What Colour of Tape Did You Say? (Part II)

A Lost Bank Book

I used to work for a bank in the UK and another in Spain. If someone lost their book, their card or anything else then I would cancel it and give them a new one. It really wasn’t a big deal. However, the process here is cunningly ridiculous. If you lose a bank document you need to put a newspaper advert in the local papers for three consecutive days. I think my mouth fell open when the bank clerk told me what I needed to do, and thankfully my Spanish classes hadn’t given me the ability to say something which I would have later regretted.

Am I Complaining?

I haven’t even mentioned the strikes, the public holidays and the need to pay bribes to get even simple paperwork sorted out. So I hate the place, right? Well, not at all actually. If you come here for Spanish courses then you too will almost certainly be won over by South America in spite of all of the faults I have just mentioned. One of the weird things about living in different countries is that you can compare them to each other and pick faults in both of them all day long. As far as I am concerned the UK is a brilliant place for getting things done but South America is a place for living life to the full, and if the price I have to pay is some hellish red tape then so be it.