I devote my first post to bemoaning the visa process

Three days to departure. I keep getting friends asking me for tips about the study abroad process, so they can know what to expect when they apply. So let me say, before I even get on the plane, my first tip:

The visa process. Prepare early, and prepare for everything.

Alright, I'm gonna tell a story about my experience here. Since I'm staying in Italy for more than 90 days, I needed a student visa. You have to go online and get an appointment with the Italian consulate in Detroit to turn in your documents. They say to allow four weeks for the visa to get to you. They're open two days a week, two appointments a day. So far, so good. Most people involved had the first language of Italian, so there was a bit of a language gap problem along the way, but we figured it out.

I leave in mid January, so I made the appointment at the beginning of October. That felt safe enough. Except the consulate was booked, and the earliest I could get in was December 24. Cutting it close, but it was all I could do. If you need a visa, make your appointment early. Like, the day you know you need it.

Then there's the documents themselves, which are beyond confusing. Even with the help the study abroad office gave me, I had to go in and talk to one of the study abroad staff about...three? Four times? It was hard to tell what I really needed and what documents were which. So that took a long time.

Then the consulate emailed me and said they were closed the 24th. The next available appointment was December 31, which only gave me 20 days to get the visa back, not even close to four weeks. If I didn't get my passport back from the visa office in time, I couldn't get on the plane, and I couldn't arrive with the rest of my class. I'd have to figure out Rome on my own, maybe starting classes a week late. I was in tears. This was never supposed to go so wrong.

At the same time, I was still making calls and appointments, finding papers I didn't know I needed, and scrambling up until the last day of school. Then the consulate called me and said that they were also closed the 31st. I was horrified, until they said they could get me in Friday. The next Friday. In two days.

So, I dropped everything and drove the 3+ hours to Detroit, knowing I only got one chance at this. Halfway there, I found out my home post office had told me wrong about the envelope I needed, and I had to find a post office in the middle of a bad part in Detroit, which was...fun...

I got there, and it was pretty uneventful after all that build up. Just a small room, a man who made sure I had all the documents, and within ten minutes I was back out. Afterwards I sat in the car and just sighed. That had been my biggest stress for weeks and it was finally done. I got my visa back in six days. Not even a week. (I did pay for an overnight envelope.)

So, if I was going to do it again, I'd make my appointment as soon as I possibly could. As soon as I knew I needed one. And I'd double and triple check with anyone who could help me. Do not assume you know what you need, because you get one shot at this.

And that's my story. If nothing else, it gave me a certain level of confidence, because that's something you get standing in a shady post office in the middle of Detroit, early in the morning, clutching a bunch of papers and saying a Hail Mary that this all works out.

I suppose the adventures are already starting, haha. Oh, Italy, I'm so ready to just get there already.