Visas AND Passports AND Consulates - Oh my!

I got to step foot on a little piece of America here in Germany two weeks ago - the American Consulate in Frankfurt. I needed to get a passport with my new last name on it. Here is the process

First of all, no electronics or liquids are allowed in the Consulate. I rode the train to Frankfurt so I had to leave my cell phone, camera, hand sanitizer, and USB stick in a locker at the main train station. Once I arrive at the consulate I got in line to get a number. After I had my number, I got in another line so that I could enter the building. After 20 minutes of waiting outside, I got to go through security. It is alot like going through airport security without all the luggage. Once I got through that, I went to another building, up the stairs and waited in a long hallway with about 50 other people for them to call my number. I waited and waited and waited.....

While I was waiting there was a few interesting things going on. Lots of people were there waiting with all sorts of different reasons for being there. Some man seemed to be upset about an answer he was given. In loud German he said that it was a typical excuse, much like "oh, it was Wednesday and I wasn't wearing my socks...."

Another wonderful story I heard was there was a man needing a new passport. He had lost his. They asked him the usual questions just to make sure the passport wasn't stolen or that someone would find it and use it illegally. He said, "Well, actually I know where it is. We dropped it behind our fish tank. It has like 100 gallons of water in it and lots of fish, so we couldn't move the tank. We didn't want to drain it out. So I can see my passport, I just can't get to it". What?!?!

Anyway, it was finally my turn and everything went just the way it was supposed to. A week and a half later my new passport affived with my new last name on it.