Passports & Allergy Testing

January 1, 2009

Perhaps at some point I will do a more profound entry with thoughts on the past year or this upcoming year. For the moment though, there are stories to be told of the this past week's events.

My time in Pennsylvania has involved lots of visiting with friends, playing early morning basketball and working on necessary details for Honduras. The primary task was to get myself a new passport since I had recently discovered that I could not re-enter Honduras with my existing one. Monday, December 29th, I caught an early morning train to Philly and with the aid of a conductor and fellow passenger, found my way to the US Customs House in downtown. Other than the money it required, the process of renewal was rather painless. I had turned in my paperwork by 9:30AM and they told me to return at 11:30AM for the passport. I spent the next 2 hours wandering around the city. I stumbled upon a PA Driver’s License Center which was perfect because I needed a new photo for my new license.

When I returned to the Customs House, they handed me my new passport. As I checked it over for any mistakes, my heart sank because I saw that they had given me a new passport number. The security guard assured me that it was the common procedure. For me though it will likely pose a big obstacle because all of my paperwork in process for residency in Honduras has my old passport number. I think that even the letter which has permitted me to stay in the country past 90 days will be nullified, meaning that I have to start leaving every 3-4 months again. Ah… the joys of paperwork and red tape.

Tuesday morning I went to my Allergist and got retested to determine whether I still needed to take allergy shots against yellow jacket stings. Much to my delight, the tests showed that I was no longer allergic so no more trying to find people to give me shots in Honduras. The doctor did warn me that the allergy could return after being stung several times, but for now I rejoice in not having to worry about shots or allergic reactions to stings.

For New Year's Eve I headed to my cousin's house in Baltimore with another cousin. We spent the evening visiting and remaining indoors, away from the raging wind. The fireworks were postponed in the city due to the wind. And today I need to finalize plans for a trip to a cabin tomorrow and start the packing process for returning to Honduras. Yesterday I was blessed to see a few snow flurries as I was hiking around Black Rock Retreat with a college friend, but this weekend I hope to experience the real thing along with some ice skating. I have been in the Honduran sunshine for a little too long.