part 1, volume 16

Okay - Volume 16 is a grandiose exaggeration.  I haven't attempted that many times....

But I am, once again, working on getting my drivers license for this fine, fine country.

And look what I now have in my possession.

You will be happy and very relieved, I am sure, to know that I do not, in fact, have a police record in Ecuador.

Good news.

Even more remarkable than that, is the time it took to get this puppy.

We were shocked at how quickly, efficiently and effectively the whole thing went.

Surely this can not be the Ecuador we have come to know and love?

The whole thing, from entering to exiting the building, only took 25 minutes.

25.

When we walked in there, I was quite pessimistic.  There were hoards of people.  But then Eric noticed something.... the numbers (you know, you get your ticket with a number and they have the digital numbers up front as to which number they are now serving...) were moving pretty fast.  It was at 40-something when we arrived, and we had number 21.

By the time we figured out that we had to go to a different area to get my passport number changed in their system (the glitch all along), got it changed (only one person in front of us) and went back, they were already in the 80s!

No seriously, this is true.

Our number was called, we went up there, I gave them my stuff, they took my picture (you know the kind that makes your face look like it is two feet long), printed out my report and scabam!, Done.

We walked out of there like two people in a daze.

Did that really just happen?

Was something quick and efficient here?  Here.  As in Ecuador?

But alas, it is true.  There is the proof sitting on my table and a photo of it on this blog.

Oh, and no one cut in front of us!

Not one person!