waitin'.. and waitin'...

• Before I post... please write your name in the Leave Your Comment section. I have no idea who I should say hi to Sarah from (straw bale conference person, for sure... but out of 110 delegates... who are ya? ) -from the post below
• I'm still waiting on my visa application! And tomorrow is Pakistan Day, hence a holiday and some type of arms parade... The run around has been crazy! The rest of the straw bale teaching gang is already up in Abbottabad working on work strategies and talking to different NGO's and planning the work that is to be done. The fact that I was born in Bombay is really slowing things down!And as I was told, its also done partially due to the fact that the Indians bug the Pakistanis when they apply!Holding a Canadian passport is almost irrelevant!Funny how a person's birthplace can change treatment and perception, on a macro level. I spent a month as a child in Bombay and that is how the way I'm treated is determined.And I'm still one of the lucky ones, BY FAR!
• All said, I've had MUCH better treatment by the local Pakistanis than even the highly annoying Canadian Embassy!!! Two trips to the CDN embassy, soaking wet, waiting patiently to register myself in the country (for safety reasons) just to be told that they can't help me with registration, as now its only web based (and for a god-forsaken reason, the people at the front did not know that!) and can't help me dry my soaked jacket... for security reasons, and thats AFTER going through a thorough check while coming in!!!! Thanks! Oh... there's a Canadabad Cafe, for Canadians... wait... only for diplomatic Canadians... something they only tell you at the gate!Luckily, the local security guard at this Canadabad Cafe, seeing my sorry wet butt, gave me HIS umbrella for me to go to the Canadian Embassy! :)