Today we went to get our Peruvian driver’s licenses. Some of you already have an idea of how crazy this process can be, but in case you don’t, here’s a small glimple of the hoops we jumped through today….
8:30 a.m.–Left the house
9:00–Arrived at Banco (Bank) de la Nacion to pay for our license in advance. This is the only bank where you can pay for the license. They give us little receipts that show payment.
9:45–Arrived at license area and get directed by parking guys. Have to go around the block because it is not clearly marked.
Pay for copies of our documents and then wait in line
Pay for our medical exam and our license pictures.
10:30 Take eye exam, hearing exam, physical fitness exam (touch head, nose, lift weights, blood pressure)
10:45 Wait for psych exam (yes, you read right.)
11:00 Psych exam consisting of 71 true/false question examining my innermost thoughts. We didn’t realize that there was a time limit and Jon wasn’t able to finish the last 16 questions due to consoling Lilia. Then they give us a series of drawings. We have to draw boxes, circles and a person (we have been told to make sure we include feet or we may not pass). This is followed by a maze where we have to trace to the person in the box, and then random multiple choice questions that had math problems, pop culture questions and questions about currency in Europe. We PASSED! I never would have been surprised to pass a psych test, but this one was a little crazy!
11:45 We wait to have our info entered in the computer again and get our pic taken.
12:00 We are told that we need copies of everything so we find someone to make copies and pay for more. We find out we need to go to a different bank to pay for the written test.
12:15 Arrive at the bank after asking 4 people where it is. Grab a ticket and watch the screen for our number to come up. WAIT, WAIT, WAIT some more.
1:20 After over an hour, we get to the window, pay for the test and get 2 receipts that show we paid to take the test.
1:40 Wait in another line to fill out paperwork to take the test. We are directed to three more lines and three more people entering bits and pieces of info.
2:00 Take 40 question test on a computer in SPANISH. The test includes a lot of questions about public transportation. Ummm, why do I need to know how fast a bus can drive? We passed the test!
2:30 Go back to another line and practically beg the lady to tell us what to do next. She directs us to the line from 3 times ago. The lady tells us that we need to take the driving test unless we have a valid US license. WE DO! Oh wait, she’s going to need a document printed from online with our license info on it.
2:45 Walk to an internet cafe and print the document.
3:00 Go back and the lady says she will need copies of everything. We go to the copy guy and pay for copies once again.
3:15 Bring it all back to her. She staples it all together and tells us she will call us on Friday to let us know if our paperwork went through or not….ugghhh. Hopefully on Friday we get a call that says we can come and pick them up!
Here’s a recent pic of our little baby girl. I am proud to say we lugged her around everywhere we went today and she was quite a trooper!
September 3rd, 2009 at 8:16 am
What a story! And I’m sure you were both delighted to have that precious little girl with you all day, it wouldn’t have been half the fun without her! Thanks for keeping us so current! We love you…
October 9th, 2009 at 12:40 pm
You mean all those crazy drivers actually had to pass all those tests?
Congratulations on making it thru that ordeal!Unbelievable. Hope after all of that you did get your driver’s licenses.
Lilia is adorable.