Panicking in 3, 2, 1...

Yesterday I realized it is only 6 weeks from my ideal departure date! I am in no way ready for this. I still need to:

1. go to Mexico City and apply for a visa (Aug. 17)
2. go to Mexico City to sign scholarship paperwork (no date yet)
3. open a bank account for said scholarship
4. buy a plane ticket
5. make a reservation at a hostel or temporary housing in Leuven.
6. go to McAllen, TX to say goodbye to my grandma
7. pay the translator
8. have KUL fax a copy of my admission letter to the Embassy
9. fill out the visa paperwork
10. buy a laptop

Now it's real...

So...Seattle held an unexpected surprise that ties in nicely with my plans for Leuven. The REI flagship store is there! The Columbia store is not bad either. So I managed to score a really big, sturdy duffel bag at REI for $93 USD including tax. I already tried it out...I can fit all of my clothes in it! REI sells its own duffel bags for half the price, but they don't have a flat bottom, which I feel can make packing a lot easier.

I also found the perfect jacket for Belgium. It is super light but completely waterproof, and I can wear three layers under it. And I learned outdoor goods stores make a distinction between water repellent and waterproof. Water repellent is actually more expensive....go figure. 

I just forgot one thing: gloves! It totally slipped my mind...I've got a couple pairs already, but none that I'm completely happy with. And I couldn't find any waterproof boots, since they are only displaying their summer line at the moment. However, the jacket and duffel are awesome!

On to more boring but important things. I finally got my degree from UDEM. Almost a year later. And they'd had it sitting there since February! But this is really good, I was afraid I wouldn't get it in time, as KULeuven requires one show original high school and university diplomas upon registration as a Master student. 

Next up, documents I need to get here in Monterrey before having them translated, legalized, and sent to the Embassy in Mexico City (I know writing this might be useless, but if only 1 person stumbles upon this info when they need it, I know their work will be a lot lighter and less scary):

• A letter stating I don't have a criminal record. This can only be obtained at: 
• Calle Profesor J. Cantú García, esq. c/ 4a. Avenida
  Colonia Garza Cantú, San Nicolás de los Garza, N.L. C.P. 66480  Tel. 2020 7650
• For that letter, I need a copy of my birth certificate issued this year. There a lot of places where you can get this document. I have chosen this San Pedro location:
•  Vasconcelos No. 1561-B, Colonia Mira Sierra 
• The Belgian Embassy requires that some of these documents be certified as true, original, and valid for all member countries of the Hauge Convention through an "Apostille". In Monterrey, this service is offered at:
• Washington 539 Ote. Edificio Elizondo Gza., PB, L-3, frente a Tesoreria General del Edo. Col. Centro C.P. 64000
• More locations and services for the state of Nuevo León can be found at: 
• http://sg.nl.gob.mx/Cetys/Modules/WebDPI/busqueda.aspx
• Laboratory exams and a general check-up by an Embassy approved doctor.
• 
  
  Dr. Herman Flores García
  
  Montes Rocallosos #417, esq. c/ Vasconcelos
  Res. San Agustín, San Pedro Garza García
  Tel: (81) 83 56 33 18
  Cel: (044 81) 83 62 93 06
  Mail: drhermanf@hotmail.com
• Translators approved by the Embassy. The first time around, I worked with Oliveto Vicenzo and everything was perfect. I will definitely be contacting him again.
• http://www.diplomatie.be/mexico/default.asp?id=50&mnu=50

Finally....I've been accepted!

Woke up yesterday to a beautiful surprise sitting in my inbox: an e-mail from KULeuven informing me I'd been admitted for the Master of Social and Cultural Anthropology starting September 2010. Do you wish to accept the proposition? Boy, do I! Accept, accept, accept. And yes, please sign me up for third person liability insurance, and a sports card, and a culture card. Yes, yes, yes!!!!!!!

