I've written here before about the legal processes that I've waded through en route to residency or paying a traffic ticket. Trámites. These are processes that involve multiple stops, formal letters, lots of and photocopies, and an elusive finish line.
There are times when I think we're getting better at these. I've learned where to go for tasks ranging from renewing an organizational ID number to purchasing the official timbre stickers. However, the trámites also evolve over time, so it keeps us on our toes.
Over these last couple months I had a problem with a U.S. trámite. I needed to renew my driver's license, which was set to expire on my birthday, February 15. Long story short, the DMV mailed it but the USPS wouldn't deliver it because of an address glitch. I contacted both agencies to try to sort it out, and supposedly it will be mailed again. But I decided to take the plunge with getting my driver's license here. I have a valid driver's license, I have Nicaraguan residency-- how hard could it be?
I started out by going to the Managua Transit office. I found the appropriate building where I could ask my question and stood in the first of many lines for this trámite. The official told me I still needed to do the health tests at the Red Cross and pay the fees for the driving class, seminar, the test, and the license. She told me to make sure I get started or my driver's license would expire and it would become more complicated.
I plugged the Don Bosco Red Cross into Google maps, and found it not far from the Transit office. It was a small block building, with an open air waiting area. Several people were in line. I bought some water in a sealed bag from a street for a few córdobas, bit open the corner and rehydrated (the hot months are getting closer). While I was waiting, one of the staff came out to say they were out of the blood tests. I could do the vision test and the psychological test, but I may as well do all three at the Belmonte location. This one was across town, but closer to home, which I thought might be helpful. I drove there, and as I pulled into the parking lot, a kind parking area guard asked if I already had my receipts. Ah, right, you pay at the bank first and bring the receipts. I should probably have known this by now.
After finding an ATM for some cash and a mid-morning bite to eat, I went to BanPro where a long line was standing outside the building awaited me. I was glad that at least the Red Cross and Transit accounts were at the same bank; I could pay them all at once. As the sugar from my snack hit my brain, it was possible to be optimistic about these run-arounds. I started thinking about how it's like a video game. We never had a video game console, so the closest I had was Commandeer Keen on our computer during middle school years. I imagine the objective is often the same: collect some coins or clues to find your way to finish a level (which mostly leads to a new, harder level).
Receipts in hand from the bank, I went back to the Red Cross, where they had closed for lunch. I would pick up with this the following day.
On Day 2, I went first to the Red Cross. After answering questions satisfactorily for a psychological test, reading little letters successfully for a vision test, and getting my finger pricked for a blood type test, I traded three bank receipts for three Red Cross test receipts which I could take back to the Transit office. I drove across town, stood in line, hoping that this might be all I needed to do. I had collected all the video game coins to advance to the next level, I thought.
Instead, I was told that I still needed to take the seminar and the written driver's test. I scheduled for the next morning for the seminar; the test, that afternoon. On the seminar registration slip, I noticed that I needed to purchase a copy of the transportation law and bring it to the class. I found someone at Transit selling them, who pointed out the practice quiz and the answers at the back. Very helpful.
On Day 3, I sat in a class with a variety of people who were either trying to reclaim a suspended license or applying for a change in license category. I had expected something of a talk about driving laws and practices, but it was more of a chat/lecture that included the inspirational, the comical, and the don't-you-forget-that-driving-is-dangerous-and-a-privilege. Three hours later, my attendance was documented in the system.
I returned in the afternoon to sit in a computer lab with youths attempting their first driver's license. It was a strange feeling to be back at a computer for a driver's test. I thought about Grandpa Charles waiting outside for me to pass my test and hand me the keys to his Dodge Shadow. The proctor gave us instructions and I made my way carefully through the questions. There were a few that really made me think, and my score was high enough to pass but low enough to make me feel uneasy. One way or the other, I went to stand in a line where the official told me I could now go back to my local police station. I tried to ask for clarification about what would happen at that point, incredulous that the end of the process could be in sight. "Tell them to attend you!" the official said impatiently.
The District 2 Police Station, just down the street from our house, was basically empty at this point in the afternoon when I arrived. It was the first place where there was no line. I was directed right away to the desk where an official took my picture and asked me to verify the information on the license example image on her computer monitor. Just a few minutes later I was walking down the street to our house, the video game coins collected, and a driver's license in my wallet. On to the next level.
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On this end of the experience, I can see now that it wasn't really so hard. In the middle of the trámite, it can be confusing and discouraging. I realize that sometimes I expect something to be easier than it turns out to be, and I realize I carry a lot of privilege and can be surprised by some of these additional challenges.
Also, back in the US, my license still hasn't come through yet. So the trámite in Nicaragua helped me out much faster than my homeland system this time.
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