Paperwork in Ecuador

Though in the states paperwork that has to be done for passports and birth certificates can be a hassle, after going through the process in a foreign country without a car to drive ourselves in to all the locations we have to hit, I think I'll be a little slower to complain about it. 

Several weeks before Anna was born we went to the nearby town of Puyo so we'd be sure we knew where to go to get the paperwork we need complete before our visit to the states in February.  This includes an Ecuadorian birth certificate, an Ecuadorian cedula (similar to an ID card), an Ecuadorian passport, and an United States passport (which we'll have to make the five hour trip to Quito twice for).  We went to Immigration and were told to go to another location of "Gobernacion".  They said we would need to go to Civil Registration before we could do anything, so we hailed a taxi and went to the (obscure) location of Civil Registration.  The Civil Registration in Puyo told us their was a Civil Registration in our own town of Shell we would need to visit first.  When we arrived there, the woman in charge told us we could start the paperwork after Anna was born, but the man who completed birth certificates would only be their Monday and Tuesday mornings from 8-10.  The Monday after Anna was born we returned with her and were amazed to actually find our 'birth certificate man' there.  He filled out a short form of the birth certificate for us, but the longer form we needed wouldn't be there until the next week since the new year was about to begin and he was awaiting the paperwork from the capital city.  With a prayer we returned the next Monday to find the long form had arrived.  We then took that form back to Immigration for Anna's cedula and were told to return Wednesday.  When we arrived Wednesday they told us to come back Friday because they were also awaiting new paperwork from Quito.  Thankfully Dan called before we headed there on Friday and a different man working told us not to come, but to go to the Civil Registration in Puyo for her cedula.  We proceeded there, were grateful to get her cedula and then headed again to Gobernacion for the passport.  After running twice down the block to get copies (because there is no copy machine at the governmeent building) and spending twenty minutes trying to wake Anna up for an open-eye passport photo, her Ecuadorian passport process has been started.  We're praying that it comes as quickly as they say it will and we're able to get her American passport and paperwork all done quickly on our trips to Quito.

God is definitely working on our patience levels as we proceed through all the hoops of Ecuadorian paperwork.

                                                                 Anna's Passport Photo