Police Clearance Success!

So this morning I tried again!  I went back to the DCP office and thankfully, there was a field cop there doing some paperwork who spoke great English.  He told me to fill out an application.  Which meant handwrite it on a piece of blank paper. So I wrote what he told me to write.  Then I had to go get a postal order for each application.  Once that was done, he told one of clerks in the office to take it and get it done.  This clerk happened to be there yesterday and said, “I told her yesterday she had to go to the FRO.” and said he wouldn’t take it.  So I called the man at the FRO, and handed the phone over. :)

After a few minutes of conversation, he hung up and told the field cop something.  The field cop told me to follow him.  I thought the phone call would be the end of it.  Nope.  Now he was taking me to see the superintendent of police.  Niiiiice. 

So I waited. And waited.  Finally, he called me in.  Now, picture for me an open air building that’s had thousands of people filing in and out, concrete walls with hundreds of hands and bodies touching and rubbing them for years, dust from the desert blowing in, men spitting their pan all over the walls.  It was a less than desirable environment.  Stacks of paper wrapped in cloths and labeled, stacked upon dusty shelves. It’s amazing that anything gets done.  

But walking into the superintendent’s office was like transporting to a different building.  The entire thing, ceiling, walls, floors were outfitted with beautiful wood panelling that was so shiny you could almost see your reflection in it.  A flat screen TV on the wall played the news.  A nice wood window let in fresh sunlight, and an AC on the wall kept the room nice and comfortable.  His wooden desk in the middle was HUGE, and perfectly organized. 

I sat down and waited for him to speak to me.  He finally did and asked what it was I needed.  I started explaining, got about two sentences in, and his phone rang.  He picked it up and started talking, so I stopped talking.  This happened about 7 times and it took me quite awhile for me to get through my story.  And, the entire time he was leafing through pages upon pages on his desk, apparently desperately looking for something. :)

So I sat there for a few moments in silence after I finished, not sure what to do.  He finally said, without looking up, “I’ve called a clerk to come, he is on his way.”  So a few moments later, the same clerk I spoke to before walked in.  The superintendent told him this was a simple procedure, he needed to do it for me, and then he wrote a note on my application and signed his name to it.  His name was Jose.  No lie. 

So, there you have it!  A beat cop will come by our house sometime in the next few days to confirm we live where we say we do, and will talk to our neighbors.  Then we’ll get our certificate in about 7 days.  

One more step done!