Welcome to the red tape jungle! Ministries, offices, apostilles, passports, paperwork… And family and friends

This pretty much resumes my last days. We are full on into the paperwork mill trying to get some speed in our residence application. Well, actually trying to start it all together. We have already encountered major surprises due to some key information that was for some reason not mentioned to us. But everybody is very helpful and I am sure we will sort it out somehow. I just need to stop having mini heart- and panic attacks and tag along the folkloric path of things. I also need to reboot my memory though because I am once more submerging myself into a whole new definition of bureaucracy, for the second time in my life… I have to say that even though the whole thing is at times rather entertaining and the amount of paper, paper clips and queues is quite impressive, I still like to think that this will be my last international move.

Needless to say and to nobody’s big surprise, our plans are delayed and nothing really went the way we thought it would. So instead of being in Montevideo since yesterday, we are still in B.A and have to wait patiently for some paperwork. Once that is sorted we will hopefully “cross the pond” and get some real paperwork started on the other side of the river. Would be great to get more things done, especially showing the land and Carmelo to TnT but I think that might have to wait a bit.

Otherwise Buenos Aires has decided to surprise me this time. It is strikingly and surprisingly beautiful and I am kind of reuniting with what used to be my city, which is rather unexpected to me. I thought I would hate it but I actually think it is kind of pretty and not so bad really and I am totally loving the people, so funny, so alive… You get seen, acknowledged and helped and sort of exist in an intense way. There are several dialogues going on everywhere and I realized that after being alone in the streets for a few hours I had actually talked to more than two strangers, and this excluding those providing a direct service in the supermarket and shops and so on. I especially like the way you can freely help people out in the various queues (yeah, one becomes an expert eventually) on the bus or the streets without being looked at as if you were out of your mind.

We are also extremely lucky and got here, to this monster of a city, having to worry nothing at all about our housing situation. We have a lovely apartment with everything we need and the extra warmth of family only two elevator rides away. Once more everything got sorted for us. What a lux-u-ry, and how are we ever going to pay back for all this is a mystery to me, maybe loads of sourdough bread fresh from our pizza oven with vegan spreads and tasty organic veggies? It’s a start at least. And then there are all the friends, my lifelong friends who I get to meet all over again and hopefully will follow up a bit closer than I have the last 17 years.

Missing Norway. Love being on the move. Wanting to get things sorted. Hating the actual sorting them out. Emotional carnival continues.

To finish, a few funny things I saw during my Friday errands from office to consulate to ministry etc. Sorry for the bad pics but I have been literally running across the city.

Bloody banana grocery store and a concrete bench Louis style (I had to touch it to make sure)

And one more good thing: I am back in bussiness!!!!

Thanks Dad and Cecilia for providing a safe place and a space from where we can go out and fight our battles. We will succeed!