A Visa Won and a Long Day at the Garage – Freetown, Sierra Leone

November 13th – Completing Yesterday’s Message

Good day. November 13th. Completing yesterday’s message, I had not yet explained that after the car place visit I did manage to go to the bank and they accepted the payment for the consulate for the embassy for Liberia.

And so then I ended up going there. She got me the visa in my passport. I got my passport back but insisted that I’d come back for a full receipt and that could not happen that time.

I don’t know why, but that needed to happen the next day. Well, I had the visa, that was the best part. So that was a good start for that visa part.

Car Drop-Off at Serum Automotive

So now on the 13th I made it so that the car was at the Serum Automotive on Wilkinson Road by 8 o’clock. There was no excuse to get it started and they made it their highest priority.

They took time to investigate everything that was to be investigated and came up with a water pump that was not functioning correctly or was leaking a little bit, and two other things that were leaking oil or brake fluid or the like. Anyway, I’ll get a whole list later on and they got to work.

I got to wait and see how they were doing things there in a very worthwhile experience, even though I sat in the office and did not look at when the repairs were done because that was being handled by more than two or three people. They did not need an observer and security was guaranteed by the owner.

I also got to see that everybody who came into the place needed to come to the office and do face recognition for the time when they got in. That was intense and a bit of a rigmarole.

At first I thought they’d be done by two, but more things came up. It got later and later, and they assured me it would still be completed that day. But by 4 o’clock it was pretty obvious that wasn’t going to happen—unless everybody stayed until 7, which wasn’t a good expectation.

I opted to leave and told them I’d be back in the morning so they could finish without pressure. When you do car repairs, you really don’t want people rushing.

Walk to the Liberian Embassy

That meant I had to take a motorbike ride back to the hotel. Walking at that time was a bit too far. But before that, I had the chance to take a walk to the Liberia embassy, even though it was a stiff walk up and down unpaved, uneven streets with lots of inclines.

It was a fascinating walk—that’s where most of life takes place in this big city. I made it to the embassy and this time I got a receipt for the full $150 that I had paid: the hundred plus the extra fifty.

I’m not sure what I’ll need it for, but that part was concluded. I was able to share with the lady who did most of the work that it might be a good idea to let people know which bank branch to go to so they don’t have to search. I’m hoping she’ll do that next time, though I won’t bet my life on it.