Passport Grief

It all started on November 2nd, 2007. This was a week away from our departure date to Italy on November 9th. I had everything purchased and mostly packed in my anticipation of going away. We started off the Friday with a three hour GIS class. After the class we had a brief meeting about Italy. Our teacher, Martin, just wanted to verify that everyone had the proper documentation to go away on the trip. This documentation included passport and insurance, both of which I had. He made sure everyone had a valid passport and mine expired on January of 2008. This was over a month after we were set to arrive back into Canada on November 18th, 2007. I told Martin when my passport expired and he explained to me that in Europe they want passports that expire no earlier then 4 months after you return to your country. This would mean that my passport was far off from this 4 month window after my return. Right then I began to freak out because I knew that were we set to leave in a week. I had to renew my passport in less then 5 business days. My classmates told me that was impossible to get a new passport in this time which only added to my frustrations. From this meeting I rushed to the nearest photography shop to get my passport photos taken. I knew that if I went down to the passport office without photos then I would only wait in line for a few hours and then be sent out to get new photos. After getting these photos I rushed down to the passport office. It was around 3:00 pm and the office was packed. I knew that waiting in line might not even get me anywhere on this frustrating Friday so I went to the information booth. I asked the lady if it were possible to get a new passport if I came in on Monday, bright and early. She said that if I came in and paid a bit more money then I could have my passport renewed in just a few days. On Monday morning I woke up early and went back to the office and waited in line. I was ended up being second in line but still had to wait a good hour before I talked to someone after the office opened. The last process was the pickup of my new passport on Thursday. I knew that if there were any troubles with shipping my passport then I would be in big trouble for my trip. Luckily my passport was there for pickup on Thursday afternoon. The whole process was very stressful because of the tight time schedule and I only wish my trip coordinator would have told me this information earlier than a week before we were set to leave. The benefit to this whole process is that I now have a valid passport for another four years.