First Day in Bratislava

(Actual Date: August 18)


Maria (the one helping us with visas) picked me up at 8:15 on Wednesday morning and we went to register at the foreign police and begin the visa process. The foreign police station is right in front of my flat, so it was a short walk to get there. It took about an hour and a half to get all the paperwork done and give all the stuff to the lady behind the counter. Lots of places here work like the DMV – you take a number when you walk in the door and wait in the lobby for your number to come up on the screen, then you can go in the door to the desk. We got lucky and Melissa and I were at desks next to each other so it was very easy for Maria to translate for both of us at the same time.

From there, we went to the school for a little bit so that we could check our email and request original birth certificates. I did not know we would need them, so I didn’t bring one. Maria also wrote letters for us to sign so that she would have the authority to work on the visas for us. We then had to take them to a notary/lawyer to get them signed.

After this, we found the cell phone store so we could get local phone numbers. Again, this is a take a number kind of place, so we waited until our number was called. I was able to use my US phone and just get a new SIM card with some credit on it. Most people have credit, which is like a Go phone in the US. When you get close to running out, you go buy more credit. It is significantly cheaper than phones in the US.

Melissa remembered a nice place she liked to have lunch so we went there for a late lunch. Then we went to get bus passes so that we did not have to buy tickets all the time. They would not take our passport photos we had brought because they were too big, so we had to find a photo lab that would take our picture for the passes. Then we went back to buy the bus passes. So I can now just hop on a bus and ride wherever I want (in Zone 1…which is mostly where I will be).

By now it was nearly 4 pm so Maria helped me get home, and I don’t remember what I did the rest of that day. Weird, I know, but really, I can’t remember the rest of that day. Probably went to bed early and slept.