this week I have been mostly queuing....

I have just spent a week going through the ordeal of renewing my Carte de Sejour... I did actually start a month or so ago by sending Mohamed to the Police Commissary to find out exactly what we needed to provide. He came back with a list of documents which I gathered together. When I went to the Commissary last Friday I felt fairly confident that everything would go smoothly, or at least confident that I had all the required paperwork. But no, I also needed a yellow card from the police in Taroudant transferring me from their jurisdiction.

So on Monday I went to Taroudant and collected my yellow card. I went back to the Police Commissary on Tuesday morning only to have my file thrown (almost literally) back in my face and told to provide copies of our contract of ownership for the land. So Tuesday afternoon, after queuing for hours to get copies of the contract legalised*, we went back to the Police Commissary where the woman then actually looked at what we had provided (remember this was what she had previously told us we needed) and then after finding out where Amskroud is she told us that we needed to go to a different police station - ie the Sherrifs rather than the city police.

By the time we found the correct office for the Sheriff and woke up the sherrif on "guard" we were too late for the Chief who would handle my application (it was just about 5.30pm). So Wednesday morning we turned up and finally got in to see the man in charge. He then gave me his list of requirements... which was mostly what we had already provided but instead of 3 copies he wanted 4 plus one other bit of paper and he gave me a form to complete ... which of course also had to be copied 3 times (though legalised copies were not necessary). We managed to collect all the necessary papers, filled in the form and got the necessary copies legalised and got back to the Gendarmerie around 1.00.... but too late the Chief had gone for a meeting and he did not come back all afternoon.

So this morning we set off again and apart from having to go and get copies of my yellow card I was able to hand over my file and now I don't have to go back till Tuesday to collect my Recipesse.. which along with my passport will serve as my Carte de Sejour until the new card arrives.

Anyway two good things have happened. I won't ever have to go back and deal with the really unpleasant, idle and inefficient woman in the main Police Commissary and the new guy seems to think that my new card will last for 3 years!

* legalised means that you take the original document and the copies and queue up in the local town hall (or equivalent) where they verify the copy by signing, stamping, stamping and signing. If you have just drawn up a contract you also have to legalise the contract by having it stamped and signed and also noted in two ledgers (which you then also sign). As everyone has to get just about every bit of paper legalised (buying and selling cars, houses, land, certificates of education, employment, copies of id cards etc etc) these offices are always fill of queues of people shuffling along with files of paper to be stamped and signed and stamped.....

ps if you are wondering why I didn't just complain about the woman - I was witness once when someone did try to do just that - after she point blank refused to deal with them when they complained about the fact that she sat and chatted while there were queues of people waiting for her to process their papers. She stormed out and the offices were closed 3 hours early - and everyone had to go back and start queuing again the next day!

Hallo

Been busy with visitors this last week. My neice Katharine and her boyfriend Scott came for a short visit so I have been off round some of the usual haunts. There was water in the cascades at Immouzer and we saw some scorpions and heard the wolves up in the mountains though nobody got up early enough to see any of the wild boar. It was a very hot week so we didn't drive inland to Taroudant but had a few days on the beach.

Meanwhile back at the house, the arches have been finished and fingers crossed we will get the roof on next week. I say fingers crossed as first of all the authorities put a temporary moratorium on all building in the village ... but we have sorted that out.. and we ran out of water in the well and the truck that came to deliver more broke down halfway up the hill. Mohamed spent a fair bit of yesterday and no doubt today and tomorrow planning with the neighbour to lay a pipe from the irrigation channel that has been bringing water to the village from one of the mountain springs and they are off to buy the pump and pipes today. If it works it means we will have a fairly reliable supply of free water to top up our wells. Our neighbour desperately needs the water as they are just starting to build another house.