Monday, February 19, 2007

Bureaucratic Chicken

Joe, Jay and I went out to eat today, at what may well be the best chicken restaurant in the world. It's a tiny hole-in-the-wall across the road from a bizarre little market full of spices, meat, vegetables, and of course chickens and rabbits. You get to see the fear in their eyes before you eat them...

It's nothing special - just half-chickens grilled over a charcoal fire with salt, garlic, and onions. But the chicken and the ingredients are so fresh and so savoury that it makes for the tastiest dish I have had in a long time.

That was by far the highlight of my day. The rest was consumed with bureaucracy and other such bullshit - imagine, if you will, going to one office, being sent to a second where they redirect you to a third, which requires ascending four flights of stairs and crossing a rooftop to get to. In this office we apply for our student visas - but only if we previously submitted a form, with a copy of our passport, back at the first.

Oh, and can anyone understand the logic of requiring you to submit a passport-size photograph...with your passport? They already have the legal document. Presumably that would suffice? You need photos for everything in this country. We have at least3 seperate IDs here at AUC - Campus ID, Dorm ID, and Gym ID, nevermind the IDs for each activity or office you might join. And for each you have to submit photos stamped by the appropriate department - because you know, you might get someone else to take your physical to allow you to use the gym.

Yes. They really are that crazy.

1 comment:

Water Lilies said...

you're hilarious. Yes, fresh chicken is a delight.

*indian accent* SAVORY AND DELICATELY SPICED!