No that was just the process of renewing my residence card. From that I got a receipt that says I have requested a new card along with an appointment to pick up the real thing in two months.
Those who are astute might wonder now, but wait today is 2 months and 2 weeks after Kelly's renewal appointment. Correct. I originally had an appointment on the 6th of January and on that day I went to the prefecture only to be greeted by a locked door and this sign:
No that's not an advertisement for a new club opening, it's the poor student's only means of knowing that the prefecture has in fact, moved, and if are unlucky enough to have an appointment during the week of the 4th - 8th you now have a new appointment 2 weeks after your original date (remember my rule about never getting something done the first time you go in France? mmm h'mmm).
That brings me to today. I was a little concerned about finding the place but that turned out to be silly since the prefecture was clearly marked with a giant line of unhappy people outside.
I was prepared for this because knowing how France works I was pretty sure that before they decided to change everyone's appointment on the week of the 4th to the week of the 18th , they had already given out appointments for 18th. That meant that now the already beyond capacity number of "appointments" (it's not really an appointment it's a time slot you have assigned to you along with like 50 other people) have doubled for the week of the 18th. This I was sure of.
What I didn't account for was the fact that the prefecture had now joined offices with... wait for it.
The French DMV! (that France, still full of surprises). So now imagine the above scenario and add to that people waiting at your average DMV.
Do you ever wonder to yourself that perhaps god is just some really bored guy that tries to amuse himself when there's no good t.v. on? Or perhaps that humanity is one big video game for aliens where the goal is to make doing the simplist thing as challenging as possible. Bonus points for ridiculousness.
I wondered these things while I stood in line to get in into the prefecture. Because it's like someone saw me go to the prefecture on the 6th and decided that no, it was just too easy. Let's multiple the line by 100, move the line outside, and make it not only cold, but raining as well. Hahahahahaha.
Everything. Happens. To. Me.
In the end I got in and got my new carte de sejour. The physical act of getting it took 2 minutes. Total wait time: 2 hours.
It expires in October 2010. I shall cherish every moment until then.
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