Jon and Angela Button Just another weblog 
We went to Lisbon to submit our paperwork for visas to travel to Mozambique. It started out like most days in our house, children crying, whining, asking for their food immediately (we think) in unintelligible grunts and squeaks (some by Jackson, others by the ones that can speak but don’t feel like it; no that does not include Jon). We set the alarm and actually got up when it went off. Of course getting out the door was another story.
We didn’t really get going, in the car we had borrowed from our friend, Artur Alfaiate, until around 10 am. The drive down went smoothly and we only had to circle a couple a roundabouts twice. We found the Mozambican consulate and went around the block a couple times. As were looking for a spot I downshifted and felt that terrible feeling… a burnt out clutch. I was able to keep it in third gear and gently limp it along to find the only parking spot left in Lisbon. May I add that parallel parking without the help a motor is fun for those watching, but gets tiring when you’re the one pushing the car. We sent an SMS-SOS to Artur and when we had finally set in motion a plan of what to do next we set out for the embassy.
We arrived to the non air-conditioned, “welcome-to-Mozambican-weather-and-wait-‘til-you-feel-the-summer” room a half hour after the consulate section is closed. Fortunately, the bureaucracy of Mozambique does not run as deep as that of Portugal and they were pleased to help. Of course the first order of business was a potty break for everyone and diaper changes (which is hard when you leave the diaper bag that has the diaper’s in it at home!!!!) Add to the fact that Asa had practically OD’d on peanuts the day before and was not happy about a staying in a dirty diaper (who is?). The next fun part was we had printed out all of the visa forms on a full sheet of paper (which was a lot of work formatting that thing, may I add!) and they wanted them done on their little, tiny double sided ones. So while Angie filled out the forms, since her handwriting is somewhat legible, I tried to keep the little monkeys from breaking things and running away. They looked over the paperwork and said it all looked good, except we hadn’t gotten our Criminal Background checks translated yet. So we went to pay for everything. You would think that the Mozambican Embassy would have the capacity to take other credit cards than just the Portuguese Multibanco. Oh no. We had to go to the bank down the street and ask for a deposit to be made into their account. Angie took to the task. When she arrived… you guessed it, the bank was closed! But she’s a fighter and began to explain the course of events of the day, not forgetting the detail that we live 2 hours away, and before her sob story was even finished, they let her in (good thing I didn’t go as I’m too proud to beg). Back at the Embassy, they said they would begin processing our visas and asked us to send our criminal background checks to them once we get them translated. That was the easy part…
Meanwhile, we finally, at 4:00, took a lunch break (and bought some diapers). While savoring the half sandwiches we got to eat while the monkeys devoured the rest (of course they normally don’t eat this much), we received a call from the tow truck driver. He was not very impressed with our Portuguese, to say the least! I guess he never had to try to understand a grumpy man driving a loud truck and give directions to a place he didn’t know, over the phone, in a second language! By the third attempt, I passed the phone to Angie, who isn’t so good at directions, who immediately found a stranger on the street to explain where the car was parked. She had to pick a man missing his two front teeth, whom she feared might sound worse to Nelson (the tow truck driver), but what he lacked it dental capacity he made up for in an excellent summary, all details included, of where to find our car.
Nelson arrived 10 minutes later (4:30), but there was no transportation service for us yet. He couldn’t leave until they arrived. So we waited. And waited. Then waited some more. Numerous phone calls were made to Artur, the towing company, taxis, the insurance company, Nelson’s grandma… everybody! (Nelson, by the way, was a very tough looking guy who was blasting Celine Dion shamelessly throughout the streets of Lisbon).
At 6:50, Angie suggested I take Nelson to get a coffee at the café behind us. He eagerly agreed and off we went. This was the signal for the taxi to show up. We gulped down our one-sip bicas and said our farewells to Nelson. I think he’s going to miss us (well, except for that every time he was talking on the phone, he was explaining how we are foreigners who don’t know anything except that we were in Lisbon and now he couldn’t go home because the taxi wasn’t coming, also because we didn’t know anything).
The taxi took us to the airport where they dropped us off at the car rental place. We went to the return counter where the taxi driver directed us. The employee directed us to his colega at the pick-up counter, a five minute walk down the terminal. She finished our paperwork and asked for my license and passport. My passport? Didn’t I just come to Lisbon to GIVE my passport to the Mozambican Embassy so I could get my visa? Now this presents a problem. As she insisted that she couldn’t give us the car without the passport, she by chance asked if I had any other form of ID that they could accept. I pulled out my resident card and a relieved look came across her face (would you want to be the one to tell a desperate man and woman with 3 nap-deprived children that they had to sleep on the street?). When offered the 11 euro insurance, we decided to opt out, as we were going home with little traffic and turning the car in ASAP. We then made the 5 minute trip back to the pick-up counter, waited a little more, walked to where the cars were parked, checked for scratches and drove off.
It was a nice drive home as we rode off into the sunset. The kids all fell asleep. We only needed one more scare to end the night. Do any of you like traffic circles? Well, I finally got informed on which lane I need to be in, after almost learning the hard way (trying to do what I see everyone else doing). I was wishing for that insurance for about 2 seconds, as we swerved out of danger.
We hope the adventure when we go pick up the visas is, well, less adventurous!
