Oh, the red tape! It makes my head hurt!

We are filling out the forms for our visas for Kenya and Tanzania. They are only good for three months so we can't mail them out too early...OR too late, of course. And we have to organize it so all four of us who are going have got everything together in one place. Apparently, the embassies are just across the street from one another in Ottawa so it is acceptable form to ask them to run our passports across the street for us from embassy to embassy. I have this vision of some harried employee running out into traffic clutching a handful of passports and application forms in one hand, paper cup from Starbucks in the other, puffing and panting and dropping paperwork as they cross the street. I'm just not happy about letting my passport out of my hands so close to a trip.

We went and had ourselves photgraphed for extra passport photos for our visa applications too. The new rule is that you are not allowed any facial expression on a passport photo. The girl who took the pictures mentioned that she had been told by the powers that be that this rule was because you are not allowed to show teeth in the photograph because teeth can be ALTERED. Like, hair, for instance, CANNOT be altered? I think hair changes a person's appearance much more, but the government has not pressed us yet to keep the same hairdo for the five years a passport is valid in Canada.

At first, I chafed inwardly against the no smile rule, but as it happens I usually grin my fool head off for photographs and the no-smile rule has produced a better picture of me than the one which I currently hold in my present passport where I am grinning like said fool, all apple-cheeked and with LONG hair besides. Plus its in colour. I don't really like it at all.

The new visa photo shows a woman in black and white who looks very serious. She has SHORT hair but no teeth showing. Her face is a lot more angular (due to having not eaten much lately due to my hospital stay) and I rather like THAT side effect anyway. It's a much nicer picture of me in general actually.She looks like she COULD be a Russian spy, however, and you'd never guess that from my other photo.

Yes, now EVERYBODY will look vaguely sinister, mysterious, and/or criminal. But possibly less goofy.



Sigh, going to Africa is lovely but it seems a lot more complicated than going to Italy.

Yes, note to self, I'm going to Italy after this trip.