My brother and I at Agenda, my favorite bar ever. Unfortunately Agenda doesn’t get crowded until like midnight, which is a good hour or two past my bedtime. Their rum and cokes cost a ridiculous $6, but the music makes up for the price. They play what I consider West African top 40–Shakira, of course, but also lots of Nigerian and Ivoirian stuff.
My brother, grumpily manning the registration table at workshop #3 of 3. Visa Drama
Someone got me my Liberia visa from Nigeria. The visa was only good for 90 days, and I had to go to the Ministry of Immigration within 30 days of arrival. I never went to the Ministry within thirty days of arrival. And the visa expired about 25 days ago.
I was dreading going to the Ministry. “They’re going to take a lot from you,” one Liberian warned.
My driver had a friend at the Ministry. My driver has friends everywhere. His friend met us at the entrance and took us upstairs. “It’s a good thing our boss isn’t seeing this,” the friend said, shaking his head at the visa stamp. He showed another ministry official, who proceeded to shake his head as well. They both proceeded to explain to me everything I had done wrong. I acknowledged the mistake, and asked how to move forward. Again, they repeated what I had done wrong.
For a moment I was frustrated. I just wanted to do things by the book, pay what I needed to pay, and get on with the 40 other things I had to do. I wasn’t worried about saving money, I just wanted to do things legally. I was about to express this idea outloud, and then I stopped myself.
If we were doing things by the book here, I would be arrested. For the past 25 days I have been living and working illegally in the country. If this was the US, and I showed up at the Department of Immigration (is that what we call it?) with an expired visa, I would be arrested and possibly deported.
I was completely at fault in this situation, and the ministry officials were being nice by not arresting me. I was in no position to argue that we do things legally. I kept my mouth shut.
Why is your brother acting like a grumpy old man? Haha. Shelby, it sounds like you’re having fun doing your job and experiencing a different culture and I think that’s cool.