So, yesterday got some bad news. I can’t get an exit visa. This would not be a bit deal except that I’m supposed to be at a good friend’s wedding in
Nairobi on Saturday. Of course, I can’t get an exit visa because I don’t have a travel permit and I can’t get a new travel permit because I don’t have a new work permit and I don’t have a new work permit because I don’t have a new stay visa. And, I don’t have a new stay visa because the Government of Sudan is out to ruin my life.
You think I exaggerate, but no. I think they have it in for me personally. I contemplated immolating myself on the steps of the Presidential palace in protest of the whole ‘exit visa’ system but am afraid the powers-that-be are so daft (and uncaring) that they might not take the hint. Instead, I have decided to lobby for any foreign intervention force or plan that involves the destruction of both the presidential palace and the ministry of interior. Do you hear me people! The time for quibbling is past – now is the time for action. Can I get an amen?
So, until my plan is carried out, I’ll be here in Geneina spending my evening staring out at the Chadian border and watching the armies come out to play. I can’t even return to Nyala. I can’t go to Khartoum. Just going to sit around here going grey. Maybe tomorrow I’ll look into Geneina’s retirement villages. I hear there's still some lovely shelters available in Adamarta camp that the community won't move into because they're convinced they're haunted. Sounds like just the place for me in my sunset years.
Comments
My wife and I used to live in Malawi and are going to be living in Liberia for the next two years, so I have been very interested in your (mis)adventures.
I'm sorry to read that you probably won't make it Nairobi. I know how frustrating the bureaucracy can be. Good luck and stay strong.
I am so sorry for your misfortune -- how imcomprehensibly frustrating! -- but I do appreciate your ability to make one mighty funny, well-written blog entry out of each tale.
So, thank you. And I hope that all the paperwork gets pushed around the right way, and soon.
(love the photo, too.)
Doesn't Adamarta have reciprocity with Colonial Heritage in Williamsburg--maybe with an even exchange, you won't need an exit visa? Sorry, it won't get you to your friend's wedding in Nairobi. Please be careful; we miss you!!! Nancy