The week before last was the week everything came together, or at least a lot of everything came together. Our permanent resident and temporary resident cards were ready for pick up at the Instituto National de Migration (INM). Ralph is pretty sure they were there all week and the INM failed to call and let us know they were there. When we called on Friday (because you only have a 1 hour window each day where they will pick up the phone to answer questions, and their offices are only open from 9 to 1 Monday to Friday for any processing) they said the cards were in, we could come and pick them up. The INM office is a short walk from the house, and after being there 4 times, the front desk guard knew us and greeted us as if we had just seen him Friday. Look at the fancy cards!
In the same building is the place where you get your old age card, a card which provides discounts to various things in Oaxaca, so we got that done at the same time. The guard was very sweet and looked after Ralph and moved him to the front of the line. Not sure why and we apologized to the other three who were there before us. Ralph got his little white card and off we went to get our Mexican driving licences.
We knew where we were going as we had popped in the week before to see if they would process our driver's permit without us having our actual permanent resident cards. Nope. We needed to come back when we had the cards. Let me set the stage for you. You park a mile away from the office because there is never any close-by parking. You walk in and there are about 30 chairs in the middle of a huge room. There is an "info" desk just as you walk in on the left. The person there reviews what you are coming for and your supporting documentation. Once she is satisfied with your documents, she sends you to another counter at the back where they print off a receipt for what you want and you need to go to the bank and pay. Usually there is a bank right there, but today, today it is closed.
An interesting side note. I got my Class "C" chofer licence. As the lady at the info desk explained, with this I can drive anything. A towtruck, a mototaxi, a semi-tractor trailer, a car, a bus, a van. Anything. I should do this, she says. I wonder how many foreign women immigrate to Mexico to run their very own Mototaxi. I think I would be the first one...
As the bank was closed, Ralph and I walk the mile back to the car and drive over to to ScotiaBank around the corner and up a ways (too far to walk in the midday heat). Ralph waits in the double parked car and I go to the ATM to get the cash we need for the transaction (1300 pesos for both, I think it was 950 pesos for my semi-tractor trailer licence and 350 for Ralph's 2 year regular car permit). I then wait behind 6 people, only to get up to the teller to have Jose, in his slim fit pin stripe blue suit and red tie, tell me I needed a photocopy. I ask him - are you not going to give me a receipt? Yes, he will, he explains, but he still needs a photocopy. But there is a place right on the corner, he assures me. He hands the receipts back to me. I snatch them and stomp out of the bank.
Now here is where I begin to loose my mind. I walk three blocks without finding the "photocopy place on the corner". As I am walking back, ready to walk into the executives office and demand she take a photocopy for me, a lovely lady stops me and tells me not to wait in the line again, but to go into the executive's office and get her to process my stuff. I thank her but tell her that I still can't find the photocopy place. A security guard steps up and tells me it is "right on the corner". If you have met me and spent any time with me, you can see the look on my face at that moment. The look that says "it is not on the %&$% corner, because I walked by the corner twice already". The lovely lady says she will walk me over and she does, and points to a pop-up tacos/antojito stand on the side of the road where on the side of the white metal wall is written in magic marker "copias aqui". No, no, I am not kidding.
I walk up and there is a little photocopier mixed in with the chicklets and coca cola and pickeled onions. I ask for my two copies and the lady does them right up and finished serving me even though a guy had hollered his order over my shoulder. I walk back, copies in hand, wait for the teller to be available and thrust my fresh copies and originals at him. No "Buenas Tardes" this time.
He promptly processes my payment and hands all the documents and receipts back to me. I stand there checking the transaction and he tells me I can move to the side while I check them. Not a chance, I tell him, there is no way I am waiting again if he has made an error.
All looks fine, and as I get in the car, 45 minutes later, Ralph says, "I bet you have a story to tell me!"
We did get our licence, a nice plastic card on the very same day, after three other people reviewed our documentation, took our fingerprints from both hands and took our pictures, including a close up of the eyes, and asked us for our proof of address nothing short of 5 times.
And now, off to Laredo to legalize the car... or so we thought...
In the same building is the place where you get your old age card, a card which provides discounts to various things in Oaxaca, so we got that done at the same time. The guard was very sweet and looked after Ralph and moved him to the front of the line. Not sure why and we apologized to the other three who were there before us. Ralph got his little white card and off we went to get our Mexican driving licences.
We knew where we were going as we had popped in the week before to see if they would process our driver's permit without us having our actual permanent resident cards. Nope. We needed to come back when we had the cards. Let me set the stage for you. You park a mile away from the office because there is never any close-by parking. You walk in and there are about 30 chairs in the middle of a huge room. There is an "info" desk just as you walk in on the left. The person there reviews what you are coming for and your supporting documentation. Once she is satisfied with your documents, she sends you to another counter at the back where they print off a receipt for what you want and you need to go to the bank and pay. Usually there is a bank right there, but today, today it is closed.
An interesting side note. I got my Class "C" chofer licence. As the lady at the info desk explained, with this I can drive anything. A towtruck, a mototaxi, a semi-tractor trailer, a car, a bus, a van. Anything. I should do this, she says. I wonder how many foreign women immigrate to Mexico to run their very own Mototaxi. I think I would be the first one...
As the bank was closed, Ralph and I walk the mile back to the car and drive over to to ScotiaBank around the corner and up a ways (too far to walk in the midday heat). Ralph waits in the double parked car and I go to the ATM to get the cash we need for the transaction (1300 pesos for both, I think it was 950 pesos for my semi-tractor trailer licence and 350 for Ralph's 2 year regular car permit). I then wait behind 6 people, only to get up to the teller to have Jose, in his slim fit pin stripe blue suit and red tie, tell me I needed a photocopy. I ask him - are you not going to give me a receipt? Yes, he will, he explains, but he still needs a photocopy. But there is a place right on the corner, he assures me. He hands the receipts back to me. I snatch them and stomp out of the bank.
Now here is where I begin to loose my mind. I walk three blocks without finding the "photocopy place on the corner". As I am walking back, ready to walk into the executives office and demand she take a photocopy for me, a lovely lady stops me and tells me not to wait in the line again, but to go into the executive's office and get her to process my stuff. I thank her but tell her that I still can't find the photocopy place. A security guard steps up and tells me it is "right on the corner". If you have met me and spent any time with me, you can see the look on my face at that moment. The look that says "it is not on the %&$% corner, because I walked by the corner twice already". The lovely lady says she will walk me over and she does, and points to a pop-up tacos/antojito stand on the side of the road where on the side of the white metal wall is written in magic marker "copias aqui". No, no, I am not kidding.
I walk up and there is a little photocopier mixed in with the chicklets and coca cola and pickeled onions. I ask for my two copies and the lady does them right up and finished serving me even though a guy had hollered his order over my shoulder. I walk back, copies in hand, wait for the teller to be available and thrust my fresh copies and originals at him. No "Buenas Tardes" this time.
He promptly processes my payment and hands all the documents and receipts back to me. I stand there checking the transaction and he tells me I can move to the side while I check them. Not a chance, I tell him, there is no way I am waiting again if he has made an error.
All looks fine, and as I get in the car, 45 minutes later, Ralph says, "I bet you have a story to tell me!"
We did get our licence, a nice plastic card on the very same day, after three other people reviewed our documentation, took our fingerprints from both hands and took our pictures, including a close up of the eyes, and asked us for our proof of address nothing short of 5 times.
And now, off to Laredo to legalize the car... or so we thought...
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