Wednesday, September 05, 2007

Back to Reality or How I Survived Mr. Bloody Head

In the 10 years I lived in New York City, I never once saw a mugging. Not one shoot out. No riots. Nobody dead on the street. Not one body floating in the river. Not even a body part!

But on my way to my very first day at work here in quaint little Boston I saw a man lying on the sidewalk, oozing blood. Awesome! But I'm way ahead of myself.

I went straight to the Spanish Consulate this morning, as suggested by an assistant in the Barcelona office, only to find out that everything I suspected is true. Not only can I not get a police record here in Boston (since, as I suspected, I have to get it in my last place of US residence - New York City), but I can't do any of my visa processing here. It must all be filed in NYC.

Okay so I spent nearly 2 hours there to learn that I can't get anything done there, but that's fine because I wasn't really ready to start work anyway. At 11, however, it was time to head to the office. But first I had to stop at the pharmacy to buy emergency band-aids for my already-aching feet. New shoes AND new job? Too many new things all at once. New city too!
And much more early-morning, humid, high-heel walking than I'd planned for. Oof.

My detour took me right past a fat man lying on his back next to the pharmacy with blood draining from his head, across the sidewalk (I politely stepped over it in my NEW SHOES) and toward the street. How very unexpected. A crowd had gathered, someone called an ambulance... this all seemed quite fresh. Anyway I couldn't even wait to get out of
the pharmacy to slap some band-aids on my blistered heels (even though this dude probably needed them worse than I did) and then I was back on my way to work. I was almost hit by a car as I waited to cross the street because the driver was so intrigued by Mr. Bloody Head.

But soon I was in the safety of the office building at the Prudential Center and in my new boss's office, where we tried to brainstorm what I could possibly be doing here for the next two to three months. We figured out some cool-sounding stuff by the end of the day, which includes plenty of travel to NYC so I can get my visa AND get some work done. Crafty, eh?

Tomorrow morning I get to go to the FBI! And then police headquarters for fingerprinting for my work permit. Another exciting morning ahead. Tomorrow I'll wear flip-flops.

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