Visa Part II

The following day, I made my way to Chicago for my appointment at the Consulate in Chicago. I’ve never been to Chicago—at least not in the actual city of Chicago. I’ve been in both of the airports quite often, but that doesn’t count in my book. I arrived in Chicago hours before my appointment so I decided to explore Millennium Park—which is a couple blocks away from the Consulate.

            If you ever get the chance to go to Chicago, you definitely need to go to Millennium Park! It’s a park that has a lot going on! It has the famous bean sculpture! There is a concert area—and there is usually something to listen to even during the week! There is also a garden where lots of people take off their shoes to soak there feet in the water.

            Soon enough it was time for my appointment—which I was super nervous for! I sort of expected (pardon the reference) the Spanish Inquisition. However, the people at the Consulate were super nice and took care of everything pretty quickly. I was out of there in less than 10 minutes! According to what I’ve heard from other Fulbrighters, despite the hold up with my documents, I definitely had an easier time than some people. Some other people had to have all there documents translated. Others had to go back and get new letters from their doctors.

            They told me that they would call or email when I could pick up my passport with my visa in it. Normally, this process can take between 4-8 weeks. However, since I’m a Fulbrighter, my visa was expedited. In fact, it only took 5 business days for my visa to be processed! However, I decided to wait a little later in the month before returning to Chicago for my visa—helping me to get a slightly lower airfare.

            So on the Tuesday before I was supposed to leave for Spain, I once again made my way to Chicago. I visited the Consulate as soon as I arrived and was able to pick up my passport with my Spanish visa. However, the process doesn’t completely end here! That would be too easy! This visa is only good for 90 days. Within the first month that I am in Spain, I have to establish a residence and apply for the NIE (Número de identificación de extranjeros). This is good for a year and can be renewed later.

When I visited Chicago this time, I was able to do a little bit more exploring. I visited the Chicago Cultural Center—which is in the old public library. It has a beautiful concert hall with a beautifully restored glass dome. The inside of the hall has quotes from all the greatest writers and even has their names listed. For my Carleton readers, you’ll appreciate that Schiller’s name was included amongst these names!

            The Cultural Center also had an interesting exhibit of movie posters from Ghana. They were painted on canvas and included vivid imagery that included Christian and indigenous religious themes. There was also an exhibit about Americans at war—including artwork made by soldiers.

            Next, I visited the Chicago Institute of Art—which was a pretty nice way to end the day. I started out in the modern wing—but as some of you may know—I don’t really care for modern art. It’s hard for me to consider a blank canvas art. However, eventually, I came across the European wing! This was where I was able to find some Spanish art by artists such as El Greco, Picasso, Miró, Dalí, Goya, etc.