To Add Insult to Injury . . .

Well, I finally received it . . . my Indiana Learner's Permit! I have been driving for 3 decades but, I am a foreigner, oops, Alien in Indiana and apparently they are not positive that I can successfully maneuver along the treacherous roads of the state. The biggest challenge I have encountered to date has been the discovery of cellular phones here in Lafayette. I can't count the number of near-accidents that have occurred with folks on the phone going through 4-way stops, red lights, etc. -- all oblivious to the havoc they have just produced.

You probably can't make it out, but the license is dated January 25, 2006 -- yet I received it in July. Why? the bureaucracy lost my paperwork and then demanded more. First of all I had to wait for a year and a half to take the written test and then during the time they were to verify my documents, my visa expired and was replaced (apparently) by a permanent resident card (which never arrived though it was mailed in May '06). So, my documentation was out of date . . . however, since another bureaucracy misplaced my p.r. card--I was then left with no documentation at all! and, the licensing branch refused to send me my learner's permit.

Well, I don't know what went wrong/ right . . . but I still don't have my p.r. card but I did get the approval for the documentation anyhow? Go figure?

Now, I have to make an appointment for a driver's road test and then the whole mess starts all over again. Before they will send me my official driver's license (given I pass the road test), they have to, once again, verify my documentation. Hmmmm, I wonder if it will be four weeks as they say, or will it take another 23 weeks?

Meanwhile, I haven't heard back from the INS about where on earth my p.r. card is and when they will be issuing a second one. Time to get on the phone.

Cynthia