Dear Jack Bauer,

The U.S. Embassy is not near as cool as you make it seem on T.V.

We had to run to Brussels this week to get some new pages for Clay's passport. I think we were both secretly really looking forward to the Embassy. In our minds, we would enter into a marble-floored lobby, maybe even be saluted by the guards protecting this tiny piece of our nation's soil. I even more secretly hoped that it would be like visiting "Little America" at Epcot, and all my favorite sites and restaurants would be found hidden below the streets of Brussels.

No such luck.

We were greeted at "citizens" at the front gate, which was kind of cool (I resisted the urge to cross my heart), but then we had to wait in a line outside in the cold before we could enter. So sure that there was no way we were intended to wait for our scheduled appointment OUTSIDE, Clay and I walked to the front of the line and tried the door before skulking back to the end. There is so much irony in watching a bunch of Americans waiting in line as part of procedure that they see as clearly flawed. The American nature is to try to improve things, progress them, throw out their ideas to anyone that will listen- even if that "anyone" is a locked door keeping you out of your embassy. My marble-floored lobby dreams evaporated.

It turns out the embassy is quite similar to the DMV. Except there are chairs, a T.V., and a public water cooler. We got the pages Clay needed, and got to watch CNN for half an hour.

There were times that I regretted wearing my blue and white striped shirt with red shoes. Such deep regret. Looking back, I think I really did think I was going to Epcot.