So for those who wondered where their revered War Czar \ General was for a few weeks, I was in the far away land of Chile. Asides from important, War Czar business, I also took the time for leisure and visiting family. Most of the pics of my family were taken by my mom on her camera (since she's far better at people photos than me). I am more of an environment photographer I guess.
Right click->View image so it doesn't look all weird
The airport
At a farm, riding on a horse wagon!
The next day, some shots of the mountain ranges
Then I kept forgetting the camera, but it was mostly just photo opportunities of people (which my mom took)
Here we are at the beach of Chile, it's actually really pretty. Cold at this time of year (Winter down in the southern hemisphere) but still nice.
Yep, black sand
A harbor nearby
Me with an air rifle
Killing terrorists
Later that day, I also got to fire my first ever real firearm. A Smith & Wesson 9mm pistol. A few things I learned
1) Guns can be pretty damn safe. This gun won't fire, even with a bullet in the chamber, unless the magazine is in and the safety is off.
2) Pistols are fucking LOUD, my ears were ringing and it echoed about the valleys (this was at a farm. We were shooting at glass bottles that were on a hill. Relatively safe, and my uncle is very serious about firearm safety)
3) They don't have much recoil, despite what video games like to tell us
4) I can't hit shit!
It was fun, I got to load and cock the gun, and fire 3 shots. I packed a spent bullet cartridge or whatever it's called in one of the suitcases... hopefully the TSA doesn't say anything. Oh? What's this? Why would I be hoping they don't say anything when I'm already back in DC?
You see, my mom and I live in the US under G4 visas. They allow you to live in the US legally, and you can renew them in the US rather than at your home country or something like that. My mom, however, has two Chilean passports for some reason. And she took the one without the G4 in it. We learned this last night at Santiago International. Ultimately, it was decided that I would go home and send the passport via FedEx overnight to my mom and sister, who are staying there a day or two more =S My first ever flight alone, and boy did it suck.
Coach is a fucking evil thing. We said "never again" about the Holocaust, but unlike that I'm going to keep my promise when I say "never again" to riding Coach for an 8 hour flight. My seatmate was nice, she let me use her pen to fill out the customs form. Oh, the forms! I asked the flight attendant if, as a Canadian citizen with a G4 Visa living in the US, I needed any forms besides the customs form. She said no.
So I get to Miami and go up to the immigration officer. First he reads the customs form, it checks out, then opens my passport. He asks me where my I-94 (Visa entry/departure form) was. I was like "Huh? I wasn't told I needed one." I was scared I was gonna get sent right back to Chile... another 8 hours of hell. Luckily, I was able to fill out an I-94 on the spot and continued on to Customs, where my shoes were disinfected since I had visited a farm.
God damn I hate immigration. I want my green card already so next time I go through that dark place I can just flash them my passport, green card, and customs form and be on my way. The trip to Chile was fun though.
Right click->View image so it doesn't look all weird
The airport
At a farm, riding on a horse wagon!
The next day, some shots of the mountain ranges
Then I kept forgetting the camera, but it was mostly just photo opportunities of people (which my mom took)
Here we are at the beach of Chile, it's actually really pretty. Cold at this time of year (Winter down in the southern hemisphere) but still nice.
Yep, black sand
A harbor nearby
Me with an air rifle
Killing terrorists
Later that day, I also got to fire my first ever real firearm. A Smith & Wesson 9mm pistol. A few things I learned
1) Guns can be pretty damn safe. This gun won't fire, even with a bullet in the chamber, unless the magazine is in and the safety is off.
2) Pistols are fucking LOUD, my ears were ringing and it echoed about the valleys (this was at a farm. We were shooting at glass bottles that were on a hill. Relatively safe, and my uncle is very serious about firearm safety)
3) They don't have much recoil, despite what video games like to tell us
4) I can't hit shit!
It was fun, I got to load and cock the gun, and fire 3 shots. I packed a spent bullet cartridge or whatever it's called in one of the suitcases... hopefully the TSA doesn't say anything. Oh? What's this? Why would I be hoping they don't say anything when I'm already back in DC?
You see, my mom and I live in the US under G4 visas. They allow you to live in the US legally, and you can renew them in the US rather than at your home country or something like that. My mom, however, has two Chilean passports for some reason. And she took the one without the G4 in it. We learned this last night at Santiago International. Ultimately, it was decided that I would go home and send the passport via FedEx overnight to my mom and sister, who are staying there a day or two more =S My first ever flight alone, and boy did it suck.
Coach is a fucking evil thing. We said "never again" about the Holocaust, but unlike that I'm going to keep my promise when I say "never again" to riding Coach for an 8 hour flight. My seatmate was nice, she let me use her pen to fill out the customs form. Oh, the forms! I asked the flight attendant if, as a Canadian citizen with a G4 Visa living in the US, I needed any forms besides the customs form. She said no.
So I get to Miami and go up to the immigration officer. First he reads the customs form, it checks out, then opens my passport. He asks me where my I-94 (Visa entry/departure form) was. I was like "Huh? I wasn't told I needed one." I was scared I was gonna get sent right back to Chile... another 8 hours of hell. Luckily, I was able to fill out an I-94 on the spot and continued on to Customs, where my shoes were disinfected since I had visited a farm.
God damn I hate immigration. I want my green card already so next time I go through that dark place I can just flash them my passport, green card, and customs form and be on my way. The trip to Chile was fun though.
