Bureocracy and immigration

Today I had to go back to the oficina de extranjeros for what should have been my second of three visits to get the equivalent of my green card for the year. Due to my misunderstanding the schedule, it was actually my fourth of what would be five. When I went to the bank to try to pay the required fee before returning, my identity number was denied, so I had to make an extra trip to the oficina and miss class. I was pissed. This is a process which started last January with the submission of my papers, started to become a huge headache in April when I lost my wallet/had to get things expedited/go through loads of bullshit/jump through hoops to come in time. I couldn't believe I was still having problems. But I try not to rage too hard at logistics, and I thought of a story my dad told me about my great grandfather during World War II. He was trying to escape Nazi Germany and after what must have been a huge uphill battle, finally managed to get the immigration papers. When he was waiting in line at the consulate, the Argentinan consulate officer ripped them up and told him he would never leave anyway. He managed to get new ones and get his family to Buenos Aires, where my family outside the nucleus still lives. [Edited to correct the mistakes from my memory of the story.]

I've realized it's futile never to get frustrated or upset about my life given that people are starving/being killed/etc. If you're one of the very rare people who actually lives and thinks that way, high five, but it's natural to weigh our lives by our own circumstances and our surroundings. "Cheer up, there are kids starving in Africa" is not an appropriate response to "I'm upset about my breakup." That said, I took a moment to appreciate that despite what appear to be constant blocks in my way, I am going through this irritating process to study and have fun in a country that appreciates my presence. There was a legal way for me to leave the US and to enter Spain. I am not:
-escaping persecution
-escaping political corruption
-going to a new place desperately without any concrete prospect of money or a job, simply because of the increased chance of my survival or my family's.
Not to mention that there's no doubt that no matter how many trips I have to make to the office, it will all work out and they're not going to kick me out of the country.