To the Embassy...

We got a call Monday morning confirming that our Visa was ready to be picked up in Washington D.C. We called our team leaders to see about when they would like for us to fly out, but it really came down to when Europe was clear of re-booked flights from the Iceland ash. Wednesday was the first available day, so we took it! We were also advised to pick up our visa ASAP, so we headed to DC Tuesday morning at 5, dropped Kate of at Vickie Walkers house, and continued on, arriving in DC around 2pm.

We parked out in front of the Embassy and walked to the fence gate, pushed the call button and were let in. We opened the big wooden door and stepped onto a marble floor; closed doors in front and to the right of us, and only a staircase to the left. We didn't know to knock on one of the doors or go up the stairs, so we were "peeking" around when a woman came down the stairs and said, "Please wait here." in a stern tone (yikes) and I felt as if we had our first cultural taboo.

Shortly thereafter, a Macedonian man named Mile came down the stairs, introduced himself, shook both Spencer's hand and mine and gave us two pieces of paper. He asked where we'd be living, and when we told him Prilep, his eyes lit up and said that Prilep was his hometown and that it was very beautiful. He shook our hands again, and said "best wishes" and he turned to go up the stairs as we turned toward the wooden door. That was it. No ID check, or signature, nothing.

We walked back outside toward the gate and reached to pull it to exit, only to find it locked again. We didn't know if it would be automatic or if we had to push the call button again on the other side. So, we just stood there for a moment, as the people inside probably got a good laugh. After a few minutes, Spencer reached over, pushed the button, and the gate opened. It's funny how awkward someone can feel in their own country! We walked to the car, called our team leader in Macedonia, and confirmed that was all we needed. Sure enough, so we headed back to Tennessee.

We confirmed our airline tickets now that we had our visa in hand, and soon thereafter received our e-tickets. We depart from Knoxville on Wednesday afternoon, layover in Austria, and then will arrive in Skjope, Macedonia Thursday afternoon. Now begins the rush to do everything we haven't done since we've been waiting!