time spent in Europe. Yes, it was silly and stupid, but somehow in my mind, I separated the two programs so well, that I forgot that the Schengen zone does not.

So, my clock began on June 28 when I got my passport stamped at the Frankfurt airport on the way to Spain. Which means my 6 month (180 day) period is up around December 25. It also meant that my 90 days was up September 26 (assuming I stayed in the zone the entire time). I don't leave for Bangkok until October 20. So, there was now a problem.

Thank GOODNESS the program director, Hannah, brought it to my attention toward the end of my time in Spain. When I got to Germany I called the Austrian embassy in Berlin.

This is where my real troubles began. I finally got someone on the phone that spoke English and explained my situation. I needed a visa for Austria so I wouldn't be in violation. Once I got past the "yes I know it's less than 90 days, but I still need it" part of the conversation, I was told this:

"We only work with German nationals here. You need to take care of this at your representation in your country."

"You mean the United States?"

"Yes, but we do not take any documents via fax, mail, or email, it needs to be done in person."

"In person would mean I have to return to the United States."

"Yes."

"Are you sure?"

"I don't normally do visas, the person who does is on holiday, he will be in Tuesday, you can call and ask, but you will probably have to return to the US." By the way, this was a Thursday, she just told me that maybe I could do it in Germany, but probably not, but I had to wait 5 days to know for sure, which means I am wasting time if do indeed have to return to the US.

So, at 10am German time, I now had to wait for the USA to wake up and the Austrian embassy in Washington DC to open. This meant 7 hours of pacing the house and freaking out.

My conversation with the visa lady in the US went very similar. You need to come to the United States.

Holy balls.

Okay, so now I should also mention, all the paperwork for my Swiss visa and permit, Hannah and I had been trying to figure out the best way for me to submit that from abroad. Since I hadn't had a chance to mail it yet, I figured I might as well kill two birds with one stone on this trip and take care of Austria and Switzerland at the same time. For Switzerland I had to file in Atlanta (local consulate to my permanent address). So I asked the lady at the Austrian embassy if I can apply for the visa at the honorary consulate in Atlanta. Her answer: "You can, but it will take a minimum of 15 days. If you come to DC we can process it in 3-5 days."

So that did it. I was getting on a plane the next day to fly to Washington DC and wait for a visa. I would then fly to Augusta so that I could drive to Atlanta and take care of my Swiss permit. Beautiful.

The scary part was booking the flight. Considering I was looking for a flight for the next day I was bracing myself for an absolutely horrendous price. But SkyScanner.com saved my wallet! I managed to book a round-trip ticket for just $1300. I am sure the Barclay's credit card division was glad to see me back (especially considering what they are dealing with -_-) My family in DC was absolutely amazing and jumped to my rescue with a place to crash! I am so blessed to have a large extended family that we are all still close to and incredibly grateful for the help they gave me in this situation.

I left all of my luggage at my friend's house in Germany and took about 3 days worth of clothes. I even left my cameras! I was heartbroken to leave Germany. I had really been looking forward to seeing more of the country, but I guess fate had other plans.

Friday evening I arrived in DC and Saturday and Sunday I spent time with family and gathered all my documents for the visa. Monday morning, as soon as the embassy opened I was in line to submit my paperwork.

"We can't give you a student visa, it's less than 90 days" said the lady behind the window. I was surprised I didn't break down into tears and beg for mercy, but I held myself and explained again, and showed her my passport with the June 28 stamp on it. She finally shifts through papers quietly and then says "I can issue a tourist visa." Luckily, a tourist visa is also cheaper (though nothing about this ordeal made this a cheap visa).

I ended up having to email her my travel itinerary (it wasn't needed for the student visa, but it was for the tourist visa). On Wednesday, I received an email response from the embassy "Your visa is processed and ready for pick up." Now I was impressed! That was incredibly fast turn around on that!

YAY!!

I got on a plane and flew back to Augusta and prepared my documents for Switzerland. I drove up to the Swiss consulate (which closes at 11:30 in the morning, since the drive from Augusta to Atlanta is about 2 hours I left at oh-god:30 in the morning). I parked and got out of the car and started laughing hysterically. I had forgotten to bring *money* for the visa. It just seemed so incredibly hysterical to me. I was so over this process at that point.

I managed to find a bank, got money. I walked to the consulate only to realize I did not have my photos either! You have got to be kidding me right?! The Swiss representatives told me that there was a FedEx across the street where I could get photos. Thank goodness.

