First Tasks

Upon arrival in El Salvador, the customs officers issue you a 90-day tourist visa at the border. After that, your first order of business should be to obtain a "NIT" card.

The NIT, Número de Identificación Tributaria, is the local equivalent of the Taxpayer Identification Number, issuable to any individual who holds a valid passport -- even if they only have a 90-day tourist visa. It is a stepping stone to doing other important things, like setting up a local bank account.

Fortunately for us, one of the school staffers took Geoff and me to apply for a NIT on the first day. The whole process took about 10 minutes and 50 cents. --You read that right, 50 cents! For both of us combined! The same awesome lady also took me to open a local bank account, which took significantly longer. There were a lot of papers to sign, and it looked like the only reason why things went through so smoothly was because I was backed by the Escuela Americana staffer.

Then, Geoff and I spent the rest of the day looking at apartments (putting what little Spanish we know to the test). Even though there is still paperwork stuff to iron out, we are pretty sure we have found our first home! yay! For future reference, doing everything in El Salvador is about whom you know. There is no Craigslist or real-estate agency... You go look at apartments that are owned by a friend-of-a-friend, or by the mom of a cousin of a co-worker. Pretty funny. :)

Keeping our fingers crossed, Geoff and I will be in our home by Sunday, minimally settled by next week (with cellular phones and internet access all hooked up, and our bed delivered), so that we can start taking surf lessons! :) (As it turns out, one of my new co-workers dates one of the top-ranked surfers in El Salvador, and he offers $10 surf lessons... As you might expect, Geoff has already enthusiastically chatted him up and gotten him to agree to teach us to surf!)

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Incidentally, I looked it up briefly out of curiosity, and it looks like the requirements for getting a tax ID number are indeed much stricter in the US than in El Salvador, as one might expect. As a foreigner looking to apply for a Social Security number, you would have to either prove that you have permission to work in the States or prove that you are part of a federal program (ie. federal funding) that requires an SSN.

As for opening US bank accounts as a foreigner, the process is so mind-bogglingly complex that I would have to recommend browsing through this link to get a sense of the difficulties involved. It is pretty insane how unfriendly the US framework is to foreign businesses, and yet how many people still want to do business with us. ...For now, anyway.

Last-minute preparations

Last day before flying out! Perhaps predictably, these last few days have been very busy. Most of it has been purely logistical.

• Getting follow-up immunization shots. I am now mostly immunized against common illnesses in Central America. Among other things, you can stab me a few times with a rusty knife, and I will still be OK (possibly unhappy, but physically OK).


• Printing out handy docs. We will be meeting up at the hotel, so we each will need a copy of the hotel reservations to get through customs. We may also need each other's itineraries (in case the customs folks give us trouble) and maps to the hotel...


• Mailing teaching materials to El Salvador. Note to future mailers of packages: You will need to fill out American customs forms for your goodies, and the items will be held at the Salvadorean customs for me to pick up.


• Scanning important documents. We are storing all of the actual copies at Geoff's parents' place, but we will be bringing digital versions with us. That includes teaching papers, medical reports, my diploma and transcripts, etc.


• Doing last rounds of laundry, packing, taking measurements and weights of packages. Even though it differs a bit from airline to airline, generally speaking, we are each allowed two check-in bags weighing 50 lbs, with "linear measurements" of 62 inches or less. Linear measurements indicate length + width + height. Because of the various constraints, we have had to change up our plans and go with regular suitcases instead of the sexy duffel bags. In the end, our suitcases are too wide to sit directly on top of our scales, so Geoff has had to weigh himself standing on top of the scales with and without holding the luggage, in order to find out their weights. It's a good technique to use, if you ever find yourself in a similar situation! :)


• Storing things at Geoff's parents' place. There are a few sentimental things I needed to keep, like Frankie Manning's signed autobiography, my HKN scrapbook, some baby pictures, and my old records. Besides that, Geoff is storing some clothes and shoes, his guitar, and various paperwork.


