Getting Here

September 5 – 6, 2011

Getting here was quite the experience! As most of you know, I was supposed to leave August 23rd, but due to the Federal Government being EXTREMELY slow in processing paperwork, I wasn’t able to leave until the 7th.

A little more back-story:

I had contacted the Kuwaiti Consulate in LA on numerous occasions. The day I received my paperwork back from the Federal Government, August 30th, was the day that Kuwaiti citizens took off for a week due to Eid. (It’s like their Christmas – at least, that’s how it was explained to me.) Because of this, the office wouldn’t open up until August 6th. If I had sent in my paperwork it would have been at least another 5 business days, and probably longer because of the holiday. I decided to do the only logical thing: I flew to LA. As many of you know, patience is not a strong virtue of mine.


I left the Sioux Falls airport at 6:45 in the morning on September 5th. Of course, not 6:15 like I had psyched myself out to believe, so I was at the airport really early since I got up a little after 2 am to get there. I had a short layover in Minneapolis, then flew out to LA. Isn’t it crazy that it was cheaper for me to drive West to Sioux Falls in order to fly East to Minneapolis in order to fly West to LA?

I arrived in LA around 11:30 am, and caught a shuttle bus to my hotel. I was able to check in early, which was great. I relaxed for about an hour, then went for a walk. I chose my hotel because it was ½ a mile away from the Kuwaiti Consulate and it was fairly cheap for the area: Beverly Hills. I left the hotel and walked to the Consulate, just to make sure I knew where it was in the morning. I also located the Starbucks that I would be visiting for an iced coffee 

I backtracked and walked about a mile to Rodeo Drive. It was gorgeous. The stores were ridiculously expensive: really, there were no price tags in sight. I walked into a few stores, but felt extremely uncomfortable. The people were dressed immaculately. Louis Vutton, Prada, Gucci and Coach were a few I walked in to. I also found a fabulous little art gallery. They had a Dali and Picasso exhibit going. I think the cheapest thing I saw in there was around $3,000. Almost everything was $30,000 and over. No, I did not buy anything there! I had lunch on the terrace at a little restaurant right on Rodeo Drive. A grilled cheese was $15. No lies!

After my extremely ridiculously priced grilled cheese I called my sister. I needed her to talk me into buying a little purse at the Coach store that I had been eyeing for about a month. They had it, and when else was I going to be able to buy something on Rodeo Drive? And yes, I called her because I knew she would talk me into it. She’s a great sister like that! So supportive!

I was back in my room before 6. I took a bath and a shower, because I felt gross, and the tub was a great size. I watched tv for the rest of the night and was in bed fairly early. (I had about 6 hours of sleep in the previous 2 days).

On September 6th I was up and checked out of my hotel early. I walked to Starbucks and then the Consulate. I was there an hour before they opened to the public. A nice man let me in so I sat in the waiting room for almost an hour. When the worker finally appeared at the window I gave him my documents. I almost had a heart attack when he mentioned the date on my visa form. It was past, because I was supposed to have left already. He said he would explain it to his boss, and that he would call me in 3 days. I said, “Excuse me?” (Really! I didn’t completely wig out on him!) I told him that I had talked to someone the previous week who said it would be no problem to get it done. I then said I had a plane to catch in less than 5 hours, and I really needed it that day. I’m not going to lie, I cried. He took pity on me and said he’d see what he could do. 2 ½ hours later I had my visa! I walked back to the hotel and caught a taxi to the airport. Ouch. I made my flight in enough time that I was able to grab some lunch and everything!

Once I had my visa I e-mailed the director of the school. My plane landed in Sioux Falls around 11, and I reached Fairmont around 1:30 in the morning. I had an e-mail that his secretary was looking into tickets for me. I set my alarm for 6 am so I could check my e-mail, but woke up at 5 all on my own. Call it a combination of nerves and excitement! I had an e-mail for a plane ticket for THAT day (September 7th). I immediately went to work on packing. Yes, I had started, but had intended on going over everything again. Needless to say, that did not happen. It was more of a mad rush to organize papers at home for my parents that I would need them to take care of, and just throw stuff in my bags and hope it was good.