I have come to accept that getting my visa is my job. It may take the entire time that we’re here. 

Dutifully returned to the office today, chaperoned by my husband. Went early in the day before the heat got the best of me. I didn’t want to arrive all sweaty so that they thought I was shifty. Turns out I could have grabbed any schlep off the street because at no point did he need to show identification of any kind. Just simply the presence of a man was enough to allow them to proceed with me. So bizarre, in so many ways it is such a progressive country and yet…

But those wily Swiss had another curve ball to throw at me. “And where are your children?” 

“I beg your pardon?”

“You were told to bring your children with their birth certificates.”

“No, I most certainly was not told to bring my children.” 

Luckily we had and had left them locked up with the bikes in the parking lot. (Ok, the kids weren’t locked up, just the bikes. The kids were with the bikes and a nice pile of library books to entertain them. I’m not that terrible of a parent.)

Seriously, this is not a balance of power we can afford to shift. Now I need my children’s permission to stay? They’re already dictators on a good day; making them believe that they have a say in my presence in Switzerland will not be good.

We did depart with a bit more progress but now I need to go back to Zurich for the biometrics. The Mission Impossible part, eye scans, finger prints, facial replication software, etc.

 There is so much we appreciate and admire about this place but my frustration level on this one is mounting. And we found a bag of cocaine outside the office so clearly these people are criminals. Now whose shifty?

After the visa-fun-times we carried on to find Diego’s school. Schule Gutenberg located on Gutenbergstrasse. Clearly we need to watch Ghostbusters to ensure that D appreciates just how cool Schule Gutenberg is.(My bad, it’s Police Academy that brought Gutenberg fame…think we’ll skip that one.)

His first impression of it wasn’t great. Said it reminded him of Matilda which, for those familiar with the brilliant works of Roald Dahl, know that is not a good thing. I think it’s quite pretty, he says it’s scary.

And then we carried on to the library. Aren’t we urban!? Having bikes for us all makes zipping around town so easy. The main library in town is amazing. Such an old building in a gorgeous historic part of town and yet the library is the most high-tech thing we’ve ever experienced. Goes a long way to making sure a trip to the library seems like a cool thing to do.

Tomorrow will be cool and rainy again. The rotation between scorchers and cool & rainy days is really quite delightful. Keeps us like true Albertans, always appreciating the good while we have it.