Have You Ever???

In order to travel to Bolivia, you have to get a pre-approved Visa from the Bolivian Consulate.  In an effort to save some money on the processing fees charged by our travel agent (about $1150), Neal Stancil and I drove to Washington, DC to hand deliver the Visa applications for our team.  What an awesome trip that was.  Upon return, Neal wrote a really funny "Have You Ever???" account of our trip.  Neal's account follows:

"Ok, bear with me….

Have you ever left North Carolina for Washington DC at 2:00 am in a car?...We have (Donnie & Neal). And we didn’t even stop one time.

Have you ever driven back in the same day?...We have. (but we stopped a few times, because our bladders where now awake)

Have you ever put money in a parking meter only to have it begin flashing “out of order” then you put in another quarter because you thought that should add up to the right amount of time?...I have.

Have you ever been to a bank that didn’t have a public restroom but had 8 inch thick bulletproof glass between you and the tellers (on the inside of the bank)?...You guessed it, we have.

Have you ever eaten one of those things that Donnie loves so much from Bolivia (a saltena), only you ate it at a strip mall restaurant in Alexandria, Va. because the nice lady at the Bolivian Consulate recommended the place?...We have (It was delicious by the way)

Have you ever tried to ask the waitress, who was a Honduran native for the recipe for above mentioned “Bolivian” food in “her” native language and she thought you were asking for your bill?...Donnie has. I came to the rescue with a google translation on the Blackberry only to find out that she didn’t know and the owner wouldn’t be in until 4 hrs. later...Yes - We Have.

All true but now for the rest of the story.  As we all know, Donnie is a great engineer, but did you know he is also a great banker?

Have you ever tried to withdraw $3000.00 dollars at an ATM?...Donnie has.

Have you ever filled out 23 deposit slips by hand for someone else’s account (Bolivian Consulate) at their bank (Bank of America)…..at one time?...Donnie has.

Have you ever been questioned by the lead consulate about the financial statements in your application after you just spent almost 2 hrs trying to deposit $3000.00 into his account?...Donnie Has.

Have you ever used the front seat of a '93 Lexus as an office to add 1 paid receipt for each visa application to each individual folder so they wouldn’t have to?...Right again. We have.

Ok, I’m almost through. All of the above mentioned “have you ever’s are true, and there are even some pictures to prove some of it (check out the "Washington Visa Trip" album on the Pictures page of this site).

Seriously, we went and we conquered. The visa applications were hand delivered with great care and relief. We had a great trip and our experiences today are a testament to the biblical writings, “that through God, all things are possible.” Yes it has been a long day, but what a wonderful day it was. I hope this brings a smile to your faces and Donnie, I hope when you read this on Tuesday (because I know you are asleep by now) that you are also smiling as much as I am while I am writing this."

Thanks to Neal for putting this trip on paper for us.
Donnie