Havlicek Stole the Ball!

Scored my first win against the Algerian administration today. Of course, this puts the series at about 4-1 in favor of the Bureaucrats, an unenviable position for any team to be in. Good thing this series is open-ended (maybe best out of 173?). I managed to get the right day, the right time, the right building, and the right official. What was my reward, you ask? A list. Yep, I got the official list of things I need for the residency card.



Among the necessaries are: 10 photos; photocopy of my housing contract; some kind of note from the ambassador; and three separate medical certificates. But at least I have the list. I was told by a few people that if one shows up with all this stuff one will be sent away to get more things; but if you show up and ask for the list first, then you can get the items on said list and it’ll be over. Hopefully that’s the case. Let’s hope my tuberculosis test comes back negative.



I also had a pretty good chwarma today, the best sandwich I’ve had thus far (and way better than that illegitimate “King” of chicken). With the chwarma I had Algeria’s (maybe France's or Spain's?) finest cola, a Selecto (or, translating the Arabic, a “seeleectoo”). It was probably the sweetest soda I’ve ever tasted, and that includes all those ginger beers I love to drink. I wish I could describe the flavor, but it escapes me…let’s say cola mixed with some kind of super-sweet red kool-aid.



And to add to the cultural firsts, what passed me on the street while I was enjoying my post-bureaucratic victory feast but an extended-cab pickup. The make (model?) was difficult to read as it went by, but it was something along the lines of “Wingles,” and the model (make?), proudly displayed on the back, was “Great Wall.” It looked like a Toyota (or, now that I think about it, a Tata) to me. That China, man, where can't it export?



It has also been raining here every night for the past four days or so, and has gotten quite cold. I’m told the best garment I can buy for the fast-approaching winter weather is this specifically Berber kind of hooded cape-thing. Everyone knows that I love capes and hooded jackets in various guises, but I still think that person was lying to me. The Berber Rai (a kind of popular music, think drunken men in bars, wearing jean jackets and dancing with their hands in the air) dudes wear these when they get famous and go to France to show how “authentic” they are. I guess a jean-jacket doesn’t say “Kabyle” to the world music crowd.



Tune in next time for a peak at where I live.