The Turd of an American Embassy

Before I left America I knew at some point Id have to get some new passport pages as I think I only had 7 or 8 spots left when I left. Well I used them quicker than I thought so I did some reasearch online and you pay 82dollars and get new pages added to your current passport. No big deal. So I figure this out in Caye Caulker, look for the nearest embassy which both our guidebooks (2009 and 2008) say is in Belize City. We get a ferry to the city with a bus booked the next morning to Flores, Guatemala which is the jumpoff point from wherever we go next. We arrive in Belize City to find out there is no longer an embassy there. But what IS there is a sprawling cess pool of a city that is strikingly similar to what I imagine Camden, NJ to look like.

Anyways, we then walked all around the city trying to get this bus rescheduled when we were told we have to take a 6am bus to Belmapan, the capital which is an hour away and where the embassy currently is. So we are up at 5, on this bus, get to Belmapan and arrive on the doorstep of them embassy. We stood outside for like 20 minutes and then had to line up and slide your passport through the security window where the guard decides to buzz you in or not. I tell her what I need and the conversation goes a little like this.
Her¨Did you have an appointment?
Me¨An appointment? For what?
Her¨You need to have an appointment to get new pages.
Me¨Ok. I need to make an appointment.
Her¨Ok you need to go online to do that.
Me¨ok well can I go online and schedule it for today and come back.
Her¨Sure but you probably wont get an appointment for today. Maybe tomorrow or in a few days.

So I get a cab to the nearest Internet cafe which is not open. Get another ride to an open place to find indeed there Are No appointments for today. Youve got to be kidding me. Its blazing hot and my bag is huge and im getting pissed.

So we go back to the terminal with busses, corral like animals around a big gate that opens when the bus arrives and whoever pushes the hardest gets through. Those little Belizean women are pushy, let me tell you. So after 2 rounds of this we shove through. We end up arriving at the border town, taking another cab TO the border, waiting there for 2 hours for a bus to come, go through customs using up my very last passport page and get the bus on the other side. Then about 2 hours later we get off the bus, on to a shuttle and arrive in Flores. Welcome back the city says.

So in a little less than 4 hours we have a 9 hour bus to Guatemala City where we HAVE to do whatever it takes to get those passport pages or I cannot leave Guatemala. Ill let you know how it goes.