Last Updated on Saturday, 01 August 2009 22:47 Written by Meg Saturday, 01 August 2009 22:05

Well, our youngest daughter is now officially a Peruvian.  We have to make a trip to the U.S. Embassy in Lima to get all the paperwork completed for her U.S. birth certificate, but she will have dual citizenship until the age of 18.  We had to make a special trip to the administrative office for birth records to get her Peruvian paperwork here in Arequipa.  Some days I love Peru, some days I hate it.  Yesterday was definitely NOT an I love Peru day.  Let me tell you about our experience:

Greg went on Thursday to the offices at 10 am to get this task done.  After showing up and seeing a long line, he asked one of the helpers about the process and she informed him that it would be a LONG wait.  She told him that he needed to return the following morning at 6 am and he needed me with him.  He also found out everything that we needed to have (they always want weird things and it seems like we never get it right).

Well, I am the food source for MK right now.  So at 5:45 am Greg, Maggie, and I ventured into the city to experince the wonderful event of getting a Peruvian birth certificate.  The office didn't open at 6 am but 8 am.  One needs to show up at 6 in order to get in line early.  There were already 6 people there waiting in line, in the cold.  Thankfully, I dressed Maggie Peruvian style (very warmly).  I chose to wear a t-shirt with a sweatshirt and nearly froze for those 2 hours of waiting.

Around 7:45, they allowed the line (that forms outside) to come into the building.  We waited in line, again, and were finally called in to the office around 9:20.  Greg had found out everything the day before that we needed so we were confident that we were almost finished...  The lady at the desk asked where Maggie was born (they receive proof of the births from all of the hospitals and they are kept in large notebooks).  Maggie was born on the 20th and the lady could only find the births dated up to the 17th.  Keep in mind that we had been waiting in line for over 3 hours at this point, with our infant.  She simply said that she was sorry.  We would need to come back the next week.  Then she told me that I was not holding Maggie correctly (Peruvians love to give parental advice--not a good time for her to give it).  She sent us over to the head lady who told us that the Clinic had not sent the birth records to them yet.  Greg got out his phone for her to talk to the Clinic about why they hadn't sent the records.  His phone ran out of minutes during the conversation.  The head lady was too cheap to offer to call on their phones, therefore her answer was simply, sorry, but the Clinic has not sent over your records.  We were hacked, to say the least.

We left the office and headed to the Clinic to get Maggie's proof of birth.  After talking to their administration, Greg received a piece of paper as proof that the Clinic HAD sent the birth records over.  So, back to the admin office we went.  Hacked, once again.  Oh, and we had paid for two unnecessary taxi rides. 

We immediately passed the long line and walked into the office area of the main lady to show her the proof.  She went to "make some calls."  Guess what?  The records had been sent over, but they were in a "different" part of the building and wouldn't be sent down until 11 am (it was 10:20 at this point).  We sat and waited, once again.  Greg commented to her that we had been waiting since 6 am with our baby and how ridiculous the process had been for us.  She told us that we didn't have to bring our baby with us (right... MK didn't need to eat for 6 hours and that is why every other couple waiting in line had their baby with them).

Around 11 am the paperwork made the long journey over to their office.  After filling out the paperwork, paying fees for copies (several different trips) we were finally finished at noon.  SIX HOURS!!!  Can I add that Maggie did not cry the entire time we were there.  She had two feedings and slept.  Our angel child.

Because Peruvian last names are the mother's and father's, Maggie's two last names are McKinzie McKinzie.

So, Maggie has been Peruvianized.  I hope the US embassy is a little more organized with their birth certificate division.  I will keep you posted.