• Booking a hotel. We will be staying temporarily at the Tazumal Guesthouse, hopefully only for a few days while we look for a permanent apartment. It's a pretty cheap place -- $40 a day between the two of us. We are keeping our fingers crossed that they will have reliable internet and allow Geoff to do some work while we are in transit. If you don't hear from us within a week after our arrival in El Salvador, you'll know where to begin looking for missing bodies. --Just kidding! Sort of. harhar.


• Buying medical supplies. It looks like both CVS and Duane Reade have stopped selling the facial lotion that I use. A bit worrisome, but I bought an alternative type instead. Hopefully it will not make me break out while I am down in San Salvador. We have both replenished our supplies of contact lenses. I have also gone and refilled my inhaler meds. Even though my Albuterol is almost out and so is my prescription for that type of emergency inhaler, I think I will be OK to have just my Advair and the allergy meds for a while, as long as we don't move into a cat farm.


• Figuring out our insurance plans. Geoff researched various options of international insurance plans, and has hopped on board with Goodhealth already. I will be covered by EduCare, which seems to have a pretty good coverage both within the States and in El Salvador. The best part is that the school covers 75% of the premium for me. The bad part is that dental and vision are not covered. I may have to look around for a vision insurance when I get there. (It's not a big deal in the short term, but I do need to go to the ophthalmologist regularly to check up on my retina. There is a chance that I could need emergency surgery some day, despite my optimism...)


• Cleaning Geoff's apartment. Living in a transitional place with transitional roommates and no lease is great for commitment-phobes like us, but as you can imagine, the bathroom is grimy! ugh. This was definitely my least favorite part of moving.


• Bonus: Geoff has had to spend hours dealing with some unexpected technical snafoo. :( Thankfully, it all worked out beautifully in the end.

...But, with all of that said, I think we are finally, finally ready to go. This is where the craziness starts!!

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PS. What do you think we are doing in NYC on the eve of our departure? --We are heading up to midtown to grub on Chicken and Rice, and then heading over to Lincoln Center to buy Spanish-English phrasebooks and to watch the midnight showing of Harry Potter! :) There is no doubt that we are going to miss NYC... what a great city.

Portland, Seattle, and Vancouver

There are some trips that you take with friends or lovers -- adventures to be shared and epic stories to be told -- and then, there are some that you take just for yourself. I had planned my solo NW trip with full intention of it being a breather in between all the craziness; I really wanted things to go at an uber-leisurely pace, with some dancing here and there to fill the time. In fact, for the first time ever, I didn't even try to coordinate anything with friends before arriving in Seattle, and -- as poor Micah could attest to -- I was yet making arrangements to crash at people's places after hugging them hello. :)

But, ironically enough, various parts of the trip turned out to be very busy! I had bizarre / hysterical experiences in both Portland and Vancouver, and I ended up playing things by ear the entire time. God bless the charming Oregonians, and God ought to bless the Canadians. ;) (...I might be biased, since I was detained at the border for 2 hours by the Canadian customs officials, who had the infinite wisdom to suspect that I might be dealing drugs. But, really, all kinds of weird stuff was happening in Vancouver! I even walked into a local bank to find out that it didn't have an ATM on site! And random people you grab on the street usually can't tell you which direction is west. ...WHAT?! I am pretty sure Canadians are all very well-intentioned, but... umm... they seemed like they could use a little logistical help, maybe.)

Funny idiosyncrasies aside, my trip to the NW definitely lived up to all of its promise: warm weather, awesome dancing, beautiful music, and a lovely time catching up with old friends. :)

I love summer traveling. This summer will be cut short because of the big move, but I am still hopeful that we will be able to find an apartment quickly, so that we can drive around El Salvador and explore a bit during my week off in August.

Irish Philosophy of Life

I love this:

In life, there are only two things to worry about:
either you are well, or you are sick.

If you are well, there is nothing to worry about,
but if you are sick, you have two things to worry about:
either you will live, or you will die.

If you live, there is nothing to worry about;
if you die, you have two things to worry about:
either you will go to heaven or to hell.

If you go to heaven, there is nothing to worry about,
but if you go to hell,
you'll be so busy shaking hands with your friends,
you won't have time to worry!

