Tuesday we had an appointment at the U.S. Embassy to renew the four older children's passports. They all expire in 2018, and we need to have new ones before we get our visas for next year. While dealing with the U.S. government is less complicated than the Thai government due to being able to speak English and clearer requirements, it is still not a pleasant experience. And anytime five children have to wait in a confined space for very long is even less enjoyable.
Bangkok traffic is notorious. We thought leaving at six o'clock in the morning should leave us enough time to get to our seven-thirty appointment. It was, except for the problem of parking. Philip let the kids and me out of the truck to walk to the embassy while he drove into nearby Lumpini Park to find a parking spot with unlimited hours. All of the parking spots were full, and people just idled in their vehicles until someone left. It took Philip ten minutes to get into the park, another ten for a parking spot to open up, and then he walked the ten minutes to the embassy. By this time, we were already late for our appointment, and we still had to go through security.
Even though we don't get to enter the luscious grassy grounds of the embassy, remaining on the "caged" perimeter, the security is strict. Each person is only allowed one cell phone which has to remain at the security desk. Electronic devices are not allowed nor large bags nor food and drink. This all makes the job of entertaining five little ones more difficult. I can only fit necessaries in my purse - one diaper and a package of wet wipes. No books, no toys, no snacks. The children look longing at the swathes of grass and beautiful flower gardens on the other side of the floor to ceiling fence. "Why can't we go over there?" This has already been a long morning and it's just begun.
We haven't had a chance to get passport photos because all the photo places near us use a blue background instead of the U.S. required white. The embassy is supposed to have an onsite place for photos, so Philip asks about this. The lady behind the heavy glass directs us down the ramp to a different entrance to the same building. The embassy website had warned that we needed to have exact change for the photos - 150 baht - but we had thought we would be able to pay 600 baht at once. We are dismayed to find that the photo booth is unmanned and only take bills not coins. Now 50 baht bills are hard to come by, while everyone has plenty of 20 baht bills and 10 baht coins.
I have one 50 baht bill, so I begin the process of taking photos while Philip goes off to try to find change from the cafe. I ask Eris to watch Calla so she doesn't wander too far, feed a 100 baht bill and then the 50 baht bill into the machine, and try to get Simeon situated for his photo. The camera cannot be adjusted, so I have to try to get Simeon's face in the oval. He is too short while kneeling on the tall stool and too tall when standing. I have to boost him up with one hand and stay out of the picture. He is craning his neck and nearly closing his eyes with the effort. After several terrible attempts, I decide to give him a break and get a photo of Meriel instead.
After Meriel photo is taken, I step aside to let another gentleman take a turn. Just then, Philip arrives with two more 50's. He runs off to try to get one more. I watch as the gentleman now in the booth inserts six 20's. The machine accepts them. I had assumed that it wouldn't take more than the required amount. We would be willing to lose ten baht to get this done. But by this time, Philip's already run off, and I don't have a cell phone to call him back. I try again with Simeon, and this time get a passable photo, though not great. (Yes, blame me for the terrible passport photos the kids will have for the next five years.) Then I get Hollis's.
Finally, Philip is back. An embassy lady has noticed our plight and given him 50 baht, even though she is technically not supposed to. At least Eris is tall enough not to have to do any strange contortions to get her face in the correct place. We get the photos taken quickly and wait for them to print. And wait and wait. None of the other photos has taken this long. I stick my face up to the slot to see if there is a jam, but notice nothing. The screen doesn't show any sign of anything being wrong - not "paper out" message or anything. Just asking for "150 baht." While we wait, I look over the booth for something that could help. There is a phone number to call for assistance. The sign says we can use a "wall phone" to call. Philip goes off to find a wall phone. He finds one that is broken. Another man waiting for his photo to print goes in different direction and find another phone that works. He comes back and tells us that someone is already on the way to fix the problem.
Now in Thailand, "someone is on the way" usually really means "someone will be leaving in about fifteens minutes to come fix the problem and he is not in a hurry." Surprisingly, we don't have to wait very long; maybe someone was actually "on the way." He added paper to the printer and out came Eris's photos. So now we had everything we needed.
We went back to the first room; Philip waited in line to show the paperwork and get a queue number. I tried to find a relatively out of the way spot for the kids to wiggle. The most open spot happened to be right near the television on CNN. Just then a sobbing lady came on the news describing in detail some horrible acts that had been done to her. (If you've been following the news, you probably can infer what it was.) I quickly ushered the kids around a corner into a tiny hallway where the payment counter was located and distracted them by beginning a silly word game.
It turned out we were in the right place, because the next step was to pay - no one will do anything until you pay first. I was going to pay with a credit card. We had to get four different receipts - one for each passport. This meant that four different charges were going to appear. The first three charges went through just fine, but the fourth wouldn't. The lady at the desk said that it was common for U.S. credit cards to reject after a certain number of charge and often, if we waited, the system would reset and we could proceed. She didn't know how long we would have to wait, and we did not want to wait any longer than necessary. We paid for the fourth passport in cash.
Now we could find submit all the paperwork for the passports and wait for the approval step. The kind lady at the payment counter had handed out U.S. candy to the children which entertained them for a few seconds. I was thankful for the wet wipes stashed in my overcrowded purse. Some chairs had cleared at this point, so we sat down. Hollis and Simeon kept arguing over chairs; Calla kept wanting to walk all over, bumping into strangers; Meriel wanted to be left alone in a too crowded space; Eris watched the television which had moved on to discussing Trump and Wikileaks.
We had finally settled down a bit, when the news looped back to the distressed woman. I told Philip that I was going to take the kids outside; we would be close enough, he could just poke his head out when our number came up. I scooted them out as fast as I could. Even though there wasn't really a place to play, it was less crowded outside. Calla kept running down the ramp, and actually only fell once or twice. Eris and Meriel took turns scooping her back up and returning her to the top. Simeon and Hollis tried their best to get in the way of every person ascending or descending the ramp. Then I caught them sticking their arms through the fence to grab a leaf from a tree on the other side. I thought, We're going to get kicked out of the embassy for dangerous children!
We waited for over an hour. Inside, Philip repeatedly heard people being told they didn't have all the proper paperwork and would need to come back another day with this or the other "official, notarized, legalized" document. Then, of course, while Simeon and Eris were in the bathroom, our number was finally called. I hurried Meriel and Hollis into Philip while I waited for the others to come out. The man that had our paperwork was kind and friendly. He smiled at the children as he called each name. He asked Philip and I if we swore that the information in the paperwork was true to the best of our knowledge. Yes, I'm fairly certain that I know the birth dates and locations of my children, considering I was there. Then he said the magic words, "Looks like everything is in order. You should be able to pick up your passports in about two weeks." Followed by the even better, "Only one of you has to be here to pick them up."
Ten o'clock in the morning, and it felt like three pm, but we had accomplished on goal and next time only Philip would have to make the trip. Now on to lunch and Sanam Luang.
TO BE CONTINUED
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