Thursday I went for my visa at the somewhat more friendly Brazilian Embassy here in Caracas. Sharing a good sized border, I’m sure they get lots more traffic. I get the form and find out it requires a picture (actually, I had planned on the photo, even carried the extras from the Russian visa fiasco with me down here. If only I had them with me when I left Bob’s that morning.) No problem, mall close by, sit for photos, go get a coffee whilst I fill out the forms. Some amazing questions I had to answer. These are a few word-for-word…

• Are you a drug addict or drug consumer?
• Have you ever been a drug dealer?
• Have you practiced prostitution or been pimp?
• Have you ever taken part in genocide?
• Have you ever ordered, incited, helped or taken part in persecution to any person because of race, nationality or belief under the direct or indirect command of Germany’s Nazi government or any of its Allied or occupied countries?

Those were really word for word. I wrote them down.

For some reason here (you can guess why), no one takes money directly. If you go into a fast food café you order from a cashier, pay there, then take your ticket to the kitchen window, order your food again and show them you have paid. They have proper sit-down restaurants too, but they are always more upscale.

Government services are this way to. If only I’d known that before, I could have saved a lot of scratching of the head. Back at the embassy, Brazilian consul guy hands me a deposit slip and points to the bank. Why do I have to pay a deposit for a visa? No English of course, so he can’t explain, but it’s obvious no deposit, no visa, so off we go. I need to deposit 240,000 Bolivares (2500 Bs = $1). Interestingly that is almost $100, which is what the visa is supposed to cost. Maybe?

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