It's not as easy to set up residency in Utila as it may be in other countries. Setting up a bank account was a huge hurdle, although friend, Jan, was surprised that I was able to get one in a week's time. It took four trips to the bank.
On the first visit we found out what was needed: two notarized letters of recommendation...one from my bank in the states and one from a person or business owner in Utila. I had the letter from the bank, but either Jan had neglected to tell me to get it notarized or I zoned it out when she told me. Jan said she would supply the letter of recommendation for me. She has a seal because she set up a corporation here on Utila for legal purposes.
Jan also thought she could get the municipal judge here on Utila to stamp the letter from my bank and that would take care of both items. Just in case, she had me make a copy of the bank letter to send back home with my daughter. Then, if the bank didn't accept that seal, I could get my daughter to go to my bank, have it notarized, scanned and emailed to me, thus eliminating the two-three week's delay in mailing it.
A few days after the first visit, we returned to the bank with my bank letter, stamped by the judge...which cost me ten dollars...and Jan's letter with her stamp. Well, that didn't go over at all! The bank didn't like Jan's seal because there was too much ink on it. They also didn't like the judge's seal because it needed to be notarized by the person at my bank who signed the letter, not a Honduran stamp. Try again!
Jan printed out her letter once again and stamped it with a lighter touch. I phoned my daughter and asked her to take the copy of the bank letter to my bank and have the person who signed it notarize it and email it back to me. That actually only took two days.
Jan dropped me off at the bank on the third try, while she ran errands. I guess she figured I was an old hand at it by now and didn't need her supervision! Both letters were accepted. But wait! A form also needed to be filled out with my check of deposit and the letters of recommendation, and...wouldn't you know...they needed my cell phone number. All good and well, except I didn't have one! Oh, I'd had one in the states...a Tracfone...but they don't work out of the country. And, on the island of Utila, U.S. Cellular and the like don't work either. I have Skype and also a Magic Jack...both of which work from my computer...but they needed a Honduran phone number. They also needed the phone number of the person I'm renting from. I assured the (very nice, very helpful) young woman that I would be back as soon as possible.
Luckily Jan had Rita's phone number programmed in her phone. Finding a cell phone for me might not be so easy. The first place we went said they were having a problem activating their phones, so they couldn't sell them until that was straightened out. We went to another place where we had better luck, and he set it up in English instead of Spanish. I only bought 50 lemps worth (about $3 U.S dollars) of minutes, because I knew I would only use the phone in case of emergency.
Back to the bank...and...success! I now had a Utilian bank account. Before you get too excited, though, I can't use the account for twenty-two business days. Which means I will probably run out of cash before I can go to the bank and get more! Jan has assured me she will not allow me to go hungry, however, and if I need money before I can get some out, she will help me out.
On a lighter note...while I was at the bank for the third time...Jan introduced me to a friend of her's, Sue, who happens to be a neighbor of mine. She lives just two houses down from me in a home that she designed herself, with a magical view of the ocean. She's a retired school principal from Indiana (originally Pennsylvania) and lives in her house with two extremely funny Springer Spaniels, George and Kramer. She has a boyfriend who is sometimes here and sometimes in the states. She asked for my email address before leaving the bank, and by the time I returned home, I had an email from her inviting me over that afternoon.
We had such a nice visit, many things in common, and I knew by the time we returned from having dinner together that I had made a new friend. A new bank account and a new friend...all in all, not a bad day. I'm really beginning to feel like a Utilian!
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