It is official folks. I am a legal driver in the nation of Bolivia! To celebrate I am going to PAR – TAY with my girl friends tomorrow night. Yes!!!

The back has a bar code, a number, the type of license it is and reads:

Mister Driver. Do not be reckless. The life you save could be your own. Be cautious.

Alrighty then.

Hooray!

It looks like this is it! Three o’clock I meet the lawyer at the licensing office to pick up the finished product, if I am not mistaken.

Yesterday we were down there for about an hour and a half. He shuttled me from one office to the other, we are talking eight stops here people. I got an eye exam; passed it. Had the doctor sign off for the medical part. Got my picture taken. Paid a few more fees. They took my thumb prints. Finally, they stapled my Bolivian i.d. card to the page that has my signature, thumb prints, and pertinent information and kept it. Didn’t have a choice about them keep the card, so I will just pray it is still there when we go back today.

Do I feel bad about jumping to the front of the line at each stop? Slightly, yes. Then I remember that I am doing this for the good of my home by not having to get my license the long way. I am saving a ton of time. Can you believe that what I have been describing to you has been the short cut method? I am also doing it for my own mental health. I have recently been realizing that I do not need to be the martyr in every situation. I need not lay down my life for a driver’s license. If there had been no other way, I would have just had to do it. Thank God there was another way!

———————– o ————————-

It is hard to describe, maybe this was just a coping mechanism, but it was as though I was watching myself go through all the motions. It was all very mechanical. Walk. Greet. Smile. Upstairs. Walk. Stand. Go. Stop. Sign. Pay. Handshake. Downstairs. Walk. Sit. Wait. Answer. Sign. Walk. For about ninety minutes. I saw the fifty-some deep lines of resigned people in the hallways with the bad lighting. I saw the run down facility of broken doors, missing window panes, worn our flooring and cheap furniture. I registered the smells of greasy hair, unattended bathroom, and sweat. But it was like I wasn’t really there. The same way I remember the scenes in a novel is how I remember what happened yesterday. It is as though I can disconnect from feeling sorry for those I was ushered in front of. It was as if the contrast of supposed officialdom and obvious poverty did not bother me as I think it should. It is as if I am calloused to the point that I am not affected by my surroundings. I feel dull, uncaring, and dispassionate.

It makes me wonder how much of that same attitude I carry with me in other dealings throughout the day. Have I let exhaustion overtake me? Am I becoming hardened or just toughening up? What is the difference? Can I (and do I need to) reverse these patterns?

I’ll stop there. Maybe things will look different after… after what? I don’t know. Just after…

Good news: this afternoon at 3 I am meeting the lawyer at ‘transito’ (department of motor vehicles). He was kind enough to pick up my papers from Interpol, so that saved me a step. If all goes smoothly, like I imagine it will, tomorrow afternoon I will have a legal, Bolivian driver’s license! Wow.

“Sir, you have an infraction on this vehicle.” The police officer stood beside the truck with a cell phone in his hand. DaRonn had been in the main market picking some things up and when he returned to the truck he saw an official, yet friendly looking cop standing there waiting to speak with him.

“You have an outstanding fine of 70 Bolivianos [$10 US] that you need to pay, ” he said. He went on to explain that he knew this because he made a call on the plate number.

“So, what do we do now?” My husband asked as amiably as he could. The officer was being personable so DaRonn followed suit and wanted to know what the next step was.

“You have to go to ‘transito’ [the DMV] to pay the fine.”

“Where is ‘transito’? Do I need to go right now?”

“Yes, you need to go right now. I will ride with you and show you how to get there.”

Never having had this happen before and seeing that the officer looked and acted very official DaRonn let the man get in. As the officer went around to the other side DaRonn glanced down at the time and noticed that it was almost noon, almost closing time for lunch at government offices.

On the ride out the officer and DaRonn talked about the differences between police in the States and in Bolivia. When they arrived at the ‘transito’ office it was, sure enough, closed.

“Oh, you are going to have to forgive me. The offices are closed. You cannot pay your fine. So sorry. You will have to come back another day and pay it.” The kind officer apologized.

As DaRonn told me about this adventure, which happened yesterday morning, with a smile he said, “The officer might as well have said, ‘Thanks for the ride,’ because I think he just needed a ride out to the office.” He never really explained what the infraction was. We will be looking into it because we don’t want to have any outstanding fines on the truck.

This just goes to show how very important it is to have all our paperwork up to date. I refuse to drive until I have my license. This odd interaction that my husband had punctuated my decision.

Today I go with the lawyer down to INTERPOL and file a request for an international criminal report. They will need an official document that the lawyer will provide, plus some of the photocopies we prepared yesterday and of course a fee of about $7 to $15 US. I have to look pretty because they will be taking my picture. One picture goes on their file with a copy of the report that stays in their offices and the other will be attached to the report that will be filed with ‘transito’. It will be ready for me to pick up in person either Monday or Tuesday. If I understood him right this is the last paper we need processed before I go to ‘transito’ in person. So we have today, Monday, another day and the day I go pick up the actual license. Maybe by the end of next week I will be a legal driver!

I hope you understand why I am going to such lengths to describe this process. The first reason is for the foreigners who come to Cochabamba and want to get their drivers license. They can read and have an idea of what is required so they can enter the process informed. The second reason is to keep myself chilled about the whole thing. If I am mentally processing it I am prepared and prayed up. That way I am less likely to fume, fuss and fidget. I am calm, cool and collected. I know that if I react to a frustrating moment by blowing up I am going to have to write about it here. That would just be plain embarrassing! I know that you are ‘watching’ so I will behave. The final reason I am writing all this down is so that you, my dear reader, can understand one of the intricate parts of my missionary life. Things just take a long time to do here. This is not only for getting a driver’s license, but also for pretty much every other day to day duty such as: grocery shopping, laundry, running errands, contracting services, hiring, getting directions, and shopping for clothes. I am not complaining, I am explaining. Really, it is just good for you to understand. You can pray, yes, but it is more important to me that you understand. I am not looking for commiseration or pity. What I am doing when I write all this out is inviting you to share my life with me. I am glad you are long for the ride.

