Bureaucracy and other green goo

I went to the U.S. Embassy in Santiago this morning to apply for a replacement social security card. I need it to avoid paying into the Chilean pension system, but couldn't find it before I left the States. The embassy here is huge and lavish ... our tax dollars at work, I guess. I got the royal treatment (i.e. didn't have to wait in any lines) and felt a bit guilty about it. There were lots of Chileans who looked like they'd settled in for an all-day wait fest. The representative copied my passport and driver's license and will mail them along with my application. Perfect, right? Except that she said it will take about six months to process! Our tax dollars on vacation, I guess.

In other unpleasant news, I'm sick. For the last few days, I've had low appetite and diarrhea. I've also been coughing up gobs of green goo. Gag. Literally. Maybe it's a good thing my classes haven't started yet, even though I'm anxious about how it will all work out. On top of the typical new-job jitters, now I have to worry if not having a social security card will delay my visa application and I'll find myself working illegally -- or worse yet, without a contract at all. Gag. Almost literally.