May I Help You?

Going to any "official office" in this country is a royal pain in the ass - even for Czechs. There is oodles of red tape to cut through, "information" kiosks with no information, take a number and wait five to seven hours, about a gazillion documents to be stamped and notarized - basically take your worst experience at the DMV and multiply it by 500 and you will get an idea of how frustrating it can be just to go to the post office here.

I have spoken before about how TERRIBLE the Czech Foreign Police office is. I would rather visit the dentist and the gynecologist on the same day then to have to ever go there again. Put it this way, people start lining up outside just to get a number (in the dead of winter!) at five a.m. and the doors don't even open until seven. It's not fun. And it's all people from all over. You got Americans, Africans, Ukrainians, Russians - you name it. They are all waiting there for something. Oh, and hardly anyone who works there speaks English.

But today, by contrast, I feel like I went to the merry old land of Oz. I traveled to the American Embassy in Prague. Now, it's across the river. For me (or most people living in Zizkov or Vinohrady) it might as well actually be in America - that's how often I go across the river. But, since I needed to renew my passport I just had to make the trip. When I got off of the tram in Malostrana I was struck, as I always am, with how many tourist there are and how inflated the prices are. I saw a restaurant charging 260kc for a cheese plate and a soda! Unreal. But, I wasn't there to sight see or eat over priced Czech food. I had business to attend to.

Line in front of the FP in Prague

I walked up to the Embassy and found two very pleasant guards in front of the door. They politely asked to see my passport and then told me to have a nice day as they opened the door for me. I almost didn't know what to do. I just kind of stood there. In this country people in uniforms are not usually that nice, especially when they are standing in front of  a government building. I was expecting to have to plead with them that I did in fact have an appointment and I had proof! But, no one ever asked about that. Not once.

And speaking of appointments. Let me just take this moment to tell you all about this cool new thing the American Embassy does. They let you go on a "computer" - "online" and make something called an "appointment". This tells you when to come in so that you don't have to wait. It's super cool and very convenient. I wonder if any of the folks working at the US Embassy have friends at the Foreign Police and they can tell them about that new invention... just wondering.

So, to make an actually very uneventful story just a little bit longer... I was in and out of that office in thirty minutes. This includes the time it took me to go get new photos taken down the street. I didn't even have to wait again after the photos were taken. I just walked up to the window and she smiled at me. I paid and I left. My passport will be ready in a week and I can just come in at anytime and pick it up. Lovely.