Permission to leave

This week, I had the experience of the immigration office. I am here in Ecuador on a volunteer VISA. Because of the type of VISA I have, I had to go to Immigration and fill out some papers to comply with some laws.

First, I had to obtain a Censo. The government maintains a census of Extranjeros (foreigners) in the country. The Censo is proof that I have been counted. It is an ID card of sorts. It also is my proof that I am now an official resident of Ecuador. To obtain my Censo, I had to sign the card before it was laminated (like how old drivers licenses used to be). When I signed it, I signed it like I sign my name now. The immigration officer yelled at me because my signature did not look like my signature in my passport (which I signed 8 years ago, before I was a doctor). He made me sign another paper, with a signature that matched my passport, to prove that I was me. I guess signatures are very important here. But on my Censo is the sloppy signature. This card also contains a photo. He took a digital photo that he then printed on my Censo. Well, I am not sure what kind of software they are using, but the computer elongated my face. So on top of it being a bad photo, my face is very long, so now it is a really bad photo.

Next, I had to obtain a Salida. Now that I am a resident of Ecuador, I have to get the government's permission to leave the country. I am planning on going back to the US for Christmas, so I need a Salida. When I went to that part of the office, I said I needed a Salida. The immigration officer asked me in a very gruff voice where I was going and when. I was thinking to myself, 'this is ridiculous that I have to tell him anything, I am an American citizen and I can go to the US whenever I want to.' Of course, I did not say anything even close to that to him, because I knew I needed his permission to go. So I just answered his questions and he gave me a paper to fill out. I then had to leave my passport, my Censo, and that paper with them and return the next day to get it back. I returned the next day and retrieved my passport, my Censo, and my Salida. No problems. I now have the government's permission to leave the country.

I still am having a hard time processing all of this. I am now a resident of Ecuador, I am now under the laws of the government of Ecuador. Of course, I am a US citizen first, and I am and always will be protected by the US government. But it is weird to imagine that I had to get permission from Ecuador to go back to my home country. The reality is, I could have left here without permission, but then they would not have to let me back in when I return in January. This is all definitely new for me and, as with all new experiences, it takes a while to get used to how things work.

My purpose for being here is to serve God and I have to jump through all these hoops first before I can do that. I will do whatever it takes to follow God's will, and right now, I believe this is all a necessary part of that. I do not want the government to kick me out, then I can be of no help to anyone.