Visa Renewal--Document not the Credit Card

Warning: Longer post, but all must be read to understand the joys of visa renewal here!

This past weekend Des and I had the 'privilege' of renewing our visas. Now, usually this would mean mailing in a form with some money and in return you get a new document. Not for us. The story begins on Friday morning...

Des, my supervisor's wife, my supervisor's 2 daughters, and I head out at 8am for 'Enid' (our destination is actually a nearby border city) along with our driver. Now, we pack into a nice Volkswagon with me and the driver in front and the rest in back. Now, the girls got to share the middle seat with some creativity. So, we head off for 'Enid' and get there after about 4 hours of driving. This part also includes jumping toll gates which when translated means off-roading in the desert for about a mile. Remember, we are in a VW sedan. Right, they don't naturally go together, but here all things are possible.

Saturday morning our adventure begins again at 8am. I did not sleep at all on Friday night, and Des gets motion sickness fairly easily. Hence, not a great start to our day! So, we crawl into the back seat of this soft top make-shift version of a jeep. But, the back seat happens to be a board covered with some carpeting. No hand holds, seatbelts,seatbacks, or any other normal feature of a back seat. Now, as you read about this journey, think of a race for life. Basically, we were entrants in the Border Crossing 500! Both directions!

We begin at the customs office where we get our vehicle identification number to enter and exit the country. Once our driver had this number, he ran out of the building and drove off quickly. While exiting the parking area, he about hit 2 people and several vehicles. Remember this is a race. So, off to the border we race along with many others trailing behind us.

In summary, leaving the country and reentering requires stops at three different check points for both directions. So, SIX checkpoints where each stop requires its own form and is in a different building. At each checkpoint, they check the form with your passport, visa, and yourself. If all things match and are checked correctly, then you get to pass through with no hitches. Thus, the process is go through a checkpoint, get stamped, run out to our jeep, drive 75 meters to the next one, run in, and continue as necessary. A process that should work fairly easily. But, enter the amateurs and everyone else!

At the very first checkpoint, the customs officer believes that Des may have a fake passport because the picture does not seem to match despite Des entering their country several times in addition to many other places with this same passport. Des' hair is longer now, and the lady who took the picture did not do a good job. So, they scan her passport with UV light, bend it, and poke at it for about 5 mins. Finally, they come back and let her pass. Onward we go!

Between the 2nd and 3rd stops of leaving the country, we have to wait for about an hour for a customs official to inspect our vehicle. When we are cleared, the race is on again. Well, our driver was wanting to cut in line so that we could come back in the country quicker. Well, the customs guy for the other country catches us and tells us to go to the end of the line. Well, we try again and get caught. Basically, we are doing doughnuts on the highway trying to cut into this very, very long line. Well, we go down the line a little and find a weak link that we exploit. Granted we about take out several trucks to exploit this hole in line. Once in line, there is lots of bumping and pushing as we are in the prime realty area of the line. The front of a several mile long road. Well, we finally get to start the process of reentering our home country which again is three stops with forms and lines. Now, the lines are not formal and polite. Lines here are a dog-eat-dog world of every man for himself. We actually were physically blocking people from cutting so that we could keep our place in line. We also were stepped on, pushed, and used as leaning posts.

About 4 hours later, we managed to finish the race of renewing our visas. We did not win because we are the amateurs who do not know the process well. But, the task was accomplished and we are glad!

Finally, our return ride home with the same seat arrangements was gentle until the mountains north of home. Our driver barely missed creaming several cars and motorcycles. By listening to his phone conversations, he was about late for another appointment, so he was desperate to get rid of us. Though he about killed us!

Well, this was my adventure this past weekend! Hope you enjoyed reading about it because I enjoyed living it when it was over! Below are some pictures of the border crossing through which we went (yes, that is a huge rainbow welcoming us home)

To the Land of Dinosaurs....

To the Land of Dinosaurs I ventured these past two weeks! Prior to this journey, my two friends from America finished their time here and I saw them safely off in the Capital. My time with them was one of encouragement, support, and discovery. They had a great time here in my hometown as we explored some, they met new friends, and we talked to Father in various parts of my city. Their time here was a blessing for them and for me. They were also able to go to another city nearby for two days to buy some antique items and to see more of the grassland which is sadly now just sand and the random tuft of grass here in our part of Inner Mongolia. Then our adventures continued in the Capital city where we traveled to the Great Wall, Temple of Heaven, the markets, and the main stadium for the Olympics, the "Bird's Nest!" Nightly, we would travel to our favorite restaurant which is Paul's Steak & Eggs (home of fine western food) which would be followed by our stop at Starbucks for coffee, chess and chatting! It was a great time to be there with them. They left just as our next volunteer group rolled into the country.

I came home for a few days to pack, do laundry, and to rest for the next trip of the summer. This one was to a city in the north of Inner Mongolia which is famous for the presence of Dinosaur Bones and various geological specimens that are very old. The city is small and somewhat quaint and is populated by many Mongols with big hearts and smiles. But, they are marketing their fame for 'dinosaurs' with statues of them throughout the city. As you enter on the main highway, there are two huge dinosaurs over the highway that are kissing to symbolise the happiness and love of the community. Anyways, to our purpose in being here.

We were there to do English classes with the students at the all-Mongol School and with all of the city's English teachers. During the day, we (my team and our volunteer group from Powell, Tennessee) would visit classes and teach English through songs, stories, gestures, humor, and other methods. The rest of the day was filled with talking with teachers, students, eating lots of food and eating more food meal after meal. We had many chances to share with the teachers especially as we had class with them each night for 90 minutes. Father is doing many things both at this school and in the community. So, please talk to Father that His True Spirit will known and accepted and that His Truth will ALONE be taught! The school was our main host and they went above and beyond in hosting us with banquets, entertainment, and friendship!

The All-Mongol School's music teacher is one of the top-noted Horse Head Fiddle players in Inner Mongolia. The Horse Head Fiddle is a two-stringed instrument that is bowed like a cello. If one is good at playing it, then the sounds produced are amazing! The Mongolian name for it is 'Morin Khuur.' The HHF choir at the school is amazing. They played for us several times and it was always inspiring and very enjoyable to hear!

Now that the dinosaurs are really extinct, I will sign off and will try to post again soon!