Manuel's Visa

When last we left Manuel, he was having a bit of a holiday in Paris brought about by his need to renew his visa. As he is from Spain and holds a Spanish passport, his visa takes five working days to process and so he decided to give himself some buffer time and stay in Paris for two weeks. The first time he had his visa done in The Hague, it took just two days. The second time he had it done in The Hague, we submitted it on a Monday and picked it up on Friday. This time, he applied in Paris a week ago Monday and still no visa. We don’t know why and we don’t know how and when that will get sorted. His flight is due to leave Paris tomorrow, but if he does not get his visa today, then he has to change his flight… But to what date? Please keep your fingers crossed that it all works out.

Our first house guests are arriving on Saturday, just hours after Manuel is scheduled to make an appearance here in Delhi. Two girls from Paris that are planning to backpack around the country for a few weeks. I am jealous. I want to backpack for a few weeks. As much as I love me some luxury hotels and champagne brunches, I also enjoy just going budget, finding cool yet inexpensive places to stay, letting the winds of chance blow us where they may. I have had some pretty amazing experiences that ay. Yes, it means going out of my comfort zone, sometimes so far out that I almost need a compass to return. I am ready to just pack up a bag, go to the train station and just get on a train. Any train, going anywhere and just seeing what will happen. I still have about thirty holiday days left this year (Eat your heart out America! THIRTY days. More days than most people have fingers and toes combined – I can see the green glow of envy from here) and perhaps I will use some of those to do just that type of adventure.