argh!"#$%&!

sunday chico and i went to san jose so we could be in line early monday am for him to apply for a passport to come to canada. what we didn't know was that there was a national holiday and all offices were closed monday. so we stayed another night and went to nicaraguan immigration tuesday am. after waiting in line for 2 hours we were told he didn't have the right documents, that there was no place in costa rica for him to get them and that we had to go to nicaragua. also chico needed his birth certificate which was with his sister in la fortuna. so we left san jose for la fortuna to got his birth certificate. this am we went to costa rica immigration in los chiles to get approval to go to nicaragua. the man stamped my passport saying i was leaving costa rica. then he looked at chico's documents and said he needed a cedula (like a social insurance card). this was what we were going to nicaragua for. the man said he couldn't go to nicaragua cuz although he has been living here for the past 12 years he had not entered cr legally so they couldn't give him legal passage to say that he was leaving costa rica when according to them he had never arrived.

he needs a document to say he can leave but he can't leave because he doesn't have that document. makes sense to you??? so we've determined that he has to sneak across the border to get the cedula so he can re-enter the country legally but now the man has his name on a list and if he comes back in legally will they then say he entered illegally and get sent back to nicaragua.

so we leave immigration and go to the bus stop to go back home and i remember my passport has been stamped to say that i have left costa rica. previous experience tells me i have to return to immigration to get it cancelled.

it's pouring rain so chico waits at the bus terminal for me. i get soaked walking back to immigration, the guy says it's a big problem, that they can't cancel it and basically that i have to leave the country. i told him i wasn't leaving if chico wasn't leaving with me, then he said something to me that i didn't understand but knew it meant i had to leave and i reiterated i wasn't leaving. he asked someone for help and she phoned somewhere to find out what to do. meanwhile a boatload of people arriving from nicaragua came in to the office and the man is getting mad cuz i'm holding everything up and there are all these people. after a lengthy conversation i understand that they now know how to cancel it. the woman cancels it in the computer and the guy gives me another form to complete and tells me to wait 1/2 hour. ok don't want to - the bus is leaving in 20 minutes. i complete it and want to give it back to him and he makes me wait 15 minutes, stamps it annuled, finds the first identical form, stamps it annuled, writes a note on it and tears up the second one he had me complete. i make the bus as it's pulling out.

ok so i don't know God's reason in this, only that i am frustrated and tired. so i came to san carlos (for another reason as well) and i'm going to get a big tub of ice cream and go to the movies.

oh i forgot to mention chico said WE could go to nicaragua next week. i am not sneaking into nicaragua. it means finding someone with a boat to take you across the river where there are armed nicaraguan soldiers and tanks. and armed costa rican police. please pray for chico as he goes alone to nicaragua.

like i know God has a reason for everything. i just can't understand what it is. unless chico is not meant to go to canada for some reason.