Residentes Permanentes

Today, we went down to INM (Instituto Nacional de Migración - AKA Immigration) to pick up our permanent residency cards. We had heard some horror stories about how long and difficult this process was, but we applied about a month ago, and Friday we learned the cards were in. We wanted to get this out of the way, and usually it's easiest to deal with immigration in the morning - so we went early. Bad idea. Cards aren't handed out until 11:00, but you can get in line with a number starting at 10:00. So we went and had an excellent breakfast at Molika, then took a pulmonia back to INM at 10:00, where we got number 1, and waited. And waited, and waited. Finally, around 11:30, they started calling numbers - and there they were: our shiny new green cards with no expiration dates! With any luck, this was our last trip to INM. Ever! What a great birthday present.