The Course Of Understanding part 2

2. DODGING BULLETS
Okay, take a breather, reader, because all of that was just background, so you’ll be able to understand the significance of the following events. I’ve been working on this test of my patience since September, and all this was leading up to the final crucial episode, where I must take all documents to a Czech embassy outside the country. This law is actually a new on in Czech Republic, and came as a surprise to my director (though I’d already heard from others that it would be necessary). Every Czech was rather amazed when they heard I must go out of the country to ask for a residence visa. My best attempt at putting logic in it is that in the mind of the government, anyone who is asking permission to live in CZ must ask permission from outside. This is a nice thought, except that everyone I know who is going through this process is already living in Prague on a tourist visa. Are you exhausted yet, go get a stiff drink, Warning: Caleb is longwinded, this is just the prologue people!!!! From, Deborah
So, about the time I learned I would definitely have to go out of the country some time, I also learned that none of my documents could be older than 6 months. Well, I got my work visa on October 7, which means 6 months on April 7, so: "I guess I’m going now!" BANG! The bullets start flying. I started looking for the best place to go. My main concern was to make it as inexpensive as possible. I considered Paris or London, but they really weren’t possible. So, Dresden in Germany, Vienna in Austria, or Bratislava in Slovakia. I really didn’t want to go back to Bratislava, after my extremely boring day trip there about five months ago. However, though Dresden and Vienna are actually closer, since they are on the Euro they cost about twice as much as going to Bratislava. So, back to Slovakia. From the beginning, I wasn’t happy about this. BANG!
On Saturday I got on the internet and wrote my mother like the good boy that I am. (This is from Deborah again). I started researching the embassy in Bratislava. It seemed their visa application department is open only Monday-Thursday, from 9-11. First sign of trouble. But I assumed this is because it wasn’t very popular. Then my director called the embassy and found out that people start getting in line at 4 in the morning. So.......! BANG!
I decided that I’d better go on Sunday and scope things out (location!), spend the night at a hostel, and take care of business Monday. The best bus ticket I could get left Prague at 6 am Sunday and returned to Prague 7 pm Monday (it’s a 5 hour trip by bus, going through Brno in south east Czech Republic). I started frantically gathering papers: getting a hold of my landlord to fill out some forms, trying to decipher my application, making sure everything was translated, and getting my parents to fax a letter of financial security at the very last minute (BTW, I have only since realized that I have in my possession a signed letter from my parents saying they will bail me out of any financial fix. Talk about every boy’s dream!!) This accounted for four days of frenzied preparation, praying that I had everything I needed. And considering that most of my experiences with this process were hit or miss (with a low batting average), I had no reasons to be optimistic.
On Friday, after class, one of my students came to me and said "you know the clocks change this weekend, yes?" Turns out that Sunday morning was Czech Republic’s "spring forward" day, and if this student hadn’t decided to mention it to me, I would have missed the bus, without a doubt. BANG! DODGE! I knew there were a lot more bullets out there, any one of which could finish me. I started to have the strange feeling that fate was against me. "All occasions do inform against me." Never the less, with few choices before me, I prepared to cautiously step into this rushing river of fate, and then quickly break into a sprint against the current. Smoked salmon anyone?!