The Visa trip

So today I am journeying to the city of Kampala, Uganda.  Kampala is about 45 minute drive from Entebbe and is a large city.  This is my first real exposure to this country, as it is now daylight.  The reason for this trip is to get my GOSS (Government of Southern Sudan) visa processed at the embassy.

I felt like I prepared for this trip quite well by researching the heck out of the region.  I watched YouTube video, looked at all the photo sites and googled every possibility out of the area.  But I must admit my jaw dropped and I had a stupid look on my face the first few hours of travels.  

The first stop is the camera shop in Entebbe to get a visa picture taken.  The shop was the size of a closet.  But in Africa you can fit 4 people into that space and function at a very slow speed.  The man could not speak english very well but motioned for me to come with him.  In the back room, surrounded by boxes, kids toys, and other assorted junk, he positioned my head, adjusted various lights and shades and proceeded to do a photo shoot of me for 10 minutes.  25 pictures later he was happy!  Out to the store front where his assistant sits at a computer and photoshops me into perfection.  I tell her to give me a little more hair and a better tan but she didn’t think that would go over well at the embassy.  My handler after much heated discussion in Swahili with the store owner pays the guy and we leave for Kampala.

On the highway, there are motorcycles, bicycles, trucks, taxies and people walking.  All this happens on a 1.5 lane road!  There are shacks which are people’s homes made out of any piece of material they could scavenge.  Many of the businesses look the same.  Everyone is on the commute to work, moving cattle up the road, carrying 5 gallons of water on their head, transporting 4x8 sheets of plywood on bicycles (who knew a person could do that!) and other unimaginable things.

As we drive into Kampala, I notice activity (which I thought was brisk before) has increased drastically.  All I can say is “THIS PLACE IS CHAOS!!”  Most traffic signals do not work, so instead many roads converge and people just sort it out by honking their horns, gesturing (some gestures are international!) and yelling at each other.  Many intersections are roundabouts which is no better, now you have a traffic jam that is in motion!  The amazing thing is I never say an accident all day.

The police are out in strong force.  They wear military looking uniforms and carry AK47’s.  They just seem to hang around different places in town and hold their guns all day.  The traffic police have white uniforms and stand around and blow whistles at passing by traffic.  None of this has any affect on peoples daily business.  

My handlers get me to the embassy.  We pull up to a set of solid metal gates, honk our horn, and a person lets us in.  They have a quick search of the vehicle and in to the embassy we go.  As I approach the reception desk I’m thinking “is this really a embassy? it looks like a rundown living room”.  I tell the secretary I need a visa, she instructs me to go down the left hall and enter my first door on the right.  I do so and give a courtesy knock on the door before entering.  I open the door to find a tiny 8x10 office with a man fast asleep, head on the desk, and hundreds of passports and papers everywhere.  It is only 10:00am and I could understand how he could be tired!  I say hello?  Sir?  Then finally resort to giving him a poke on the shoulder.  He wakes, I leave my passport and paper work with him and am told to come back by 4pm.  I hope he fits in my paper work between his morning and afternoon naps!

As I leave, I finally feel like I’m in a VERY awkward position.  I am in a very foreign country with no passport and thus no way out!!

The next number of hours we run aerons around town, I buy my handlers lunch, shop in “the largest mall” in Uganda and have a nap in the van in the mall parking lot during the afternoon thunderstorm.  Time finally rolls around to head back to the embassy to get my passport back.  In a very simple process the receptionist has me sit in the living room (wait I mean reception area) until she decides it is time to award me with my paper work.  I am presented my passport back and a certificate more impressive (and larger) than my college diploma.  This is my visa.

The trip home is uneventful, just the normal honking gesturing, swerving, driving on shoulders, in ditches etc.  It is funny how what seemed to be very weird this morning has become somewhat normal to me now.  It is truly amazing how one can adapt in a few hours!