that’s a bit pricey, U.S. Embassy

Just found out that they’re now charging $82 to have new pages added to your passport. I’m out of pages and have no choice. They add the small consolation that if you’re a frequent traveller you can request a 52-page passport in the first place, but they never told me that at the time, and it should have been obvious to anyone that I’m a very frequent traveler the last time I renewed.

I don’t like going to the U.S. Embassy. It always causes a lot of stress. First, the whole place is a war zone, and you can’t take anything electronic inside with you, so you’re cut off from the world for as long as you’re in there.

Second, the quality of the service generally ranges from lukewarm to brutally rude. One guy in particular always seems to pretend not to understand what I’m saying at least 3 times, and on the 4th time when he finally understands me, he apparently enjoys simply turning and walking away in mid-sentence without letting me know by using words in the normal fashion that he has finally understood.

They now have an appointment system. If this really means that the lines inside will be smaller, then it may reduce the stress of the experience. But my suspicion is that the lines will somehow be just as long, and this is merely a way to cut down on the number of people they see. There are also coded warnings on the website that since I now have a very special appointment, I’d better be sure that I come with all of my paperwork prepared, and yet I’m still having no luck finding the correct paperwork on their website. Sounds like a good excuse for the unpleasant gentleman at the window to scowl and lecture if I miss some hidden minor document on the site this time.

Why can’t I be from a small country? My friend from Portugal always gets invited to parties with the Ambassador in Cairo! That’s what happens if there are only a few dozen of your compatriots living in a city. You’re treated like a precious social resource. But Americans in Cairo, in the eyes of our Embassy… we are meat to be managed in factory-like style. There are thousands upon thousands of us here, and that’s the problem.