June To Do/May Recap

So I'm a little behind on my posting my to do lists for the month since it's already June 22nd, but I figure it can't hurt to put them out there anyways. It's better late than never, right???

Here's my June To Do List. If it's crossed out that means it's already completed- yay!

1. Clean out MN bedroom (this is actually being moved to August because since I'm no longer in MN it cannot be completed)
2. Close MN saving account and add that money to checking account (again, this will now have to be done in August)
3. Go shopping for toiletries at Costco
4. Gather together recipes that I want to take to Chile
5. Buy new swimsuit
6. Buy dress pants and skirts
7. Schedule and get a physical at the doctor's (I want to make sure nothing's wrong with me before I don't have any health insurance for awhile!)
8. Get refill prescription from doctor for many months worth 
9. Trade in all my coins/change at the bank- it should be over $50!
10. Sell my quarter-board (remember all those 50 states quarters!) to mom
11. Rip my CDs to my computer
12. Buy socks
13. Buy a belt
14. Order new pair of glasses
15. Buy swimshorts
16. Buy black flats (shoes)

And here's my recap for what I got done on my May To Do List.

1. Go to the eye doctor
2. Write my resume
3. Check out resources from the library on teaching English
4. Inform my landlord I will be moving
5. Get the green light from said landlord to have a yard sale in July
6. Ask a couple of people to write letters of recommendation about my teaching skills
7. Fill out application for passport (I decided to renew my passport in Chile so I no longer need to do this)
8. Schedule dentist appointment for the beginning of June (the point was to see my dentist in MN, but he was out of town while I was there so this also will no longer be done)

I really should have gotten those last two things done in May. Two months from today I should already be in Chile! I'm starting to realize I need to get my butt in gear. This week I've been having to get up by 6:30am (normally it's about 7:30- sometimes later!) and so when I come home from work I don't feel like doing anything. I'll allow it this week but next week that's going to change. There will be no TV and no book reading until close to bedtime. Instead I will start deep-cleaning my apartment and even packing so I don't leave it all for the last minute. Well, that's all for now. Have a good night and God bless.

A Little Story I Like to Call "Getting My Degree Legalized"

I'd like to start out with a request for your prayers. I still have about two and a half months left at my job (so there is time) but it's hard to remain hopeful all the time about my replacement. We came close with two different people who didn't work out for different reasons. Please pray that we find someone with a servant heart and missionary spirit who will be a good fit for the parish and us for them. Thank you!


Now onto my story about getting my degree legalized. If I want to use my degree in Chile, then there is a process to get Chileans to recognize it as legitimate in their country. Just for the record (Mother and Andres), I DO want to use my degree in Chile, I'm just not sure how possible that will be since my degree is in Theology. To my knowledge there are not a lot of paid positions for my field. My best bet is that once I become fluent in Spanish a Catholic school might want to hire me to teach Religion. Anywho...I called and emailed the consulate here in the U.S. to get the skinny on what I have to do. These are the instructions they gave me:

LEGALIZATION OF SCHOOL DOCUMENTS Step 1:  Document must be signed by a school official (Principal, Counselor, Registrar) before a Notary Public. Step 2: The signature of the Notary must be certified by County Clerk or Secretary of State’ Office.  This certification must be in ORIGINAL issued in one of the following States:  Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Ohio, Wisconsin.  After being legalized by the County Clerk or Secretary of  State’ Office the document must be sent to the Consulate General of Chile.   Step 3: US$ 12 per legalization in Money Order (no personal checks) payable to the Consulate of Chile.  Step 4: Include a self addressed and stamped envelope to send you back the document. IMPORTANT: In order to validate this document in Chile, it must be legalized by the Foreign Affairs Ministry of Chile, Legalization Department. Agustinas 1320, Santiago, Chile. 

They say Chileans are a bit bureaucratic and that they like their red tape and to make you jump through hoops and wait in many, many lines. Well, today I got an experience of that in our own U-S of A.  I had to send an envelope inside of an envelope inside of an envelope to my college along with a check for $26 so that they can print me off another diploma and have it notarized. Then they must send it in the next envelope inside an envelope with the $12 money order to the Chilean Consulate in Chicago. Note I had to send it to the consulate in the jurisdiction where I went to school and not where I live now- or else I would have sent it to Salt Lake City. The consulate will authenticate/legalize it and then mail it to my parents house in the final envelope provided. It's being sent to their house in case this whole process takes longer than two and a half months. BUT as you may have noticed from the directions, the process doesn't stop there. Once I arrive in Chile I also have to have it legalized there. I'm not quite sure why I have to do this twice. And will they make me pay for it even more in Chile?


