If you never studied French before, you may not know what "déjà vu" actually means. It's that feeling that you get sometimes when something happens and you know you've been there before, or had this conversation in the past. I guess it all depends on what you are experiencing if it is something good or something you wish would go away quickly. I wouldn't complain if I won the lottery twice. Bring on the déjà vu! On the other hand, nobody wants to hear the dentist say, "I don't like what I'm seeing here." I'd rather be anyplace else! The last time I went to Africa, I painted murals in Liberia in 2016. The experience slightly scarred me. Nothing about Africa, mind you. It's my favorite place on the planet. But, the getting ready to get there part was a stressful nightmare. It all revolved around my passport and the Liberian visa. I have no idea what took place at the Liberian Embassy in Washington D.C. No idea at all! But, my passport sat in that embassy for nearly two weeks. Shame on me for not paying the extra $50 for next-day service. But, I really thought that two weeks was enough time for them. It wasn't. It took the State Department to intervene and rush my passport into my longing fingers. I got the passport back the night before a morning departure. Needless to say, I never wanted that kind of déjà vu again. No, not ever! I mentioned this to the Public Affairs Officers at the embassies in both Togo and Liberia. I never wanted to go through that again. And, I'm happy to report that I didn't. This time it was double déjà vu! Much of the visa and passport procedures are out of my hands. I have to wait for other people and powers to do things before I can do my part. So, no matter how organized I am, and no matter how quickly I do my part, I can't do certain things until other people do what they need to do. And, I am sure, there are so many valid reasons for delays. A variety of people must approve everything! I don't know what all is involved, but there were certainly delays. If ambassadors are involved, their schedules need to be studied to see where I might fit in. What else is going on around the embassy that demands their time? Who is actually going to work with a visiting artist while I'm in the country (because they never just leave me on my own)? What are flight schedules? So much must be considered! And, as I watched March 11 approach, I didn't think it could possibly come together in time. It didn't. The date was reset for March 23? What?! Are you kidding me? Do you have to delay it two full weeks!? Yes, they did. Before I could send my passport to an embassy for a visa, I needed a couple of things. I needed exact dates, a flight reservation number, and an actual airline ticket. Those all take time. But, with two weeks to go, I packed up my passport with FedEx or DHL (I honestly can't remember which) and mailed it to Washington D.C. and the Liberian Embassy. It should have taken two days at the most to arrive. According to the woman from the embassy who called me, it took a full week. That wasn't the only problem. There was a form to fill out for the visa application. I didn't read it as closely as I should have. And, everyone knows that you should always read it closely! In one section, it says that everyone from the United States must pay $160 for a full-year, multiple entrance visa. I only noticed "full-year, multiple entrance". I moved along to the minimum visa for three months and single entrance. I sent the needed $70 plus the $50 fee to speed up the process. Nothing speeded up. I received a call from the embassy informing me that they needed another $90 for the visa. At this point on the calendar, there was not enough time for me to send them that money and get the passport returned in time. There was, however, enough time for plenty of stress. I contacted the Public Affairs Office in Liberia and asked if they could intervene. Their first suggestion was for me to call the Liberian Embassy, explain the situation, and see if they would issue the visa anyway. I knew, well before I placed that call, that I carried no clout. That option wasn't going to make anything happen. After that call, I had to rely on someone from the State Department in Washington D.C., once again, to go to the Liberian Embassy on my behalf. The balance was paid and my passport was sent in the same unreliable Fed Ex / DHL envelope that took a week to get from Ohio to the embassy. There was no telling how long it would take. Meanwhile, things were a little different with the Togo visa. Very, very fortunately, it's possible to go online to get an electronic visa for Togo. I didn't have to give up my passport for the second visa. It still required things like exact dates, flight reservation numbers, and airline tickets. Things that I didn't have when I first went to the site. But, I applied for this visa about the same time that I discovered that my passport and Liberian visa were in déjà vu jeopardy. My problems with the Liberian visa were made known to me on a Thursday. On Friday, someone from the State Department went to the Liberian Embassy. On Monday, I heard nothing. Squat! Nada! Zilch! I began to think that I probably wouldn't actually depart on Thursday. There just wasn't enough time for all of the pieces to fall into place. Pumping for water at the community well in Liberia (photo credit: Patrick Gono)Then, Tuesday rolled around. I got a very unusual message from a friend in Africa. Patrick said that he would call me later in the day to talk about something very important. I had no clue what that meant................ His girlfriend was on an errand to get water from the local well. One of the neighbors asked her, "Does Patrick have a friend in America who is special to him?" The girlfriend was surprised. I know it may surprise you, but I am not a topic of daily conversation in the neighborhood. They had never mentioned me to anyone. But, when the girlfriend replied, "Yes," the neighbor said that Patrick needed to pray for me. He prayed all day and then finally called me. And then, he prayed loud and long over me and my situation, whatever it was. When the prayer was over, I said, "Let me tell you about my day." I explained about the visa chaos, my missing passport, and all kinds of stress. I didn't think I'd be in Africa as soon as I hoped. But, on this Tuesday, the Liberian visa and passport arrived at my door. Immediately, I typed a message to two embassies and said, "I'm typing with one hand because the other hand holds my passport and Liberian visa pressed against my heart. Whew!!!" The same afternoon, I got the last of the paperwork to complete my visa application for Togo. In one day, everything fell into place. It could just be perfect timing, or stars aligning, but I'm going to have Patrick pray for me whenever I have big needs in my life. I was off to Africa!
