After three days of continuous celebration and partying, it was now time to go downtown to apply for an extension of my visa. Nichole and Dave came wt me. We left early in the morning just to avoid the hassle at the Mogamma.
Well ... even though there were just a few people that early, i still had my share of hassle for the day (or should i say for the year). I filled in the application form and handed it to the person in charge. They sent me to office 42 (Lost Passports) - i looked at the sign, thinking: "i did not loose my passport, but hei, you never know here... maybe they changed the office and left the sign". the guy took my passport, looked at it 3 times ... He leaves, then he comes back. He speaks no English, and my Arabic is zero (still!! after 6 months here). Then he comes back for me; he says: "come!" He takes me to this other office; he opens my passport and points at the stamp i got in Taba "Problem!!!". I'm like: "Hmm... alright!" He tells me i need to buy a 15 $ sticker. I do not understand why, he takes me back to this other guy. He has me waiting there for 10 minutes, i am trying ot figure out what's going on ... the guy says: "wait.. the manager will come.". The man came back and sent me to office 18 to buy a 15 $ sticker. I go there... the door is locked - with a lock on it! I try the next door - i go inside and explain the situation to the guy there ... and how i was advised to buy a 15$ sticker/visa. The guy looks at my passport and finally tells me: "The stamp from Taba is available only for Sinai; you do not have a visa for Cairo!".
then i point the visa i got in Israel and his expression is one i cannot describe in words - he looked like a child who just discovered the secrets of the Earth. Then he takes me back to the same guy i have been dealing wt from the very first thing of the morning.
He takes my passport, goes away, makes a phonecall... comes back.... During this whole time a bunch of Egyptians kept going in front of me and trying to get stuff done.
In the end, the guy gives me a piece of paper to fill in - the paper was actually saying that i had lost my passport! I panicked... but filled it in anyway ... The guy takes the paper, my passport and leaves. I am frustrated and VERY panicked. Where is he going? What is he doing wt my passport? Why did i have to fill in that paper? I did NOT loose my passport! At this point i had tears in my eyes ...
He comes back, sees my face and tries to assure me that everything is ok and that i need a stamp on my passport. When all of that is done, he tells me i am ok now and i can go and fill in the visa extension application.
I go to NIchole and Dave, start crying .... just to calm down. In the end i go to the desk again and hand in the papers. The lady tells me i need to pay a fine of 150 LE. I do not understand why and she tells me that my visa is expired. I go: "No, my visa expired yesterday and you were closed yesterday!!". She goes: "No! you do not have a visa!!" I show her the visa from the Egyptian Consulate in Eilat - Israel. That is when the bomb comes: "that is not a visa! you were supposed to come here within a month after that for a re-entry visa and you didnt, that is why you are fined!" I try to tell her that nobody has informed me about that and the Egyptian Consulate in Eilat said i am ok and free to go to Cairo for 3 months.
Apparently, i was illegal for 2-3 months here. i just went and paid the fine, handed in the application and left the building. At that point i was fed up!!
I went wt Nichole and Dave to the bike shop and ended up in Zamalek .... we had a great time there!
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