how to have fun with authorities

i went to sort out that 'visa' issue today (upon arrival, nobody even cared to ask about what i'm doing here and when i plan to go back). home affairs building is funny - they ask you to sign a form for entering on which you have to put a 'yes' or 'no' to the question whether you carry a firearm or not...(i remembered a sign on jo'burg airport which said something like 'if you dare making any jokes about security questions, you can leave the country immediately').

the office for visitor's permits issues was refreshingly non-state-authorities-alike: a desk, a random set of chairs for people waiting, and three to four home affairs employees behind the desk juggling with passports and forms. i decided to queue at the side of the desk which said 'information and inquiries' and waited. and waited. and waited some more. finally i decided to ask some people in the queue for the other side of the desk whether there was any principle behind all this. apparently i was standing at the right side - and i got unmasked as a german by a fellow girl waiting in line. zhe germans are always there before you come!!! anyway, i went back into my queue and finally got served by a very very unfriendly lady, who clearly made her point that i'd either have to apply for extension or change my flight date. too bad - at least extension costing R425 was the cheaper option than changing flight. no goodwill for 8 days! i think she was assuming i was trying to bribe her. well, after all the stories i'd heard about extension dramas i just got my form, filled it in and waited next to the german.

somehow it happened that it was our turn at the same time - so at least we could find out about each other's names and birthdays whilst standing next to each other (so much for privacy). according to the official requirements, you need to produce proof of sufficient funds to finance your stay as well as a letter stating why you intend to stay longer. nobody asked for the letter - and since a bank slip of mine would not underline the fact that i'm having sufficient funds, i thought waving a credit card would help...it didn't. for one week extension, R1,200 in cash would have to be shown. i don't carry large sums of cash with me anyways, so the other german girls was asked whether she could cover up for me, which she couldn't..in the end, 'R1,200 cash seen' was written down, i was told to keep quiet about this (here is how i keep my promises), a smile and some forms were handed to us which said that we applied for extension and should come back in 30 days. instead of sending us home, our passports were collected and we were told to go drink a coffee and then come back for collecting our passports with extension. which we did one hour later.

...whilst sophia, the other emg-intern, had told me she had to start crying for them to give her the extension after 30 days of waiting. when people in the office asked how i managed to get this so fast, the only good reply was 'by smiling' - exactly the right amount of corruption. (since everybody was laughing at the 8 days extension anyway, it might not have been so much of a surprise in the end)