So how did it go sending off the envelope inside of an envelope inside of an envelope? Not so good. I got the run around. When I started this morning I knew that I needed to get postage for my three envelopes and the $12 money order- everything else was ready. So I called up the post office and asked: Do you sell money orders? The answer was yes. Perfect! Off to the post office I went on my merry little way during my lunch break. I get there and go up to the counter and request the money order and postage. I get the postage first and start sticking stamps onto my envelopes. Then comes time to pay- but you can only pay for money orders with cash or debit. Usually I carry cash on me but I didn't have enough today of all days. No problem because I have not only one, but two debit cards! Except one I don't know the pin to and the other the post office machine will not accept. I pay for the stamps with cash, cut my losses with time and move on. I drive to my bank, go up to the counter and ask: Do you sell money orders? The answer is yes. Perfect! Except they cost five stinking dollars! It only cost $1.10 at the post office. I say heck no, take a measly $12 out of my account and leave. Then I go across the street to the grocery store. I asked: Do you sell money orders? The answer was yes. Perfect! And how much do they cost? 25 cents a piece! Jackpot! I might have wasted 45 minutes but I saved $4.75. I got my money order, stuck it in the middle envelope, checked the other envelopes to make sure they had the correct addresses and put it in the big blue postal mailbox.


Done and done! Hopefully. Now check out some pictures.

The contents of the first envelope. The forms I had to fill out for my school. Plus 26 buckaroos!

The infamous money order

The final mailing package: an envelope inside an envelop inside an envelope

It should have been picked up at 4:30pm today! It's on its way....

Passport Conundrum

I need advice! My passport is set to expire in March 2012... when I'm in Chile. The question is do I renew it now or do I renew it when I'm there? And there lies my conundrum.


Reasons to renew in Chile:
- It costs $110 for a new passport and then it will cost another $130 to get my visa when I enter Chile (the tourist visa is good for the life of the passport)
- If you change your name within one year of getting a new passport you can have your name changed in it for free. If it has been more than one year you would have to pay another $110 for the passport (and pay for another visa as well)
- I am planning on getting married and changing my name... but it will probably be a few months  over that one year mark
-So if I can put off renewing my visa for a few months I wouldn't have to pay for my passport twice. I may still have to pay for my visa twice. But this is the main reason: I save at least $110 and I also put off having to spend $240 for awhile.
- I emailed the U.S. embassy in Santiago and they said that if I was living there and my passport expires I can renew it with them.


Reasons to renew before I leave the US:
- What if since I would not be living in Chile permanently at that point the embassy decides I broke the rules for renewing it? What are the rules for renewing your passport abroad?
- What if something goes wrong and I get deported?
- The reasons here are mostly my worries. Some are blown out of proportion I think, but they still worry me.
- Convenience. If I renew it here I can just mail in the application and a check. If I renew it in Chile I can possibly mail it in but I might have to go to Santiago (a two-hour trip) to renew it.


What do you think? Have you (or someone you know) ever renewed your passport when you were abroad? Any advice would be appreciated.

May To Do

Okay, here's what I need to get done in May:

1. Go to the eye doctor
2. Write my resume
3. Check out resources from the library on teaching English
4. Inform my landlord I will be moving
5. Get the green light from said landlord to have a yard sale in July
6. Ask a couple of people to write letters of recommendation about my teaching skills
7. Fill out application for passport and get envelope ready for mailing
8. Schedule dentist appointment for beginning of June

It's not as much as I had to do in April but I will have a lot more to do in June and July. The time is going so fast!

Check-up: April To Do List

So how did I do with the list of things I needed to get done this month? Check it out! Everything I finished now has a bullet point instead of a number in front of it. The ones in red are half done.

• Send Andres my contact prescription so he can compare prices
• Ask office manager about what will happen to my retirement account
• Confirm selling my guitar to my brother
• Start a file folder that will hold all important documents to take to Chile
• Make copies of birth certificate
• Check with Chilean consulate about getting my degree legalized
• Schedule eye appointment for end of May
• See if family or co-workers want to buy my TV converter
• Set dates that I will go to MN in June
• Check with parishioners who have so generously given me some furniture to see if they want it back or if they want me to pass it on

1. Fill out application for passport and get envelope ready for mailing
2. Schedule dentist appointment for beginning of June
3. Confirm end date of work
4. Confirm how much I will have to pay back my work for the first time I went to Chile
5. Set-up move dates with my parents who will be coming to help get me and any stuff I have to MN in August

I'll post my May list in the next couple of days.

April To Do

I'm down to about four months to get ready for the move to Chile. To organize the preparations I made a list of things I need to do each month up until August. Here's April's list:

1. Fill out application for passport and get envelope ready for mailing
2. Make copies of birth certificate
3. Start a file folder that will hold all important documents to take to Chile
4. Schedule eye appointment for end of May
5. Schedule dentist appointment for beginning of June
6. Confirm end date of work
7. Confirm how much I will have to pay back my work for the first time I went to Chile
8. Call Chilean consulate about getting my degree certified
9. Check with parishioners who have so generously given me some furniture to see if they want it back or if they want me to pass it on
10. Confirm selling my guitar to my brother
11. See if family or co-workers want to buy my TV converter
12. Set dates that I will go to MN in June
13. Set-up move dates with my parents who will be coming to help get me and any stuff I have to MN in August

These are things that I've already checked off- not enough! April has been so busy!

• Send Andres my contact prescription so he can compare prices
• Ask office manager about what will happen to my retirement account

At the end of the month I hope I can update you that they've all been checked off!