Since there really is no way to rush the Spanish government I had to resign myself to the wait and see approach. My attempt at an email request for more information went nowhere, all they told me was that some of the auxiliares had received information and that I would get a letter shortly and I should just wait for mine. So that is was I had planned to do. At this point I felt pretty much powerless in my quest for information and the best solution was to heed the advice from the embassy and wait. This lasted until this past Friday when I ended up having lunch with the friend of my sister who recommended the program to me.
While in Brooklyn, fueling up for our trip to IKEA, Jen received a phone call from her friend Molly, the girl who gave me the name and website for this Auxiliares program. Molly offered to give me all kinds of information, including the name of the guy on the Spanish side who coordinates the program and the name of a yahoo group that many people have used in the past to find housing. With this new source of information my helplessness soon subsided; I could restart my pestering of Spaniards!
Since Jen and Molly hadn't seen each other in a while the exchange of information between her and myself was kind of secondary. A few days later, I sent Molly an email requesting this information and waited for her response. Just as fate would have it, while I was waiting for Molly's response I received an email from the Autonomous Community telling me that they would shortly be sending me the documents I need to fill out my visa application. Now I can use the info from Molly to join the yahoo group and get the housing ball rolling.
As predicted, things will fall in to place and I will move to Spain!
Friday, June 27, 2008
Monday, June 16, 2008
A Response from The Embassy
This is the response I received:
For those of you who are not Spanish speakers, here is a translation:
I am absolutely certain that the Autonomous Communities have begun to send out the letters and some Auxiliares have received them. They won't be much later. In the meantime you can review the instructions for the visa application on our web page.
Thanks for your patience!
I find this rather annoying, as it does not help in the slightest. How am I supposed to fill out a visa application or buy a plane ticket if I don't know what date i need to be there by? Really Spain, we can't all be as laid back as you are.
Hopefully I will get a letter sometime soon. As I told a friend yesterday, we aren't at the critical hour or anything yet, but it is getting close. I remember last time I applied for a visa to Spain the 4-5 week processing turned in to more like 6-8 weeks and i received my passport back a day and a half before my flight took off. That is a kind of stress I'd like to avoid the second time around.
Me consta que las comunidades autónomas han empezado a enviar las cartas, y algunos auxiliares ya las han recibido. No pueden tardar mucho. Mientras tanto puedes repasar las instrucciones sobre la solicitud del visado en nuestra página web.
¡Gracias por tu paciencia!
For those of you who are not Spanish speakers, here is a translation:
I am absolutely certain that the Autonomous Communities have begun to send out the letters and some Auxiliares have received them. They won't be much later. In the meantime you can review the instructions for the visa application on our web page.
Thanks for your patience!
I find this rather annoying, as it does not help in the slightest. How am I supposed to fill out a visa application or buy a plane ticket if I don't know what date i need to be there by? Really Spain, we can't all be as laid back as you are.
Hopefully I will get a letter sometime soon. As I told a friend yesterday, we aren't at the critical hour or anything yet, but it is getting close. I remember last time I applied for a visa to Spain the 4-5 week processing turned in to more like 6-8 weeks and i received my passport back a day and a half before my flight took off. That is a kind of stress I'd like to avoid the second time around.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
I got all american about it...
So much for "no pasa nada"
Instead of waiting around for the Spanish Ministry of Education to send me information I sent them an email. Now I shall wait for a response, while I'm pretty sure that this response will go something to the effect of "oh, yeah... we're working on that..." it makes me feel better to have done something about it.
I kindly wrote to them asking when we could expect to get information necessary for filling out a visa application, or buying airfare. Personally, I am in no real rush to start this whole thing but I know the lack of action is killing my dear mother. Several times I have had to deal with the questions, and when I respond that we are talking about a country with organized nap-time she is none too impressed.
Yes, I would like to know more about my placement and when I will be in Spain, but I get the impression that trying to rush the Spanish government is a lot like herding cats, that is to say impossible. Things will get done when they get done, but it probably helps to have us obnoxious American kids asking for information. You know, just to let them know that about 1,300 of us will need to fill out visa applications and would love the answers to pesky questions like "fecha de llegada" (date of arrival)...
Instead of waiting around for the Spanish Ministry of Education to send me information I sent them an email. Now I shall wait for a response, while I'm pretty sure that this response will go something to the effect of "oh, yeah... we're working on that..." it makes me feel better to have done something about it.
I kindly wrote to them asking when we could expect to get information necessary for filling out a visa application, or buying airfare. Personally, I am in no real rush to start this whole thing but I know the lack of action is killing my dear mother. Several times I have had to deal with the questions, and when I respond that we are talking about a country with organized nap-time she is none too impressed.
Yes, I would like to know more about my placement and when I will be in Spain, but I get the impression that trying to rush the Spanish government is a lot like herding cats, that is to say impossible. Things will get done when they get done, but it probably helps to have us obnoxious American kids asking for information. You know, just to let them know that about 1,300 of us will need to fill out visa applications and would love the answers to pesky questions like "fecha de llegada" (date of arrival)...
Sunday, June 8, 2008
Still waiting
Just a quick update...
I'm still waiting to hear any sort of information from the Ministry of Ed. I guess all I really can do it continue waiting.
The other day I decided to check Profex (the online application site) and it said that the application was still open until the 10th of this month. Maybe they are waiting until it closes to send out more info? Or maybe working in Spain is a lesson in flexibility...
I'm still waiting to hear any sort of information from the Ministry of Ed. I guess all I really can do it continue waiting.
The other day I decided to check Profex (the online application site) and it said that the application was still open until the 10th of this month. Maybe they are waiting until it closes to send out more info? Or maybe working in Spain is a lesson in flexibility...
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