Although I had not planned on putting much into this blog until I arrived and began documenting my experiences in Ecuador, I thought some preparation information may be useful to anyone reading this who may be contemplating a similar move.

As I continue to prepare for a year in Ecuador, many things come up that become more complicated as I go along. What to wear, what sort of supplies do I need, how much money should I take…these are some of the normal questions.

 One problem I face will be getting residency for the duration of my teaching position. There are lots of bureaucratic mountains to climb along the way and today I finished one of the first. Besides the documents the school requires, I need to bring along several others for the residency process. In all, here is a list of what I am taking:

Passport, birth certificate, police report, current health declaration, marriage license, CELTA and proof of my college BS (the degree–not the other stuff). Here’s the fun part–every one of these (except the passport) must be notarized and apostilled. Basically, you need to have an original document and show it to a notary, The notary then certifies he/she saw it and it was real. Then you go to the county to have them certify that the notary who certified your documents was real. Then you go to the state to have them certify that the county is real, showing the notary is real, showing the copy is real and that the notary saw the real thing in your possession.

Nothing like a little trust along the way…

Here’s how this got done:

I gathered up all the documents either as originals or as certified copies. Then I took them all the a notary and executed a notarized certificate of custody for each one – cost: $10 each. Next I took these to the San Diego Recorder’s office in San Diego for  notary verification – cost: $5 each. Finally I took this burgeoning pile of papers to the state building for apostille – cost: $20 each.  Result? Just the papers alone for the job and the residency cost over $210. Once I get there I face additional charges for the lawyers and government fees.

Since I am going to what many would call a 3rd world country, I know there will be lots of bureaucracy to face so this is good practice for me. One interesting thought someone had for me was that I will not be able to stand the poor conditions, the lack of infrastructure and the bureaucracy. My reply is that, after my experience in Chile, all you have to do is remember that you’re “not in Kansas anymore.” and to expect problems and changes.

This has taken me about 6 weeks to complete and now I am finishing up the cleaning out of my office, office computer and garage for the duration. If anything else crops up that would be useful I’ll throw it in here as well.