This should be all of our philosophies. :)

A Weekend to Remember

We had our goodbye party in Geoff's parents' garden on Saturday, and it was a blast! The weather was beautiful, even though it had been predicted to rain for part of the evening. A steady stream of guests came and went throughout the night, and I think everybody had a good time mingling. Geoff and I were surprised by the turnout of New Yorkers, actually, since it was definitely a bit of a trek out of their way. Even our friends who came solo seemed to be having a great time. And, as a special treat, I got to see an old college friend (Dan) for the first time in five years, because he had just arrived in NYC for the summer! All in all, we were more than grateful for all the friends and family who came out, and we will be spending the rest of our time here catching up with the rest of them...

Earlier in the day, when I had realized that my friend John wasn't going to be able to make our party (because he and his girlfriend were busy doing last-minute packing for their own summer trip), I made a hasty decision to rush uptown to meet him for coffee. As a result, I had to take a cab and sprint through midtown Manhattan to get to Port Authority on time for the bus -- TOTAL CHAOS! -- but it was totally worth it, because I got to say goodbye to my dear friend before he headed off for the airport today. yay. :)

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Then, this morning I came back into the city to meet up with the dancers for brunch at our troupe director, Laura's, apartment. There was an incredible spread of food, and we played Apples to Apples for a while before heading over to Central Park to enjoy a live jazz band. The afternoon wrapped up with some awesome music and dancing, before I had to say my goodbyes.

I am terrible at saying goodbyes, and I felt very sentimental to be leaving the troupe... But, it was definitely the perfect afternoon to remember. :)

Last day at AMS

I was saying goodbye to my coworkers, and then all of a sudden I felt my chest swell like I was about to cry. And then the tears came flowing out and they wouldn't stop. I knew goodbyes would be hard, because I had been working daily with some of these teachers and staffers for three years now. But I hadn't anticipated it being this hard.

Tomorrow will be our goodbye party! :) The timing couldn't have been better, because I got to delay some of the goodbyes. That is a good thing, because I was already a wet mess as it was today. I don't think I could have said goodbye to more people. Maybe tomorrow will be better after some booze.

My Inner Frannie

The CDC recommends that travelers receive Hep A, Hep B, Typhoid, and Tetanus shots prior to traveling to El Salvador. So, today I went downtown to a doctor to get those shots. Geoff had already gone there last week and had said that some of the shots would require a follow-up dose; my going today would allow for that buffer period to pass before I could get the second dose.

As it turns out, getting properly immunized is very expensive! In fact, neither the cost of the travel vaccines nor the visitation fee is covered by most insurance policies. When the nurse broke it down for me, I was flabbergasted. --In all, that would mean $250 for the visit alone, and another $360 for the shots! Holy smokes.

I was actually outraged over the amount of money that the girl had stated. I figured that there had to be some sort of mistake or loophole. Wishfully, I called up my insurance company, but they confirmed the disheartening fact that they would cover no part of the fees. Frustrated and desperate (and really, shameless), I ended up talking to the nurses for a while, because I wanted them to help me find a solution. They wanted me to go back on Wednesday, after they have a chance to consult their "fees person" about giving me a discount. That wasn't an option for me, since even going there today had required me to leave work early, and leaving early on Wednesday is absolutely out of the question. But, I also did not think I wanted to be a cowgirl about paying the $600 today. So, I kept asking if there was anyone she could talk to who was there...

Eventually, the girl relented and went to go talk to the doc, and they both agreed to turn the visit into a consultation for my chronic asthma condition. That way, they could legitimately bill my insurance for the visit, and I would only have to pay for the shots themselves. --Score! So, not only did I end up saving more than $200 on the visit today, but I also got some free allergy medicine samples and some free asthma advice! Good stuff.

--Basically, what I'm trying to say is that I hustled them today. ;) The whole time while I was talking to the nurse, I had pictured my friend Olajide in my head. I knew that if she was there, she'd be hustlin' them like mad, so I did my best to invoke my inner Frannie. And it actually worked. wow. :)