Cross your fingers...

...and your toes. My inssurance has been purchased and my visa application completed. I sent it away yesterday with the request that a signature be obtained upon delivery. Considering the documents in that envelope, nothing is too safe. It's suppose to arrive tomorrow, but I have no idea how long it will take before I get an answer from Swap. Hopefully it won't be too long, since I hate sitting around waiting. But more importantly, I hope they have everything they need and that I will get the visa. If not, I'll still get a nice vacation in Ireland. Oh, who am I kidding, not getting it would be complete crap. But I've done everything that I could, and so all I can do is cross my fingers and wait *ahem* patiently.

Number of days to go: 65

Let me call you back

The most annoying and yet important part of my visa application is inssurance. What a journey that has been. To start, Swap recomends the TravelCuts inssurance, but I already had covergae with the company Blue Cross. I might stay with them, considering I know how they work already. However, in order to have coverage with them, I need an active Medicare card. Now here's where tehe confusion begins. I started by calling the number on the back of my Medicare card. A very fast talking lady answered and told me to fax a letter to the director of Medicare. His name? I still have no idea, yet I did fax that letter. Two weeks later (about time) I receive a letter from the province telling me that in order to keep my card active during the two years that I will be away, I need proof that I have a contract to work there. Otherwise my card will be terminated. In other words, I'm screwed. "But wait, could Swap be considered a working contract?" I think. It's worth a shot. And so, annoyed with calls that get me nowhere, I go to the office of Service NB, only to find out that I have to call the same number as the previous times. As it turns out, Medicare does have an office... in Ontario. Which makes no sense whatsoever, but hey, it's the government, what can you do.

I then proceed to make the call. After explaining my situation once again, the answer I get is: Let my check and I'll call you back. Great. I get two more calls like that beofre telling the lady something around the lines of "Screw the two year extension, just give me one year", which solved everything. At last, after all that frustration and multiple "Let me call you back", I finally have my paper stating that my Medicare will remain active for one year while I am out of the country. All that's left to deal with is my Blue Cross inssurance and I will be ready to send out my visa application, just a little over two months before my departure date. Everything worked out in the end. Well, so far.

Number of days to go: 68