After living in Addis for a year and a half now, there are many things that seem “normal”. But quite a few times, an experience strikes me as being comical or extremely far removed from life in the US. Ethiopia is not as corrupt as many other African nations, and we have never had to bribe anyone for anything. But last week I made a very well-placed investment to save some time.
I had to go renew our registration for our car. The first step is to get the vehicle inspected at an official inspection site. I pulled up to the place, the guard asked what my business was as they usually do. I had to get an “order” for the inspection and take it to one building on the far end of the compound, get a bill at one window, then wait in line to pay at the next window. Then once I had paid, I could take the receipt to show the official inspector who then sent me to another little office to get the official stamp of approval. The inspection was extremely “thorough” – including everything from testing the windshield wipers, turn signals, popping the hood to make sure there was an engine, and so forth. It took about 2 minutes.
Then it was off to the transport authority. People complain about waiting in line at the DMV and that is small stuff compared to this place. I walked in the door and there were 2 floors full of people, probably close to 400 total, waiting at each of these separate windows. Waiting and lines in Ethiopia are far from a structured process. Instead of a line, people tend to form a mob, wiggling around each other with no regard for order arrival, just to try to get position by the reception window. I knew I’d be waiting at least a couple hours here and have to elbow my way through a mass of people the whole time.
Then a gentleman approached me an offer similar to those “skip the lines” offers at amusement parks. He said, “you wait a long time here, rest of the day. I can get you done in 20 minutes”. I was intrigued, so I asked him his price. He said, 100 Birr, the equivalent of 6 dollars. We haggled and settled on 40 Birr, and I said “you only get half though if it takes more than 20 minutes”. He quickly accepted the challenge, and with my documents in hand he rushed to the first window, cutting around everyone who was waiting and the clerk helped him right away…then the second window in the same way…then the third…then came back to get my signature…then he hustled upstairs to a couple more windows and finally brought me my finalized paperwork….only 13 minutes later. I was very impressed and relieved not to have to wait in “lines” all day, so I threw in an extra tip. I’m sure my payment was split between him and a few desk clerks. For most Ethiopians, they have plenty of time so they don’t mind waiting. But for my Western mentality, the price was well worth it. I walked out laughing to myself at how much different this is from the last time I had to go to the DMV in the States. Renewing a car registration online is definitely simpler, but I don’t think it’s as much fun :)
I had to go renew our registration for our car. The first step is to get the vehicle inspected at an official inspection site. I pulled up to the place, the guard asked what my business was as they usually do. I had to get an “order” for the inspection and take it to one building on the far end of the compound, get a bill at one window, then wait in line to pay at the next window. Then once I had paid, I could take the receipt to show the official inspector who then sent me to another little office to get the official stamp of approval. The inspection was extremely “thorough” – including everything from testing the windshield wipers, turn signals, popping the hood to make sure there was an engine, and so forth. It took about 2 minutes.
Then it was off to the transport authority. People complain about waiting in line at the DMV and that is small stuff compared to this place. I walked in the door and there were 2 floors full of people, probably close to 400 total, waiting at each of these separate windows. Waiting and lines in Ethiopia are far from a structured process. Instead of a line, people tend to form a mob, wiggling around each other with no regard for order arrival, just to try to get position by the reception window. I knew I’d be waiting at least a couple hours here and have to elbow my way through a mass of people the whole time.
Then a gentleman approached me an offer similar to those “skip the lines” offers at amusement parks. He said, “you wait a long time here, rest of the day. I can get you done in 20 minutes”. I was intrigued, so I asked him his price. He said, 100 Birr, the equivalent of 6 dollars. We haggled and settled on 40 Birr, and I said “you only get half though if it takes more than 20 minutes”. He quickly accepted the challenge, and with my documents in hand he rushed to the first window, cutting around everyone who was waiting and the clerk helped him right away…then the second window in the same way…then the third…then came back to get my signature…then he hustled upstairs to a couple more windows and finally brought me my finalized paperwork….only 13 minutes later. I was very impressed and relieved not to have to wait in “lines” all day, so I threw in an extra tip. I’m sure my payment was split between him and a few desk clerks. For most Ethiopians, they have plenty of time so they don’t mind waiting. But for my Western mentality, the price was well worth it. I walked out laughing to myself at how much different this is from the last time I had to go to the DMV in the States. Renewing a car registration online is definitely simpler, but I don’t think it’s as much fun :)
2 comments:
You're going to think the lines in the states are peaceful!
That is super funny! I went to baptisms in Bluffton this weekend... to bad there is no service like that to get you through faster:) Love you guys and miss ya lots!!
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