Mogama'

Went to sort out visas on Thursday. Advised to expect total rudeness, a maddening run-a-round, incompetence and a long wait, we armed ourselves with patience and cabbed it to downtown. Entering the building we automatically leave any Arabic we know at the door, we find the floor we need (there are over 20) and make our way though a labriynth of hallways, lines of shabab, and smokiness and finally to “Window 12”. After being ignored for 10 minutes while the employee chats casually with a couple of workers, the employee turns and enquires: Nationality. Not sure if its a question or statement I hold up my passport. She snatches it out of my hand. Demands photos – I say I have them – demands photocopies of my passport – I hold them up. She shoves a form at me and tells me to go. I fill it in and return to the window. I wait a little for her to bother to grace me with her attention. She holds out her hand for my form. Re-opens my passport. Muslim? I reply in the affirmative and she looks at me like I’m a big fat liar. Fathers name. Mothers name. More glaring. She calls over her friend and passes my forms to her. I move over a window. The new lady is NICE! “Window 42” she says – 11EGP. I pay – make sure you have exact change, if you don’t you won’t get anything back no matter how much you hand over for your stamps. Back to “Window 12”. Nice lady has disappeared. Mean lady grunts in my direction. Stamps. I hand them over. Get another – 10 Piasters. Back to the payment window, I pay 1EGP for a 10 Paiester stamp (100 Piasters in 1EGP). Back to “Window 12”. More grunting. Come back at 2PM... ITS 9AM IN THE MORNING!!! How long can it take for you to stick them into my passport. And they CLOSE at 2PM, obviously she thinks I’m a moron, “Window 38” to pick up she grunts. When I try to confirm she glares and ignores me.
We wander off to a coffee shop nearby and sit and drink coffee and study.

After two hours we return to the mogama’. We walk the labyrinth again and arrive at “Window 38”. Nationality. Again its not a question. She pulls my passport from the bottom of the pile and shoves it at my face. I smile. Thank her. Get the hell out.

Sounds nasty, but that is an excellent experience. It can take hours, serious rudeness and abuse. That is what you call extracting an Egyptian visa with ease! Al-hamdoulillah I am happy I won’t need to do it again. I miss the manners that exist in the west – they are sorely lacking all over the middle east unfortunately.

Much Love and Ma’a Salama