GIS BS

It’s that time again: time for me to bitch about Ghana Immigration Services! But I am totally justified in my anger.

The last time I went, I was only granted a two-month extension, the reason for which was that “we can only give you two months if we want to”, thus ensuring I would have to return.

So on Friday, I went to take their BS yet again. I showed up at 12:38, in order to make it before their lunch break. I soon found out that they take an hour and a half for lunch and I had missed them by 8 minutes. I was told to leave and come back at 2. Fine. So I came back at 2 and asked for a form to fill out. Instead of being handed a form, I was grilled on various subjects by one man, while another officer (who seems to hate me, and the feeling is more than mutual) asked me “WHY ARE YOU STILL IN THIS COUNTRY? YOU SHOULD HAVE LEFT?” I didn’t quite lose it, but I almost did. I told him that I would never talk to someone who was visiting my country like that and that he was the least friendly person I’d met in Ghana. To my surprise, he actually became nicer after that, apart from mumbling something about how I should have applied for a work permit because I’d been here for so long. I go back next Friday to pick up my passport and I can’t wait. I’m already happy—I feel like I’ve had the braces from my bottom teeth removed and the top ones are coming off in a week.

Again, like I said before, I am not asking to be treated like a saint. I’d settle for being treated like a bloody human being. What a joke. I can now say without any reservation that I hate Ghana Immigration Services way more than Future Shop.

That aside, life is great. We’re going to have our first clinic up and running within the next few days, which I’m thrilled about. I only have two weeks of work left and it is a great way to finish. My parents are coming on June 3^rd and we’re travelling around the country for eleven days and then leaving back to Canada on the 14^th. It’s pretty hard to believe and although I’m excited, I’m already starting to miss Ghana. But more on that later, after I’m back. For now I’ll just leave you with some advice. If you’re in Ghana and need your visa extended, go to Accra to do it. A six-hour bus ride either way is worth it not to have to deal with that blankety-blank-blank-blank.