Supposedly, the Swiss authorities were supposed to send emails to all representation in the USA letting them know we were coming and what the process is. Of course, when I mentioned that there should have been an email he says "We haven't gotten an email." Luckily he added, "But I know the program." I had like 8 copies of everything and wasn't sure how many copies of each item he needed, he was incredibly helpful though "I'll take two of those, four of those, three of those". He also said "I don't know why they keep applying for the visa, you don't need a Schengen visa since it's less than 90 days." Yes, I have heard this story before, can you just humor me and take it anyway?

He was super friendly and helpful though, we talked about the weather in Geneva, since I will be there in January. He laughed and said "It's much colder than Georgia." I told him I was from Minnesota, and he said that it would be a lot like being on Lake Superior in the winter (goodie). If everyone in Switzerland is as cool as this guy was, I will thoroughly enjoy the country.

So, time to get back to Frankfurt get get my stuff. My nice relaxing month turned into two weeks of planes, trains, and automobiles.

Sunday the 19th I flew from Augusta to DC. Monday the 20th I flew from DC to Charlotte (yes, I went from Augusta to DC to go to Charlotte) and then connected to Frankfurt. I arrived early morning the 21st and took a shuttle from Frankfurt back to my friend's house to repack my luggage. Then, as was initially planned, on the morning of the 22nd I took a train from her house to Amsterdam.

Only, instead of showing up relaxed and jet-lagged, I was coming off of four solid days of travelling and probably the most stressful 2 weeks in a long time.

Lesson learned: When it comes to travelling - expect that nothing will happen according to plan. 

Spain - part 2

My last two weeks in Salamanca went by so fast and taught me an extremely important lesson. I am somewhat of a shutterbug (of course) but in Salamanca I didn't get out and take photos that much because I kept telling myself I have plenty of time to explore and photograph, since we were going to be there 4 weeks. Well, the 4 weeks went by and I had only a handful of pictures of the town I spent the majority of my time in. Lesson learned - time is relative and make the most of it right now. The last two weeks in Salamanca were filed with term papers and final exams.

My second weekend excursion was to Lisbon, Portugal. It was interesting to me, since Portugal and Spain are so connected, both physically and historically, I didn't expect to see many differences in culture between the two countries. I was very wrong. The culture from one country to the next was extremely different. The Portuguese are a very warm, friendly people (not to say the Spanish weren't but it was a different kind of warm). They were also very eager to help with my pronunciation of Portuguese words, because my Spanish would get in the way of proper Portuguese pronunciation. Though, it was amusing to me how they would have to add "It is very different from Spanish" after each "lesson". I started to wonder if it was some sort of law since everyone seemed to do it. The languages are very similar, but I was surprised how much more like French it sounded than Spanish.

It was wonderful being near an ocean! As much as I am *not* a beach person, I love the ocean. Though, unfortunately for my wallet, I tend to start craving seafood too, which is never "cheap" (at least not the stuff that is edible).

Lisbon = San Francisco. Hills and everything. Which is not a dig at all because I really do like San Francisco a lot. But it was very shocking to me how much hiking there was to do in Lisbon. There were some spectacular hills that were so steep I wasn't certain if I needed shoes or climbing gear to scale them. But walk it we did!

View from the old palace

 You can see more of my Lisbon photos HERE

Day 2 of the excursion we went to Cascais and got a chance to go to the beach. Again, not really a beach person. But me and my friend walked around the town. We had lunch, and I'm not entirely certain if I said this in the other post or not, but one of the things I adore about Europe is the "food culture". I love that I can sit outside in a cafe for hours, enjoy my food, and there is generally some sort of street music playing nearby. It's the most relaxing thing. You can just hang out without feeling pressured to "turn over" the table for the waiter.

After eating, we wandered around and got "lost". We stumbled across a book fair, which was selling antique books. All published in Portuguese, but it was still cool to look at. Later we found a coffee shop that had a rooftop terrace to sit on that had wonderful views of the city. We had coffee and just enjoyed the sun and the sea there for a bit. After a bit more wandering around we got on the train and headed back to Lisbon (our group left before we felt we were "done" with the city so we took the train back separately).

You can see more of Cascais HERE 

On the last day we stopped at a small town of Obidos, which is a walled in city. It also happened to be preparing for a Medival festival which was starting the next day (of course!). We also made a stop at Batalha Monastery. We visited a couple of monasteries in Portugal. They each had chapels which looked suspiciously like cathedrals (though they were not cathedrals). 

