angharad_gam

I got a phone call while I was in Canberra on Monday (at an offsite in a place that was almost cut off from the outside world - there were all of two or three places where I had mobile phone reception, and internet was $25 a day!). It was the guy from our travel section. Apparently the US consulate didn't think they could process my visa in time (actually the problem was not so much processing time, but postal time to get my passport from Canberra to Sydney and then here to Adelaide). And for some reason they said I don't qualify for the visa waiver program when travelling on an official passport, which makes no sense at all.

So I am heading to Canada on Sat night with with the vague hope of possibly getting a visa while I am in Montreal, except that the travel guy wouldn't book me any flights to the US in case I couldn't go there, and I can't get a visa without a confirmed itinerary. So while I could rock up to the Montreal consulate on Monday morning (when I actually have some free time) and give them a fait accompli, what I'm actually going to have to do is ring them up, find out if getting the thing is feasible, then contact the office (with delay due to time zone differences), get them to send me stuff, and then probably take time out from the conference to apply.

I'm beginning to think one day in Washington (which is what it is going to be if I can wrangle it) is not worth it.

*sigh*

My brain, meanwhile, seems to be on an periodic cycle of excitement, terror and exhaustion.