OK…so i went to the Haikesteb again today….here’s how it goes:- Wakeup 7:00am, arrive in Haikesteb at 8:00am, the traffic was not as bad as last time…but it wasn’t smooth either.

- Parking again, and paying 2 LE….but not to find any place in the parking to leave my car….after a few rounds around the parking, some dude (el menady, from the previous post if you remember him, no it wasn’t the same guy) called me to park in a park nearby, off course, that was not included in the 2LE i already paid.

- I go and get on the stupid bus again, with the smelly people, and an extra 0.25LE to pay…to arrive at the entrance with the gates closed and THOUSANDS of people in a HUGE space waiting for the gates to open.

- I was terrified and thought i will never finish today and decided to leave….but i knew that these people are coming to the medical test…which is in a totally different place than mine, 5 minutes later, the gates are open, i had to wait like 10 minutes for the crowd to pass, then i entered, no one stopped me this time at the gates.

- I go to the same place as last time, to find the same army officer trying to organize the crowd, this time, he has a microphone and shouting at people, he was nice and made a few jokes, i went to him and gave him my ID to wait for my turn, he looked at me closely and recognized that i came before.

- A few minutes later, he left the room, and then things started to work the egyptian way, everyone is trying to speak with the employees on the windows, everyone is trying to use the chance that the officer is not there and bypass their turn to get it earlier.
I even heard this conversation between a boy and his father
Father: “go quickly before they notice you”
Boy: “but dad he has my id and told me to wait”
Father: “DO YOU THINK I HAVE THE WHOLE DAY FOR YOU??!!!@@@”

- This is a typical egyptian behavior, you need someone to force you obey the law and rules… you can never do it yourself, and if there is no punishment, you will break the law.
Egyptians love to mess up things, and LOVE to hack things and brag about how they done something in a way they shouldn’t do.
Also, we love to be in a chaos, any idea of organizing Egyptians, will lead to a complete failure. an excellent proof of what am saying is driving in Egypt, just go to a main street mid day and see for yourself, or even better!!! go to City Stars on the weekend and experience the world’s #1 chaos.

Ok, so i bet you know what i mean by now.

- Anyway, the officer hear the noise, and returns, start shouting at everyone, humiliated a few people, he seemed pretty angry, again things started to get organized (relatively) and they started again calling people for service.

So, after waiting for an hour and a half, they called my name, i went gave the guy my papers and my ID and my father’s… luckily i didn’t need to bring a guarantor with me, it’s only needed if you’re under 21, you have to bring your father\uncle\cousin\grand father if your parents are divorced, you have to bring your mom too!!!!! this insane, a lot of people had failed trip to haikesteb because of that.
I don’t even imagine myself telling my mom or dad to come with me to this hell and wait all this long… i think they would prefer that i serve in the military, it would be easier.

- So i give the guy the papers, and he told me wait a few minutes and we’ll call your name again.
So minutes passes by, and i hear no one calling, i start to worry, seeing that the room is getting only full, no one leaves, people just come in. So i ask the army officer, he tells me that there is a committee of 5 people revising my papers, then delivered to a soldier who input this stuff on computer, and then given to another soldier who call the names and fill some other paper work and then you do something and that’s it, so it takes time, he told me not more than 15-30 mins.

- After 3 hours waiting….(YES! 3 **FRIGGIN** HOURS!) they managed to call my name again, i go there, the guy give me some kind of receipt, my ID and want to take my finger print….the reason for the finger print is in place of a signature!!!!
BUT I CAN F**** READ AND WRITE YOU IDIOTSSS!!!!! AM NOT ILLITERATE!
anyway, the soldier wouldn’t let me read what i was *agreeing* on, he said it’s normal *stuff* well, i was bored to death and wanted to leave so i didn’t argue with that and just gave him the finger!!! ( if you know what i mean! )

I ask him where do i get the exemption from, he says i have to COME BACK 3 DAYS LATER!!!! with the receipt he gave me (WTF!!! You can just print it from the computer in front of you!!!JUST LET ME GO PLZZZZ)

Ok, so i give up, i head home, at least i got something done today….

On my way back, noticing the last bus leaving in fully booked!!there is no room for a fly inside, people standing on the bus steps, people hanging from the windows, it was a total mess.

I didn’t think of getting on it off course…so i go for the walk….well, i got used to it by now.

So, to summarize the day:

• I wasted 5 hours in haikesteb on just delivering the papers, and “putting my finger print” on another
• I wasted 2 hours in traffic
• I haven’t got my exemption papers, i have to go back in 3 days.
• I arrive to work at 3:00pm ( i should be there at 9:00am-10:00am)
• I got bored to death

please wish me luck next time i go,,, i don’t want to suffer again, plz God!!!
my next adventure after getting the exemption will be: ” Getting a passport, for dummies” but i hear it’s much easier that this,,,well,, i will see for myself, very soon.