Photos of Obidos and Batalha HERE

My last week in Salamanca, I finished up my dance class and took my exams. Then wandered around taking photos the few days before we departed for Barcelona. 

Barcelona is an incredible city! Most definitely my favorite city we visited - I can see myself living there (and summering in Segovia!). I always sort of liked Gaudi, but seeing his works in real life was incredible! He is a visionary in every sense of the word. 

First off, La Sagrada Familia is spectacular! I didn't know where to even *begin* taking photos of it. Then walking inside was sensory overload. It was like walking into Wonderland, and it seemed like every turn I made something new and interesting was waiting to be photographed. But the exterior, the detail is astounding. From far away it looks like a melting candle. But as you get close, and the detail work begins to show - it's mind blowing. 

You can see all my photos of this masterpiece of Gaudi's HERE and see it at night HERE

Then we went to Park Güell, a park that Gaudi designed in the middle of the city, and finally we saw La Pedrera, an apartment complex he designed. All of his designs are beyond words. Though I found them difficult to photograph (at least in the capacity I was there - as part of a group) because they are so different from every angle - and capturing it was a real challenge.

Park Güell

La Pedrera

See more photos HERE

We took a day trip out to Figures to the Dalí Museum. I have never been much of a Dalí fan personally (apparently this is blasphemy), I don't dislike Dalí, but I have never really enjoyed his works. There are some motifs of his I have liked, usually the melting clocks, and there are a few pieces by him I like, but overall I wouldn't put him in my top 10 favorite artists. The museum though, I will say, definitely kept you interested because everything was so bizarre, and it seemed as if every corner was filled with something to look at.

See more of Dalí HERE

The final day in Barcelona, and my final day in Spain, was a free day. I wandered around getting lost. I really enjoyed my time to myself. After five weeks of being with a group, it was nice to have a day to myself, to wander around with my camera and get lost, get un-lost, and lost again.

My wandering photos are HERE

I also took the time to assess how I felt about the trip. I will say, in some ways I was a bit let down with Spain. I expected to fall in love with the country, much in the same way I fell in love with India. There is a passion that I can't help but feel when I talk or think about India. With Spain - I really enjoyed myself, but I wasn't in love either. I would go to Spain again, especially Barcelona, but I can't really say it changed me as a person either. It was an interesting experience. My Spanish definitely improved over my time there. I found myself much more comfortable with the language by the end of the trip, and more confident with my speaking abilities by the end of the trip. I was glad to get to go somewhere that speaks my language as a first language and spend a significant amount of time. There are things about the Spanish way of life that didn't "click" with me. For one, the concept of not going out until 1-2 in the morning. Call me an old fart (I am) but 1-2 in the morning I am winding down and ready for bed, not just getting started for the night. But it is an interesting country. It has an incredibly rich history (I was very glad I changed from Spanish Translation to History of Spain at the University) and I was glad I got a chance to study it a bit more.

Overall it was a wonderful trip.

For those in the Georgia area (or nearby) I highly recommend the program. You can find more information about it HERE.

The Rain in Spain

Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewe are liars. The rain in Spain does not stay mainly in the plain. There is no rain in Spain! I feel cheated. 

Anyway, I apologize for falling short on my duties to update this blog. The first half of the trip  had spotty internet at best. The second half I was studying for final exams, writing final papers, preparing my senior portfolio, taking senior exit exams, and the like. So, I will try to summarize my experiences in Spain as best as possible in just a few posts. I will also link to albums with the photos in them. 

In Salamanca we stayed with host families, which was wonderful because it gave us an opportunity to get a feel for traditional-Spanish lifestyles (and not to mention the food!) and also saved us some money on food (as we were provided 3 meals a day from our families). The Spanish life is easy enough to get into. The first thing you learn is the ever-famous siesta. I have come to understand how this concept developed. Lunch (Comida) is served between 2-2:30, siesta is from 2-5. It is so oppressively hot outside during that time, that the best place to be is inside as it is. So, bravo to the Spanish for this wonderful idea! 

I am not going to comment much on my first family in Salamanca since half way through the trip my roommate and I had to switch houses. The second family I stayed with was a single mother of 2 (11 and 22) who works three jobs (and still takes in students for the extra income). The house was close to campus and the food was wonderful. It is always interesting to be reminded that people have the same people problems in every part of the world. The problems of raising children as a single mother are not unique to Americans.

Also, children/teenagers are the same in every country. Just saying. 

