“Too many cooks spoil the soup.” – an old German proverb

Applying for a visa is a tricky business. Especially if you’re a freshman/woman. You try to get help, you ask around, you google stuff. You get professional and amateur advice, from scientists and diplomats to parents and friends. In the end, you have more work with deciding who is more compassionate than is more trustworthy.  And yet, you stay alone when it comes to the final decision.

My Homo sapiens s. heart tells me I should take what I can atm, which is a 3 month visitor’s visa, and RUN. Also The Boss and embassy guy agree on that. But those two have already caused some trouble. One was too confident, the other too impulsive. Won’t go into details, but they are definitely to be at least partially blamed for this absurd delay of my travels.

My H. sapiens s. brain tells me I should struggle a bit longer, get more documents, make another D tour, wait another week. Because there has not been enough shit going on so far. To get an official research visa, the one that permits me to stay down there for full 5 (pardon, 4) months.

But what’s the best option now? I could get the extra papers until the end of the week and probably fly in a week aka in the beginning of April – almost a month (yes, a MONTH) after the original departure date, and stay in SA without no further worries. Or I could fly this week, meet The Boss before he’s gone to give me a blessing over my poop experiments (more later), and start, or continue dealing with the problem of visa extension. Oh and of course, I could finally start my thesis work.

I’d <3 to go to SA asap. But what if I am deported after 3 months because don’t manage to extend the visa?

I will consider the other’s advice one last time. I’ll take the quick 90day visa, pay another few hundred euros for the triple rebooking of my flight tickets and try to be in South Africa by the end of the week. And see what happens.

Wish me luck!

I'll bloody need it.