Hiding in an empty gas tank…

April 12, 2012:  According to my current visa, I was supposed to leave Guyana 21 days ago.  Since not even a homeless person would sponsor me for an extension, I had to sponsor myself before my visa expired.  I filled out the proper paperwork, wrote a nice long handwritten letter and gave the Ministry of Home Affairs a frightening passport photo that was taken a while back.   Even though the photo has me looking like an upcoming serial killer with the shadows in just the right places, I wanted to save my good photos for visas that are plastered into my passport - not a file cabinet in the depths of some rundown office or some secret admirer’s purse.
 

It has been 24 days since I applied for an extension on my visa, wanting just a little more time to catch up with writing, sorting through photos and such – not 24 days…which is equivalent to about 3 years of accrued vacation time if I was working in the US.  Maybe the Ministry of Home Affairs are not finished going through databases of criminals’ photos, or having troubles reading my letter that was not in a font - it must have been a long time since they received something completely produced by a good ole ball point pen and not an inkjet or laser printer. 

I will continue to sit and wait for my paperwork to be processed so that I can leave Guyana by walking across the border…instead of the fetal position, while hiding in an empty gas tank inside a compact van.  Even though I have been trimming down on the calories if this has to be an option, I would much rather prefer to save this position for after a kick to my twins, or a nice bout of food poisoning…not a border crossing.