Flash trip to Gomel

On Friday Alla and I went down to the police station where we are registered in order to renew my visa. I got the original in the town of Gomel, but figured I had a pretty good shot at renewing in Minsk after all the bureaucratic hoops I jumped through to get registered there. Ha! All my original files are in Gomel and they aren't fully computerized. Truthfully, I don't really know if they are computerized at all, but I assume so because the level of technical education here its quite high.

Anyway, we took an evening train to Gomel yesterday so I could file my application first thing this morning. We really lucked out on the train. The one we chose included a couple of brand-new cars, and we paid the extra seventy-five cents apiece to ride in one. Ooh... It was great. The seats are a few centimeters wider than usual, and they would be really comfortable for me to sleep on. Alla couldn't stop photographing our super-spacious compartment, but she couldn't really capture its grandeur with her phone's camera. Anyway, we'll look for these cars a we schedule future trips. Here's a picture of Alla in the new train car.

You'll have to click through if you want to see her wearing bananas on her head.

As for this trip, it's not really clear that it was strictly necessary. We had to write a letter to the head guy, which he dictated to us, and pay a fee at the bank. If the banks are interconnected it seems like I should have been able to mail the letter and pay at the bank's main office in Minsk. I'll pursue this idea in a couple of years, next time I'm up for a simple renewal. Meanwhile, I have to go back in a week or two to receive the visa in my passport, something I absolutely must do in person. We asked whether I could leave them with a release allowing Alla to pick it up, but they have strict anti-slavery policies and never under any circumstance return a passport to anybody other than the passport holder. I understand, but it's a nuisance.

Anyway, I had a chance to help Alla clean and decorate her parents' graves and do a couple of household chores. Next time I think we'll take a side-trip to the handicraft museum in the nearby town of Vetka. This time I'll buy a photography permit because it's a spectacular museum. I'll let you know when we go there.