Hello,
The last 4 parts of this tale have expressed 1. Wallet Stolen, 2. Police Experience, 3. American Embassy, and the 4. Peace Corps. This 5th part is about finally coming home. After going through all that happened I decided to write these articles to let someone know what you might have to go through to deal with a theft circumstances.
Lets recap what is important.
1. Never keep all documents easily assessable to sticky fingers. Keep those documents in deep hidden pockets.
2. Never keep all documents located together in the same area such as one wallet. A loss of one document is easy to overcome compared to 10 documents.
3. Do not expect the police to help – Repeat – Do not expect any help from the police!
4. Do contact your Embassy as soon as possible. Do not delay! (Time matters)
5. Leave you hotel and phone numbers with all people you talk to about the theft.
6. Your hotel is a resource for help in these circumstances. (If nothing else a language translation help)
7. Keep a copy of your passport separate from your passport. That is the number one life saver factor to do. That copy of my passport was all I needed to get a new passport.
8. If you have a wallet stolen – Remember do not panick and if you have to, stop and think a minute. Remember it is not the end of the world! I know. 🙂
At this point in the Ukraine visa trip I was now able to get my visa for Russia from the Kiev Consulate. But my hurdles to overcome were not quit over…
In the Russian Consulate they had word that I had found my passport and immediately let me know when I arrived on their doorstep. (They know me well now by sight every three months.) Somehow the consulates have a really good grapevine system that interconnects between themselves for purpose of communication exchange. So what one consulate knew the other did also.
I explained that I had picked it up and had my old passport…. (This is where the fun started!)
Russia wanted to place the visa in my old passport because that is what my telex invitation had as a passport number. They said I can not use the new passport because I had the old one now. I explained that the old passport is null and void and the American government made sure that I knew that. This conversation was carried on for about 15 minutes…
To make a long story short, I had to involve the man in charge of the department. I had already talked to him over the phone before coming to the Consulate. I wanted to have all my t’s crossed and i’s dotted.
Walla Walla Bing Bang – I got my visa that afternoon by 3pm. 🙂 I was on the earliest train I could get and was home to see my Sweetie by Monday.
So to wrap up the series on “Pickpocket: We All Think That It Will Not Happen To Us!” I am going to quote one of our good readers.
“All is Well That Ends well!”
Windows to Russia!
comments always welcome.