Salamanca is an interesting town. It is in the Castilla-León region and centers around the University of Salamanca, which is one of the oldest universities in Europe. It very much has the feel of a college town. It's small, so you are able to walk everywhere. There are lots of cafés and shops to explore. Of course, in the center of town is the Plaza Mayor, which is where much of the action takes place. The first day we arrived, Spain played the final match against Italy in the Eurocup, which Spain won. It seemed the entire town spilled into the Plaza after the win, in order to join in the celebrations! It was quite the spectacle to see. 

The Plaza Mayor, lit with Spanish colors, after the Eurocup win

More Eurocup Photos

The first weekend, we took a bus ride up to Pamplona for the Festival of San Fermin. I was really looking forward to being a part of the festival that Ernest Hemingway made so famous. I was not disappointed. Though, I will say, it was, by far, the single most disgusting event I've ever seen. We arrived on the first day of the festival and already, trash was thrown all over the sidewalks, our shoes stuck to the cement thanks to the sangria that had been poured all over people, and the smell was horrific. But, it was energetic, there was lots of music playing, people dancing, and having a good time. 

The encierro (the running of the bulls) was something spectacular to witness. The first morning we bought tickets to be in the Plaza de Toros and wait for the runners. Everyone was singing, chanting, and in some cases, fighting sleep (most of the people in my group had stayed out the entire night joining in the celebrations, I got separated from the group during the evening, so I had decided to return to the dorms and get at least a few hours of sleep). 

Fighting sleep. 

Shortly before 8:00, the doors must have opened outside because people came running into the arena. These were not actual runners, just people who had been waiting outside for the doors to open, so they could get into the arena for free. The people in the stands were wise to this and did not take kindly to it, greeting them with 'boo's and throwing things at them. At 8:00 the running began, and we were able to watch on screens what was happening in the street. About 2 minutes later the first of the runners began to pour in, followed shortly after that by the bulls. It was incredible to see so many people in white and red fill up the arena. 

Despite the controversy it may cause, I will say, that I did attend the bull fight that evening. It wasn't something that I particularly enjoyed, but it was something I wanted to see and experience for myself, and I am glad I went. 

You can see all of my Pamplona photos HERE and HERE

The Cursos Internacionales Program at the University of Salamanca offers several optional excursions for students. I participated in one each weekend I was in Salamanca. The first excursion I took was to the Andalusia region of Spain, more specifically Sevilla and Granada. 

If I thought I was frying to death in Salamanca, I got a rude awakening when I arrived in Sevilla. I am not entirely certain what temperature human skin melts at, but I am fairly certain I was hitting close to it. The problem with this excursion was it was a very long bus ride (about 6 hours) to get to Sevilla, and then we had a walking tour of the city, in which we hiked up to the bell tower of the cathedral (I was *so* over cathedrals by the end of my month in Spain!). All of this in sweltering heat. None of us wanted to do anything that night except lay in our air-conditioned room (most of us hadn't felt air-conditioning since we got to Salamanca). The next morning we visited the Real Alcázar gardens before heading out for Granada.

Photos of Sevilla | Photos of the Alcazar

Granada was amazing though. We arrived in Granada and were offered tickets to a Flamenco show in the Gypsy district. It was an absolutely spectacular show. Afterwords we took a tour of the city at night and saw the Alhambra lit up. 

Granada at sunset

Before leaving, we visited the Alhambra, which was what I was most looking forward to on the excursion. Arabic architecture has always fascinated me, even more so since I took my trip to India two years ago. The Alhambra was incredible.

Photos of Granada | La Alhambra 

Okay, so that is two weeks in Salamanca of the 4. I will post more very soon, as I am going to be heading off for orientation in the Netherlands next Wednesday, and boy do I have a story to share revolving around an emergency trip home!

Leaving home.

Plaza Mayor in Madrid

I've always been an adventurous, independent type. To be completely honest, when I decided to enroll in Webster's Global MAIR I didn't even consider that I would have anxiety about the traveling or living away from home. I was more anxious about my courses, and money. So, when I broke down in the airport, I surprised myself. All of it hit me at once, I was going to be gone for the next thirteen months, and in that moment it might as well have been a lifetime. I was going to be in places where I don't speak the language (short of my month in Spain where I do, in fact, speak Spanish and would be studying the language), having food that I wasn't used to, and I would not have anyone around that I really knew. It became, in that moment, the scariest thing I'd ever experienced. I was glad that my dad and my best friend were at the airport with me, though in some ways that made it a little harder. It is also nice that I am starting out with my undergraduate program, so my first month in Europe I have friends here with me, and will be staying with a friend before beginning at Webster. In the end, I am still very excited to be here, and wouldn't change my decision because of a little bit of anxiety.

