I’m planning my escape home in May. The plan is for me to come home for Dan’s
graduation and then Debbie will accompany me back to Georgia, spend a couple of
weeks here, and then fly back alone. So
I did my due diligence online, scouring the web for cheap airfares. I had to use a local travel agent because I
couldn't get my return flight (PHL to TBS) to show up on Debbie's itinerary. In
other words, I couldn't get us on the same flights online. It took 6-1/2 hours
to get everything straight. It took only an hour or so to find an itinerary
that worked -- short layovers and cheap fares. Then the bureaucracy that is
Georgian rules kicked in.
Air France won't accept credit card payments online from
Georgia (Georgia has an international reputation for running credit card fraud
rings. It's been cleaned up a lot in the last 3 years or so, but the reputation
is still there.) so I had to pay only cash. No problem. I go to the local TBC
bank but they have a limit on how much cash I can get on my Amex. They
recommend getting half today and half tomorrow except the travel agent has told
me the itinerary might not be there tomorrow, so I decide to try my luck at the
Bank of Georgia. Except the Bank of Georgia won't accept Amex so I have to use
my debit/Visa card. Again, no problem. Except they need my passport for such a
large transaction of cash. So off I go back to my flat to get my passport (not
far but irritating especially in the cold). So now I have cash. (I'm making
this seem easier than it was; it took over an hour and a half with waiting in
lines at TBC and then BoG, running back to my flat, waiting in line again,
getting the paperwork, & then waiting in line at the cashier window.)
So now I'm back at the travel agent (again, still walking
in the cold). But before they can take my money and issue the tix, they need my
passport info. No problem; I still had it with me from the trip to the bank.
They make a copy and write down all the info they need. It’s going too well, I
guess, so the travel agent throws me a curve.
Not one of the big, roundhouse, spinning curves you can see coming and
time properly. This curve is more of a Steve
Carlton slider – looks like a fastball until you start your swing, and then,
whoosh! It’s gone. Unhittable.
So here comes the slider: the
travel agent also needs Debbie's passport info. Why?, I ask. Because Ukraine
Air doesn't accept e-tix so they're printing hard copies which can only be done
after verifying passenger info and identity which is, of course, a passport. I
think I have Debbie's info on my computer which is, of course, back in my flat.
So back I go (farther than the bank walk so at least I'm getting my exercise
for the day). Fire up my laptop; plug in my thumb drive, and voila! All of the
info I need on Debbie's old, expired passport. Frustration level rising
rapidly.
I call Debbie at her office. "Do you happen to carry
your passport info on you? No, I didn't think so. Where is your passport? In
the blue box? Got it. Thanks. I love you. Bye." So I call Dan (about 8.30am
in PA). Dan runs up to the office but can't find the blue box. I tell him to
call Debbie and then get on Facebook. He does this (very quickly, I might add)
and gives me the info I need over FB. I then run back to the travel agent (OK,
walk fast; it's been a long day). I give them Debbie's passport info (which is
now in my updated thumb drive folder for the next time this comes up),
doublecheck and verify my itinerary, and sign the form stating that I know the
tix are non-refundable, non-transferable, and non-changeable. Time to give them
my money and get the tix. Except their cashier is on dinner break. I wait 30
more minutes until he shows. I pay and go back to the travel agent's desk (who,
by the way, can see the cashier's window and has watched me pay). She asks for
the receipt from the cashier. Back I go, mumbling under my breath words that
would greatly increase, but not necessarily enhance, the agent's knowledge of
English. I get the receipt and hand it to the agent. She then, finally, prints
my tix, gives me my itineraries, staples my receipts to the envelope, and hands
me back the passport information. I leave the travel agent for home, 6-1/2
hours after I first walked in. And I'm pissed because I should have known
better. Georgia runs on bureaucracy (holdover from the old Soviet days, I
imagine). I should have realized this and left my flat with my passport, laptop
and thumb drive, and cash that I had gathered over the previous 2-3 days. But I
didn't think ahead, so it cost me a lot of time and karmic energy. It's harder now to escape Georgia than it was when the Soviets ran this place. Oh, well, at
least I have the tix.
Just another Georgian day, giving me the opportunity to burn
off some bad karma. Thanks for reading.
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