Not much to report from today, other than spending a good couple of hours in the morning with Lizette at the "interesting" branch of the police force reporting the fact that my wallet, containing my passport etc. has been lost/stolen.
The local police force appears (to me) to be divided into the uniformed branch (the carabinieri) and the plain clothes branch (the PDI - Policia de Investigaciones de Chile). As the name suggests, the PDI seem to be the detectives. Not meaning to be disrespectful to them in any way, they look like they have come straight from a movie set. Suits and the little flip-open "badge" carriers that the detectives from America all carry in the movies, complete with little chain around the neck. The only difference is the lack of bad/grumpy attitude and dishevelled look that at least some of them have in the movies. Actually, maybe these guys had a little of the grumpy attitude...
When we report to the PDI office, we are pointed towards the Extranjero's Office, which as I understand the term, refers to us "foreign" workers in the country. I'm initially impressed that they have seen fit to have an office dedicated to us foreign types, but the more I think about it, the more worried I am. Could it be that they NEED a dedicated branch of detectives for us because we are a lot of trouble? Hmmm, I wonder if this will go smoothly...
We enter and look at the three detectives sitting at their desks. The one in the middle makes eye contact for the longest, so we home-in on him. Perhaps surprisingly for the people in the foreigners office, there is no attempt at English, perhaps because Lizette is there and explains the situation in Spanish. There is certainly not a lot of eye contact with me, nor much looking in my general direction other than the occasional disparaging glance!
I try to follow what is going on but am soon lost by the rapid-fire exchanges between Lizette and Detective # 1 (D1), as well as periodic involvement in the conversation from Detective # 2 (D2). Before too long, it becomes necessary to produce what documentation I have, which is now restricted to print-outs of scans of my documents. More disapproving looks... Being detective types, they hone in on the tourist visa side of things, which I've banged on about previously. It becomes very clear that several of the documents relating to the extension of my tourist visa aren't really doing it for D1 and he spends considerable time reading and re-reading all of them. It dawns on me that his biggest concern at the moment is whether I am in the country illegally beyond the terms of my visa, rather than the fact that all of my documents are missing. In the meantime, efforts have been made to raise my lawyers in Santiago, all of whom are absent from their office or in meetings. Things are not going so well. It takes the better part of an hour or so before he is happy that I am here legally, after confirmation (somehow) by a report from their computer network. It is fair to say that I am feeling a little more relieved at this point!
The rest of our time there appears to relate to the completion of a report detailing the circumstances of what happened. Finally, I have a copy of a police report indicating that my documents were stolen. To top it off, we have to pay for the report. It's only about a dollar, but nonetheless, it seems odd.
We leave the building and head back to the office. I feel a bit deflated, and that nothing is likely to come from the exercise, but it was necessary, so I suppose there is no point fighting it. Even if the wallet is now somehow recovered, I've had to cancel everything anyway, so the only bonus will be the recovery of the wallet itself.
We also report to the local currency exchange shop and notify them of the fact that around A$100 or so could be in the hands of a local, so if anyone is trying to exchange aussie dollars, they might give us a call.
The bright side of things is that at least I'm "permanently" here and this has happened. I have time on my side to recover the situation. It would be extraordinarily difficult for anyone just travelling through the country for a week or so to lose their documents. I'm also extraordinarily fortunate to have Lizette here to help. Sure, I'd probably manage without her, but she just makes things so much easier. I can't thank her enough!
Anyway, that's about it for the day. Let's see what tomorrow brings.
A
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