Getting a Visa

  Los Angeles, California, United States
Sunday, April 29, 2007

The hotel was perfectly adequate for the price. It had wifi and satellite TV, was old but well cleaned. Plus, it was close to the embassy. Unfortunately the next day we realized that it was May 1st, a public holiday in Argentina (and most of the rest of the world). We would have to get the visa for Julius tomorrow. Hopefully they could do it in one day! We spent the day in watching some soccer matches and wandering around nearby Koreatown. We got some Korean food for dinner. We tried to avoid the downtown with the crowds at the  pro-immigration marches. We did not know the city at all and they did end up getting hit with rubber bullets in the afternoon.

On Tuesday we managed to get together with my friend Andy Zilch for coffee before he had to go to work. He was a fellow Concordia Alum where we both played trumpet. He has been working on film production and now has a good gig with HBO. 

Sara and Andy Z.

We realized that we had been out of touch for too long when he mentioned "the baby" and I said "You guys have a baby?" To be fair she was only three months. A real cutie named Quincy, a great girl name. It was good to catch up even for an hour.

We were able to get the visa without much trouble which was a big relief. We figured that we should see some of the city while we were there so we took a bus up to Hollywood. Buses in LA are full of crazies. Seemingly harmless but crazy nonetheless. Hollywood is also full of crazies and Mexican guys dressed up like Santa. To be fair, this guy was shooting a commercial.

After Hollywood we took the subway to the downtown. Yes, that is correct. LA has a subway. We didn't know it and apparently most of LA doesn't know it either. It is not very busy and the place is clean and graffiti free. Cars pack the streets and people don't feel any need to change. A day pass for the buses and subways is a shockingly cheap $3 but that still doesn't sway anyone.

The historic downtown was a bit seedy. Since we didn't know the city well we didn't know where it wasn't seedy. It was enough sightseeing for the day so we headed back to the hotel to relax a bit before heading to the airport. We actually took the subway/tram line all the way to the airport. We were probably the only people to try this. It took 2 hours but we made it in time to catch the five hour flight to Miami. In true American airline style, food was for purchase.