My Brazilian Adventure, Part 1

Paraguay is bordered by 3 countries, Argentina, Bolivia and Brazil. Until last week I had only ever ventured into Argentina; not because I didn't like the idea of seeing the other two, more because in Argentina you don't need a visa. Getting a visa while in the states is probably time consuming and annoying, but not too difficult. In Paraguay however, obtaining a Brazilian visa nearly brought me to tears.

I decided during the week between Christmas and New Years that I would join my friends Kristin and Natalie on their trip to Brazil. Natalie speaks fluent Portuguese and I determined that it would be advantageous to travel with her. We hoped to leave as soon as possible and turned in the required vacation request forms to the Peace Corps office immediately via a friend who happened to be heading into Asuncion. Then I set about getting the visa. As the United States requires most foreigners entering the country to obtain a visa, Brazil reciprocates by requiring Americans to do the same. Kristin and Natalie each had theirs already.

The visa has a cost of $190, more than half my monthly living allowance. They also require financial paperwork, photos of a specific size and background, round trip tickets showing when you will enter and leave Brazil, and the location where you will be staying. Of course, the closest consulate is located three hours away in Asuncion and the visa takes several days to process. I decided to go into one day and apply for the visa, then return a few days later to pick it up.

Obtaining the visa was much like a scavenger hunt or following a treasure map, I needed to collect all the required items and get to the consulate before it closed at 2. First item of business, get to Asuncion. Because it was holiday time the buses were laden with travelers and I spent the hot and sweaty 3 hour ride to the capital crammed in the aisle among other passengers without a seat.

Upon arrival in Asuncion I started at the bus terminal where I bought my round trip ticket, but only after convincing the woman at the counter that I couldn't show her my Brazilian visa because I needed the ticket in order to get the visa and that I would show it to her after obtaining it. Tickets tucked safely away in my bag I headed to the next stop, Mariscal Lopez mall for pictures. The actual picture taking went quickly, but they said it would be at least an hour until they'd be ready, previously I had obtained them in only a few minutes. I decided to run to get the financial paperwork while the photos were processing. After a quick trip to the PC office to print out financial info I was back to pick up my photos and off to the consulate. By this time it was nearly one.

Upon arrival at the consulate I took a number, similar to the ones at the meat counter, and waited my turn. Even though I was the only person in the waiting room, it took nearly 20 minutes for the woman at the counter to talk to me. When I was finally called over she took one look at my passport and told me that I could not get a visa. Why? I asked, devastated that I had rushed around all morning only to be denied. I was lacking sufficient pages in my passport for the addition of a visa. I reluctantly collected my passport and sulked back to the elevator and out the front door.

What do I do now? I headed to the US Embassy hoping they'd be able to add pages to my passport. As I waited in the consulate office, I scanned the list of prices. $82 for the addition of passport pages! Great, I thought, now I will really be broke. Luckily when they returned the passport nearly an hour later I was reminded that the Peace Corps passports are no fee, which includes the addition of pages. It was now past three and there was no hope for getting the visa. I would not be able to get it until the following week and our trip would have to be postponed.

The next Monday I set out on my quest once again and things went much smoother. I already had all the required items. I even got a seat on the bus. I went straight to the consulate completed the visa request, went to the bank to pay the fee, returned to the consulate to provide the receipt and was told that I could return Thursday to pick up my passport.

I changed my ticket to leave Friday, luckily there was no fee attached, but the attendant stressed that I could only change it once. She also was unable to change my return ticket at the same time because she didn't have any more ticket paper to print on.

I picked up my passport Friday morning and headed off to Brazil an hour later. But not before getting the great news that I had done better than expected on my LSAT. That certainly cheered me up and my vacation started out wonderfully.

The bus ride was long. Nearly 24 hours, which was about 4 hours longer than we had been quoted. And although it cost more than the nice bus to Buenos Aires and traveled nearly the same distance, the bus did not include any meals, had no foot rests, but did include an annoying 2 year old child who was traveling with her teenage mother. The bus picked up my traveling companions in Coronel Oviedo, where the driver ate lunch and everyone got off to use the bathroom, we knew then that it would be a long trip.

The border in Ciudad del Este always promises to an amusing experience. The border is open and most people pass freely. There are no agents who get on the buses to check that everyone went through immigrations and no list like at the Argentine border. In fact you actually have to insist that the driver stop to let you off local buses passing into Foz, otherwise you will end up in Brazil illegally. Many people stayed on the bus, while others got off to do things the legal way. In the immigrations office my friends and I got to the front of the line and the border agent looked through our passports, stamped them, and then began a frantic search for a pen. He had to sign the stamp and it was obvious we were his first passport holders of the day. We let him borrow a pen then boarded the bus to head to the Brazil side. There the lines were longer. The Brazilians are slightly stricter with the immigrations process. Somehow we managed to pick the short fast moving line and even after using the restroom ended up on the bus nearly 20 minutes before the rest of the passengers.

The rest of the bus ride was pretty uneventful. We stopped several times for bathroom breaks and food. The girls had bought salami, cheese and crackers as well as some other snacks for our dinner. We enjoyed that and a couple of boxes of wine and tried to get some sleep. When we arrived in Camboriu, about 2 hours north of Florianopolis, most of the passengers got off the bus. Its a popular vacation destination for Paraguayans which freed up the seats to spread out. We continued to Florianopolis and breathed sighs of relief when we disembarked. Yay! We made it! Now the real adventure begins.