Now for some crunchy, munchy trail mix…

• DaRonn left for Argentina this morning and will be back next week
• He is with one of our dear friends, Hal Boehm, and a team helping pastors
• I get to go to a party this morning
• I am taking oatmeal cookies to share
• We did some more paperwork for the adoption yesterday
• I get to teach in church this Sunday and next
• Tomorrow morning we have  party at the orphanage
• Some packages came in the mail yesterday
• Peeps from Libby! Yay! Thanks Libby!
• A webcam from my brother-in-law, Nick. Yay! Thanks Nick!
• We will be Skyping again
• Finished reading “Eternity in their Hearts” by Don Richardson, highly recommended
• Finished reading “What to do on the Worst Day of your Life” by Brian Zahnd, highly recommended
• Currently reading “Que hacer en el Peor Dia de su Vida” by Brian Zahnd, highly recommended

I hope you are able to get to church this weekend!

Love,

Waiting in a climate controlled lawyers office downtown where I can sit comfortably and read in silence is preferred over the alternative. I am making yet another trip down to Doctor Herbas on Jordan street. This is what he needs at this stage:

• Our police reports
• Photocopies of our police reports
• Photocopies of our passports
• Photocopies of our rent contract
• Photocopies of our last paid light and water receipt
• Photocopies of our missionary certificate

I drop those things off in an hour. After all those are filed in the right offices we will then be making a trip down to INTERPOL to get our international criminal report. We have done this before for other legal processes. I will bite my tongue and not comment on the appearance nor the proficiency of that office. I will just say it is not like in the movies.

(Link to “Day 3″ first, if you want.)

My husband says that a rudder does no good if the boat is not moving. The application is that the Holy Spirit has a hard time leading us if we are not in some kind of movement.

I like to use the analogy of a car, naturally. When steering a parked car your efforts are in vain. You have got to start the car and put it in drive. I take the analogy from there talking about how we gas up, keeping up on maintenance and of course the interaction with other cars on the road. It is fun stuff! Coming back to the point. When you have got the car rolling (praying, moving in the direction of the vision or idea you feel that God has for you, asking, seeking, etc.) then you can get directions to know where to turn (get guidance from the Holy Spirit, listen for His leading, be on the look out for where He wants you to go). It is so important that we remain flexible and turn when He says turn instead of thinking we have it all figured out. It is also vital that we start with the attitude that we are going to enjoy the journey of surprises, route changes and rest breaks on His clock rather than ours. See, I can just keep going with this analogy… I’ll stop while I am ahead.

Yesterday I started with a rough idea of what the day would look like. It ended way different!

At about the same time I was blogging I updated my FaceBook status. A conversation ensued. In it a couple of friends who live here in town commented. One said she knew of a lawyer who could expedite the process. The other said he and his wife would join me and DaRonn in getting our licenses with this lawyer. A few phone calls later I was on my way down town. I am so thankful that this all happened before I got out the door to go down to “Transito” (department of motor vehicles).

I took a book with me for the longish taxi ride and the anticipated wait in the office of the lawyer. Seeing as I didn’t have the phone number my plan was to drop in and hope he was there.

He wasn’t. Good thing his partner was. They share an office so I was asked to take a seat and wait. An hour and a quarter of my book later I was talking with the esteemed Doctor Alberto Herbas N., abogado (lawyer). He tells me what I need to do to get the process in motion.

This morning I will meet up with him again to give him copies of our i.d. cards and half of the total cost up front (total cost being: 1,000 Bolivianos or $143 U.S. per person). He will get our names on a list that allows us to circumvent the driver’s ed. classes and the driving test. After a week he will help us get the final paperwork processed. Then a couple days after that we will spend a morning with him at “Transito” filing said paperwork, signing things, getting our pictures taken, and registering the licenses electronically in the police system. Then a couple days after that we will go down to pick up our licenses. We are saving SO MUCH time.

Having this lawyer to help us maneuver through the system and having my friends along for the ride is making this turn out to be bearable.

Thank you so much for your prayers and your lovely comments. I will keep you posted as the process continues.

So where are one and two? Day one I hit two birds with one stone. The first required document for getting my “licencia para conducir” (driver’s license) is also a document I needed for the adoption: “antecendentes policiales” (criminal history report). You drop off your request one day and pick it up in about 2 business days. Well that is all taken care of so that was day one and day two.

Today is day three.

I have no idea what this is going to be like. You ask 6 different people what you need to do to get a license you get 6 different answers. The funny thing is that they are all telling the truth! You just never know what kind of mood the officials will be in the moment you are with them. So what is my plan?

1. Comfy shoes on
2. Gather together all identification documents and the police report
3. Make 5 photocopies of everything
4. Put all of the above in an important papers folder
5. Prepare about $200 in smallish Bolivian bills for the running around in taxis and paying of fees over the next few days
6. Pack my bag: important papers folder, money, book, reading glasses, cell phone, notebook, and three pens
7. Get a taxi to “tránsito” (Department of Motor Vehicles or DMV)

If you wouldn’t mind praying for me I would really appreciate it. I don’t want to lose my cool or get my dander up. I want favor with the officials. I want this process done as quickly as possible.

Eye on the prize: driving!