So what's next? Now that I've formally accepted the admittance offer, KUL will send me via priority airmail my official acceptance letter. This is THE document that opens all doors. Now the ball is really gonna start rolling, as I can now apply for scholarships and a student visa. 

Next week I leave for Seattle. While I am much more at ease knowing I'm no longer just an unemployed girl, I am now a future grad student, I feel uncomfortable. I should be out gathering all the papers I need for my visa and scholarships or loans. Then again...it's just two weeks.

Oh and remember that backpack? I just ordered it from Amazon. $40 bucks, quite a steal. :)

Delays in Application Processing

It's been 7 weeks since my application was deemed complete by International Admissions. The application instructions say the process takes 3-4 weeks, so I sent an e-mail to web support to see if perhaps the system had failed to update my status. They replied that I would be contacted again in May regarding my application status s they were backlogged. Late is better than rejected but boy am I tired of this waiting game. On another note, my Grandmother's old house, which she was renting out, has been sold. She has offered to finance my Masters with a loan. Interests and scheduled payments but no bank breathing down your neck. Sounds like a good plan.

Application Update

This past thursday was a day of panic, frustration, anger, and finally, relief. It all started when I sent the director of the Marketing program at my university an email concerning my GPA. She replied with "your GPA is 89.69". Wait....what? I'd been applying for jobs and to KU Leuven with a GPA of 83.00, as stated in the online student records I had access to. RAGE ensued. What if this had a hand in the fact that I haven't been able to land a job in 8 months? I got over that quickly and then sent an email to Sarah Blomme at International Admissions, asking her to update my application with the correct GPA. 

This is when I realized my old mantra "everything happens for a reason" was proven once again. Sarah informed me she had gladly updated my GPA but regretted to inform me my TOEFL test was not accepted by KU Leuven, and that I hadn't uploaded proof of payment. That was on February 25. The application deadline was March 1. PANIC ensues. Fortunately, in the back of my head somewhere a distant memory emerged. My TOEFL had been cleared. A quick gmail search led to an email which stated in fact that the program director for the Master of Soc. & Cult. Anthropolgy had approved of my test. Phew.

Proof of payment. I got this from my dad the next day, as well as some shit for "not keeping tabs on my stuff". Never mind the fact that he never sent me the info. So yesterday I got an email from Sarah stating my application was now complete and would be submitted to the Faculty of Social Sciences. Yesterday was March 1. Yesterday was the deadline. Everything happens for a reason.

Application in process

It's been 1 month, still no answer. I already missed out on the Flemish scholarship deadline.

Things I want.....

I hate to do this to myself, in case things don't work out but.....these are a couple of things I'd like to buy for my trip.

• An awesome pair of water-proof boots, mid-calf, good for lots of walking. I remember one particularly frigid day in Leuven; I spent the night out bar-hopping in my Converse and by the time I got home, my toes where actually a light purple hue.
  

• A good backpack. The one I took to Leuven the first time around was perfect, but it was stolen in Mexico City. Something with more than 1 main compartment helps organize things better during daytrips, and side-compression straps are REALLY useful when your bag is filled with layers of clothes and you're moving in crowded places.  This Jansport "Merit" backpack looks like a perfect upgrade. The front pockets are great for smaller items that would otherwise accumulate in a mess at the bottom of larger compartments. This also helps distribute weight and volume.
  

• GoToob set for traveling. I LOVE this set, but frankly, it is way too expensive. I keep checking the site (reuseit.com) to see if it goes on sale but so far no luck. (-4% isn't much)

• DSLR camera....oh wait! I got that for Christmas! I got the Nikon D5000, and I highly recommend it. To avoid stressing myself out by reading the included manual, I bought Nikon D5000 for Dummies as well. Very accessible for beginners. I have a Canon Digital Elph SD790 IS, and I can't say this enough: Canon point-and-shoot cameras have an excellent range of colors and saturation, and great definition. Before visiting any museums or attending concerts, I always check online to make sure you can a) enter with a camera, b) take pictures, and c) enter with a backpack. If any of these points are a "no", I make sure the place I'm going has a bag check service that will accept valuables (camera, wallet, passport, iPod). Sometimes they don't, which is why it is a good idea to always travel with something roomy that will still pass as a purse. This takes me to my next point:
  

• I've always wanted a leather bag. This Fossil bag looks good enough to hold my wallet, camera, iPod, etc. And leather is forever! 
  

