Passport business and travels

This past week we went to the US embassy to pick up Courtney’s new passport, and Karl-Abraham’s American birth certificate and passport. It all went well, and since Courtney’s passport quickly needed the Egyptian VISA transferred, and since we already were downtown, we went to the support office at the old campus and dropped the passports off. With impressive proficiency and speed, they managed to get his passports through Mugamma and back to us practically over the weekend! If there’s a will there’s a way?

As it turns out, K-A’s passport will take a little longer however, since he needs an Egyptian national number, something I questioned several times but was assured is necessary, Egyptian nationality or not. Not only does he need this number, but he also needs an entry stamp in his passport and a residence VISA. The entry stamp doesn’t make much sense to me since he was born here, but because it’s a foreign passport, it needs an entry stamp. At least I think this is the explanation, although who am I to second-guess the reasoning behind Egyptian bureaucracy? In any case, we have been assured that this business will be taken care of long before it’s time for us to begin our summer travels, and since this was promised by the same lady who managed to process Courtney’s VISA business over the weekend, I’m inclined to believe it possible. In Sha Allah.

As for our travels, we are going on our first mini-holiday to Sharm El Sheik the first week of June; the boys & I go to Sweden over Swedish midsummer and the couple of following weeks, and then the entire family travels to the US end of July. We’ll be back in Cairo at the very end of August in the middle of Ramadan. (Mental note: fill the fridge with beer before we leave for the US –Drinkies is closed during Ramadan!)