"Si Dios quiere", answered the person on the other end of the Mexican immigration phone line in Veracruz City, when I asked them whether they would be open today on Monday.
Considering my yearly problems with this bureaucratic bunch of asinine orifices, I feel like a fool for not having asked whether they would also accept tramites (documents/applications), because when I arrived, the security guard shoved a notice at me stating that as of the 18th of December the office would NOT accept tramites, until after January 6th. So I demanded to see the jefe.
30 minutes later I faced him squatting inside his fully staffed office, and shared with him my opinion of "si Dios quiere". He graciously whipped out his rubber seal and stamped my application for renewal and sent me on my way.
Of course, I will now be an illegal as of the 23rd when my visa expires. And if you think that I trust this orifice´s rubber stamp to impress those friendly federales and their buddy border inspectors on my way to the border, you probably think burrocats are highly paid Mexican federal office managers. Fortunately on a local living basis I have never officially been asked to proof my legal residence in more than 7 years.
So I might have to depend on one of the few kind souls who offered to pick up a camera for me on their way south from gringolandia. Unfortunately no one also offered to pick me up a cute little 4x4.
On the good side, the Veracruz- Catemaco highway is in the best condition that I have seen in years. An overpass is being build on the Veracruz buypass road at Paso del Toro, otherwise smooth sailing, except for the usual mess in San Andres.
