Day 33: U.S. Consulate Appointment

Today was an exciting day!!!  The last step in our journey to get all our ducks in a row to be ready for the big flight to America!!!  We got up and around, had breakfast and went to the Oasis office to meet with Nicolas' play therapist and occupational therapist.  Both amazing women!  They told us about the activities that they had done with him and told us stories about their experiences with him.  They also brought us a Christmas gift - so sweet!  To see the love that these women have for Nicolas is so awesome.  The family he has here is so large, and he has really impacted so many lives here.  He is seriously one amazing kid!

After our meeting, we headed to Sandton (where the U.S. Consulate is located) to have lunch before our appointment.  Put on your seat belt and get ready for this adventure!  We arrived in Sandton about 12PM and our consulate appt was at 1:30PM.  Our GPS told us that the U.S. Consulate was located in a corporate building which didn't seem right to us.  So, I texted Beth and asked.  She said that it wasn't, but gave us the cross streets so that we could find it.  We knew we were close, so we searched for food next.  That brought us to the mall, which was where they recommended we park anyway.  We parked int the parking garage and headed inside, expecting to find a massive food court (the mall was probably 6 stories).  We wandered around looking for a directory or overhead signs directing one to said food court.  After we made a full loop, we had located only fancy sit-down restaurants that we did not have time for.  The enhance the confusion of this mall, it has a million escalators, some taking you what appeared to be only one floor up, but also others that were half the size taking you to other floors in between.  Seriously...confusing!!!!  We found a Mugg and Bean (similar to Starbucks but has a full menu as well) and though FINALLY, we made it.  We walked past it thinking there would be more restaurants, but then ended up coming back when I realized I was mistaken and we were low on time.  We stopped at the cafe in front of the restaurant and got costco-sized super muffins (which were delicious!).  As we were walking back, we noticed a large main entrance at the street level and Kevin spotted the road sign of the cross street we needed.  But wait, that's when I realized that the medical paperwork we needed for our appointment was still in the car.  So, at this point we are almost jogging, we high-tail it back to the car.  As we are approaching the exit to the parking garage, we look down to see McDonald's and Wimpy - right by the entrance we came through in the first place.  Really????  Nice!  Keep moving.  With the medical paperwork in hand, we stopped at McDonalds for a drink and then headed for the street exit.  Once we knew that we were, indeed, in the right place, we stopped to actually eat our muffins.  I failed to mention that I was handing bites of muffin to Nicolas as we were mall-walking on our race back to the car.  He was such a trooper!!!  With full tummies, we headed across the busy road to the consulate building.  There were security guards and probably 5 or 6 people standing outside.  Lee and Thato were already there.  We stood in the line waiting our turn.  Waiting.....waiting......waiting.  We got in line at 1:05PM.  At 1:20PM, they still hadn't acknowledged us.  When they finally did, I told her we had a 1:30 appt and she asked for our appointment confirmation letter.  Um.....what???  I don't have a letter.  So, I showed her our docs from Ruth showing who we needed to talk to.  The guard took that and our passports and disappeared inside for at least 5 minutes.  She came back out and told us it would be a minute.  She then opened the door and let Kevin and Nicolas got through, but made me remain outside until they were through security and got out into the courtyard.  I moved through security and then we went together to the second building.  We checked in with another woman, who was much more friendly, and then we were routed to one of the windows.  I would compare it to the windows at the movies, except smaller.  They have the microphone they speak into so that you can hear them and the slot to put your money and documents through.  They called us up to present our documents and then referred us to another window for the cashier.  You pay them and then sit back down again.  They called us back a third time to do our interview.  They asked us a few questions, gave us back original docs and gave us a slip to bring back later in the week to pick up his visa.  WHEW!!!!  That was more chaotic and stressful than any of the Home Affairs steps!  At least we got a good leg workout racing around!!!

After we were done at the consulate, we went into a few stores in the mall (since we had paid to park anyway) and then headed back to the guesthouse to change.  We met Bev and Nicolas' pediatrician at Mugg and Bean at Cresta (different mall) for dinner.  We had a nice dinner chatting about Nicolas and about what things will be like for him in Michigan.  And, of course, we had milkshakes! :)

After a long day, we came back to the guest house, goofed around for a bit - tickling, wrestling, and just being silly - and then got ready for bed.

We prayed for no rain tomorrow as this is our rescheduled date to go to Gold Reef City Amusement Park.  We are going with Bev and her kids, so it will be a very fun day!!!  The circus is also there right now, so it should be a blast!!!

11 days until we come home!!

The Longstreets