• As I mentioned in a previous post, surviving Leuven is all about layers. While I haven't found great thermal shirts yet, this past month at Charlotte Russe I finally found the perfect leggings. Seems they're all the rage this season. Basically they are footless, low-cut tights. Someone finally got it: low-cut jeans and regular tights are not nice. And at 2 for $12, they're an excellent buy.  As for shirts, I'll probably be ordering them from Chemisette, a Mexican company that specializes in microfiber thermal wear. I've never ordered clothes from a catalog but since this is stretchy material, I'm guessing ordering a Small will be just fine.
  

Application in Process!

So, the details of this post hail back to December 28. It was on this day that I was horrified to learn that the Mexican Secretary of Foreign Relations had already posted the Flemish Community Scholarship for Mexicans. Documents due on February 12. Panic ensues. I ran to my room, checked the interactive PDF one last time and hit submit. 

Then I waited, I waited two whole weeks before contacting KUL, again. The problem? Once you submit your PDF Application, your status on their web-based application procedure should change, enabling you to upload. Mine didn't. Since it was the holidays, I decided to give it two weeks to update. Turns out the system wasn't working too well and a simple e-mail would have solved it. Anyways, they enabled document uploads on my account and that was that. I uploaded all the so-called "core documents", sent physical copies of my "Diploma in Process" & transcript through DHL, and payed the 50€ fee through bank transfer (I e-mailed KBC to make sure the total amount transferred covered any overseas fees. For Mexico, this was 12.5%). 

Two days after sending the documents I got an e-mail confirming they'd been signed for, and a day after that my status changed to "Application in Process", indicating International Admissions had received my on-line form, uploaded documents, physical documents, and payment. So now, we wait. The first night, I dreamt I was rejected. I truly hope this is not the case.

New Application

KULeuven's new on-line application is up. The process requires you to sign-up for a guest account and then download the application in PDF format. It is actually a quite simple application, but not without flaw. The areas I have identified as unclear are:

• Was all or part of your education in English?
•  The application only lets you choose one option from secondary school, Bachelors, or Master. It does not explain what "secondary school" means (though a Wikipedia search suggests it is 7-12th grades), nor does it allow me to explain that my entire education, grades PK-12, was in English.
  
•  Profesional Experience: Research and teaching experience / Non-academic professional experience
•  I suspect this is where I can include my internship experience. However, it is not 100% clear. In my university, it was mandatory to complete 280 (?) hours of internship in an area directly related to my major. So, does this still qualify as non-academic?
  
• Are you applying for a scholarship in order to attend this programme? Amount?
• Does not specify if the information they want is the "Amount" in terms of monthly stipend, or the total value of the scholarship. Also, every time I close de PDF document and then open it again, the second entry I added to my scholarship options disappears. 

So, I'll be waiting for International Admissions to clear these questions up for me and then, I'll be ready to mail my application. I hope KUL processes the applications as they come in. I'll definitely get it in before December 15. Wouldn't a letter of acceptance be a nice Christmas present?

1 month for the application period to start

In one month, KUL's new application will be available online at http://www.kuleuven.be/application. Last week I ordered the required documents from my university and will be picking them up tomorrow. I am now considering wether to apply to two Masters (desired + safety) or just the one, since the documents cost me about $80 dlls and the application fee is €50. If I apply to another Master, not only will I pay another application fee, but would also have to order the documents again, as KUL requires original copies of all documents with the application. I've already gotten permission to not show a TOEFL result or a university diploma. I don't feel like asking them to take copies. I feel this is pushing it and could also be detrimental to my acceptance (too many "I don't have this but I'm sending you this instead").