This week my birth certificate arrived via a lovely family that came to Peru and travelled all the way to Cuzco. On their way back home they had a flight through Lima in which I was to meet them at the airport to retrieve the long awaited document. To make a long story short: confusion of dates and sickness kept me from going to the airport. Javier ended up going to the airport by himself as a detour on his way to work Monday evening. And alas we have the document in hand.
Before taking my birth certificate and letter verifying I have never been married to be translated, Javier made a stop at the mayor's office to ensure that we had all of the proper documentation. He accepted the documents, but found an error with my residency. Of course nothing in this country can be simple...
In Peru, I have to update my residency yearly to prove that I am still here working. There is also an annual fee I have to pay. Usually they put a sticker on the back of your resident card to show that you have paid and updated your status. However, the law has changed, and now it is all in the computer system. They are no longer using the stickers, but when you enter the numbers into the government system, then it shows up at that I am legally in the country.
Unfortunately, the elderly man in charge of legal weddings here where I live didn't want to take Javier's word nor the documents I had stating that I have paid and am legal. Javier tried to explain the situatoin, but the man only wanted to ee the sticker on my resident card or there would be no wedding.
Thankfully, Javier has a way with words, and he convinced the man to call the immigration office. After a short exchange, the man nodded his head in approval, and Javier was on his way to drop off my paperwork with a legal translator. We picked up the paperwork on Friday, and everything is now placed in a plastic report folder waiting to be turned in. Next we have to do medical screenings and then publish our marriage in the paper for 8 days. Then, we will finally be able to set a date for the legal ceremony.
It's been quite the exhausting, frustrating process. I've cried in the office at the municipality more than once, and I've spent a lot of time in prayer that everything would work out. At one point I even asked God if this was his sign that we shouldn't be getting married - which I later decided wasn't the reason, but that perhaps God is trying to teach me patience.
As all Peruvians say, "Por algo ." Meaning: There is a reason.
Hopefully, all of this to say, that by the end of April, I should be a legally married woman. However, we are still waiting until the "religious" (traditional) ceremony to take place before we will consider ourselves to be married.
Thank you all for your continued prayers. Let me leave you with another picture from our engagement session.
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