^ That one isn’t mine. As I write this, my South African study permit is being processed by the consulate. This is a nerve-wracking experience for a number of reasons: 1) the instructions are heinously unclear, and vary by consulate – not to mention the unclear designation of what constitutes a minor in South Africa, it may or may not be 21 these days; and 2) I’m applying pretty close to the wire because the University of Cape Town mailed my letter to the wrong address twice. It doesn’t help that I had to get a copy of my “criminal background” from the Massachusetts CORI board – no walk-in service and it still costs $25 to process. Highway robbery. Or something. I had to get my application for this record notarized, too.

And will I get this visa on time? Will I even get a visa? I can only cross my fingers that the nice people at Travisa (a ludicrously expensive visa-expaditing service) pull through for me. That’s another thing, by the way – the visa only costs $77 but the actual price is significantly more expensive. Here’s the breakdown:

1. Consulate visa fee: $77
2. Travisa processing fee: $80
3. Doctor co-pay for physical/tuberculosis test: $25
4. Photo paper for application headshot: $10
5. Criminal record processing fee: $25
6. Overnight shipping to Travisa: $22
7. Overnight return shipping from Travisa: $22

Total? A hefty $261. Ouch! I suppose it’s good news that I’m studying with direct enrollment, then – the UCT application may have been a headache but I’m saving over $7,000. Makes that visa fee look like pretty small change.

The best news of all, however, is Vampire Weekend’s new album Contra – still a little baroque leftover from their debut but it’s still a nice departure from the original. Would all of these songs fit in on the first album? Probably, but there’s also something a little different in a really good way. Favorite song so far is probably “White Sky” – I know a few concert rips were floating around last year but it sounds SO good in-studio. It’s all streaming up on vampireweekend.com.