Worst. Day. Ever.

Ok. This is going to be a complaining blog entry. I'm sure the title tipped you off.
Here is what happened today:

• I missed the kids' Christmas show
• I "lost" my passport and went to the embassy to replace it
• I found my old passport, which means I wasted a bunch of time and complicated my life for no reason
  
• I missed my appointment about my residency card
• My private lesson canceled on me, so I'm out 30 euro before my trip to Berlin

First, the Christmas show. I've posted a few times about the kids putting on a typical Christmas pageant at school. A few weeks back the branch of the city government in charge of my program called and told me I had an appointment to get fingerprinted for my residency card on the 16th of December. I didn't know it at the time, but that was going to be the same day as the 3rd & 4th grade Christmas performances. Eduardo told me this at the end of last week. Needless to say I was bummed.

The "lost" passport. For this residency card appointment I was supposed to bring my passport, 2 photos and 10 euro. I had 10 euro in my wallet and the photos left over from the first meeting about the card. I just assumed that my passport was in the drawer where I always put it. This morning when I went to pick it up before heading out the door it was missing. I tore my room apart looking for it. Every item was picked up and searched; I looked under the bed, in drawers and closets. I sifted through every paper and bag I own. No where to be found. So I went to the Embassy, hoping I could get in and out in time to make it to the 11 o'clock fingerprinting and explain it to the representative from the city education division.

The Embassy was rather painless. They did take my cellphone, so that made calling the person I was supposed to meet impossible. The people were friendly and I didn't have to wait that long to begin the process. I filled out the forms, had to take a new set of pictures (since the ones I had left over were acceptable for European ID cards but not US passports!) and pay $100. Now I have a passport that is good for one year. The only problem is it is a new passport number and the one I had before is invalid.

When I got home I was determined to find the old passport. I don't know why, that was probably a stupid idea. I, again, tore apart my room. I emptied the hamper, I re-sifted through all my papers. Finally, I decided it had to be in the dresser. But in the morning I thought I had looked though the whole thing, so where could it be? I'll tell you where. It was behind the bottom drawer between the drawer and the composite board that acts like the back of the dresser. I had to take the furniture apart to find my freaking original passport.

I missed my NIE (residency card) appointment because I spent 2 hours in the embassy, mostly waiting for them to print my new passport. When I got to the police station there was no one there. I was too flustered to try and explain it to someone inside, so I continued to call the person from the city who I was supposed to meet. She never answered. I sent an email to the program director, but she has developed a reputation for being less than helpful. I'm praying that I can either get a hold of someone in the education division or take a step back long enough to figure out how to explain this to the NIE people directly. (The problem is that an application for the NIE was started under my name and old passport number and now that passport is not valid, I don't know what to do about this...)

For my own sanity, I would like this to be the one time we talk about the passport issue, condolences will be accepted, but lets not try and have a conversation. Not only am I a little embarrassed but I am also quite pissed at myself and it probably isn't a great idea to keep bringing it up. Don't worry, I can still go on my trip to Berlin and travel about for the next 6 months, that isn't going to be affected.

Now the private lesson. While I was trying to recover from my horrible morning I received a text message from my private lesson that her kids are sick and not to come. The only problem is that she pays me on Tuesdays. I went yesterday, and we had arranged at the beginning that I would just collect 30 euros on Tuesdays rather than 15 each day. While that seemed simple, now it is bitting me in the ass. Not only does her cancellation take 15 euro out of my pocket, since it was today and not yesterday I won't even get the other 15 until January.

UPDATE (6:30 PM): I have talked to my mom about this and I'm feeling slightly better. The stupidity of my situation still bugs me (ALOT), but she made a good point that there was really no way of knowing about the passport/dresser debacle until I needed it. With that in mind she pointed out that it is better that I had to go through all of this business today rather than discover Friday afternoon (when the embassy is closed) that my passport was missing and not be able to go on my trip to Germany. That would have cost more in lost bookings and been a much worse bummer.

I have also decided to try again tomorrow to call the person I was supposed to meet, but if that doesn't work I will have to call the NIE office and explain the situation to them...

What has also helped me feel better is a box I picked up at the post office today. It was full of the items on my care package list and lovely cards. It even included a cookie starter mix, so when I opened it is smelled like Christmas. Seriously. Best friends ever!

UPDATE 2 (7:05 PM): I just received an email from the program people (which, by Spanish standards is a small miracle) basically telling me that everything on the NIE end is going to be alright. The worry is over. Now I can travel and eventually become legal in Spain. Hooray!

Also, now that the issue has been pretty much resolved we can talk about it. I'm still slightly embarrassed at the stupidity of it all, but since there are no serious repercussions it stings a little less.