Lessons on Money Orders

1) All money orders are not the same.

Yesterday at the consulate I initially got turned down because I had the wrong kind of money order. What I needed was a US POSTAL SERVICE MONEY ORDER and not just a simple money order that you pick up at the local gas station. I had read that a million times: blah blah blah... no cash, credit, checks, etc....only US Postal Service Money Orders. But a quick Google search lead me to believe that "Money Order" was short for "US Postal Service Money Order." Luckily they let me go to the nearby US Post Office and resume the application process immediately upon returning. But before that, the lady who was attending me actually said she could accept cash because of the goof up (p.s. you're probably not allowed to tell anyone this). Jumping to the conclusion of the story, I ended up with a $190.00 "Not-Good-Enough" Money Order made out to the Brazilian Consulate. That brings us to 2).


2) Money orders are the same as cash.

At least to the extent I dealt with them they are (other than having to pay about $2 to get each one). I have two money orders which I didn't touch -- didn't write on them at all and receipts are still attached. I will just write them out to myself and "cash" them. The other money order still had the receipt attached but it was made out to the Brazilian Consulate. Solution: I took it back to where I got it, wrote "Not Used for Intended Purposes" on the back, signed it, and showed the manager my driver's license. My $190.00 reappeared.

Ok. I understand that money orders have special anti-fraud features and probably have more tangible insurance against fraud as opposed to cash. Maybe someone can clarify that point.

I guess the irony is that they're both just pieces of paper.

To start off...

This blog is meant to be a chronicle of my experience researching smart materials this summer at the Universidade Estadual de São Paulo (UNESP) in Brasil. I was nominated to this position through IAESTE, a non-profit, apolitcal, cultural exchange program (http://www.iaesteunitedstates.org). It's an eight-week position at the Faculdade de Engenharia in Ilha Solteira, São Paulo.

Now-- I should make it clear that I will not be exclusively chronicling the experience abroad. Instead, I will eventually start from the beginning of the application and acceptance process. I've been planning and reveling over the idea of creating such a blog -- not just a travel blog, but the whooole story -- from months, literally. That stems from the fact that I waited for months to receive final word (and by word I mean paper, because I didn't trust word by that point) that I was officially accepted to the program and to know for sure that starting a blog might be a worthwhile endeavor. After all.... months of entries about the toils of applications, waiting, essays, waiting, paperwork, waiting, and confusion all ending in failure?! You get the picture. Basically, I'm not down with failure nor waiting. Nevermind.