You see up until now, everything relating to my going abroad had been going extremely smoothly, not a concern in sight.
But this past week, it seems like the process hit a speed bump, leading me to be increasingly frustrated and sending a wave of angry emails towards any and every one who could help me.
I love being in control and having things organized and all sorted out, something I get from both sides of the family. But living in Lebanon, has taught me not to expect that from anyone, hence my initial shock at how smoothly things were going.
But nothing good lasts forever and I’m starting to think maybe the Lebanese curse of unorganization has finally made its way to my Maastricht plan.
Here’s what happened:
One of the things that made I loved about Maastricht University is the ability to apply and enroll through the internet. Such was not the case for my safety school where I had to send my documents by courier mail. I used one of the “ex” companies and everything went smoothly. But when one of my friends heard about this, he advised me to use another “ex” company, stating they had cheaper rates. And so when UM asked me to send in documents for my visa, I took my friend’s advice and shipped with them, and once again everything went smoothly.
The ordeal, however, was over a certified copy of my diploma, which I need in order to register with the university. So I went to the same company, gave them the address and waited, and a few days later, I received a text message stating that my package had been delivered, except the address was not the same one I listed on the form. I did what any normal person would do and called up the company and instead of being courteous, they yelled at me for not understanding the fundamentals of shipping stuff. How the hell would I?
The result was a million and one emails to the relevant authorities at the university and having to wait very un-patiently, while my well-meaning parents kept reassuring me that there would be no possible way the documents won’t arrive to their intended destination.
And after a week long wait, I finally got a reply back stating that they got a copy of my Bachelor of Sciences in Environmental Health, so now, once my visa issue is resolved, I can go back to being excited about travelling.
But was this a lesson in patience? Of course it was.
Beyond Beirut 