Pablo Picasso

Toledo

 We spent the first few days in Madrid, which is an incredible city! We visited the Reina Sofia the first day, which is a modern art museum. I am not much for modern art, but I do love the cubist movement. The Reina Sofia also houses Picasso's  Guernica. I have seen plenty of prints of that painting, but in real life it is incredible and very moving. We took a half day tour of Toledo which I was excited to find out was "la ruta de Don Quixote", because Toledo is in Castillo-La Mancha. Additionally, and maybe it was the pathetic tourist in me, but I kept walking around thinking "Holy Toledo Batman!" Later, in my Culture class, I came to find out that Toledo is the Catholic center of Spain. Well then. We then visited the Prado, which, considering everyone has described it as a museum heavy-weight, I wasn't that impressed, though it wasn't bad either. A few pieces were pretty astounding. Goya's Second of May 1808 and Third of May 1808 were amazing, and Velazquez's Las Meninas was stunning. It really struck me just how *big* some of these paintings were. When you study paintings in books, you don't really get a good perspective on their size. 

And artist sketching Toledo. 

The last night in Madrid was something else, it was gay pride in Madrid, so we went down and checked out the parade. There were so many people there it was incredible! After a short nap we went out. It was a night to remember - I am still working on that though!


We left Madrid for Salamanca and stopped in Segovia. I have never been so astounded by a city before. It is by far the most beautiful place I have ever seen. I kept asking if we were on a movie set or in a theme park of some sort because it just seemed too perfect to actually be real! And the Roman aqueduct is impressive as well. It really puts things into perspective:  The Segovia aqueduct was built before Rome had invented cement, in the 1st century AD. Rome fell 1500+ years ago, the Moors invaded, ruled, and were driven out of Spain, Christopher Columbus discovered another country, Spain's empire expanded across the globe, Spain's empire fell, the world has changed so much - yet this structure still stands!

Aqueduct

Jana told us a legend relating to the aqueduct. It goes like this: This girl had to walk up the mountain to get water for the town everyday. One day, she made a deal with the Devil: if, in one night, he can build a way to get water to the town without having to go up the mountain, she would go with him to the inferno. As the Devil began building the aqueduct she began to realize he was going to finish before morning, so she prayed to God for mercy and for help. God sent a huge rainstorm and as the sun rose, the Devil was unable to lay the last stone in the aqueduct. The girl did not have to go with the Devil and the town now could get its water without having to climb the mountain.

Cathedral in Madrid 

Cervantes statue in Madrid

Gay Pride crowd in Madrid

Me in Toledo

Segovia

I will post more about Salamanca when I have photos. As it is, I haven't even really processed my Gay Pride or Segovia pictures. Since I am in Salamanca the next month, I haven't gone out and photographed yet, getting a feel for the city and getting an idea where to go get photos.


We are homestaying in Salamanca, and my Señora is the most amazing cook. I love that we get fed authentic Spanish food, plus it saves money not having to eat out the whole month. So far, this is starting out to be an incredible journey!

Packing

Maybe I'm weird, but I have always found packing cathartic. I get an opportunity to purge things I don't need, and go through things I've gathered over the course of my time in a place. I finished packing up my room today. I don't exactly know what my dad plans to do with these boxes, but this is my life in a box(es). It feels good to be done. 

On another note: I took my LAST test at Augusta State University today! It felt really good to hand it in!

And one final ending, after nearly 7 years (would have been 7 years on July 25 this year), I clocked out at Ritz/Wolf Camera for the very last time. It was really bittersweet. There have been a lot of ups and downs over the years. I have been given so many amazing opportunities, learned valuable skills, and met some amazing people. Over the years I have worked in a dozen or so different stores, been a Key Lab Tech (which meant my head was in the machine most days!), managed a store, helped liquidate a store, taught classes, lead photo excursions, and most importantly, helped many people preserve their family memories. I truly felt like my job was important and that I was able to help people in some way - which has always meant something to me. Overall, it was a wonderful company to work for, and a wonderful company to get through school with.

These two bags will house my belongings for the next year!

So, now that everything is beginning to wrap up, the question is - is it time to go yet?!

Foggy October Day

There was a beautifully - creepy fog this morning on campus and I actually had my camera with! 

Some fun with Photoshop!