Crazy day

We went shopping today. I have a little list, with only a few things on it:

5 bulk boxes of boxes of matches
10 bulk boxes of candles
1 tonne of beans
30 bulk boxes of oil
1000 plastic plates
1000 plastic cups
20 bulk boxes of soap bars
10 rolls of thick black plastic

All I managed to buy after 5 hours in Beira were the plates, cups and plastic rolls!

And I got another speed fine on the way in... the roads are badly marked, so I was just driving when the policeman jumped out and stopped me. Apparently it was a 60 zone, but I really didnt see any signs! Oh well, its 1000 mets, about $44. They didnt have a receipt book so they gave me the fine and said I should go pay it in town, they'll keep my license until then, so I set off into town. When I finally got to the police station the guy who writes the receipts was out to lunch! *sigh* so we drove to Air Corridor to get a ticket for Jessie who has to go back to Pemba tomorrow, and I parked outside the office. I had just gone inside when I saw a policeman go to the car. It apparently was a no-park zone and I had just received a 3000met fine (over $100) NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! My pleads of, 'I'm sorry I've only been parked for 1min I'll move the car and not ever ever ever do it again' got me nowhere.

So I moved the car and when I got back the cop took me to go see the 'big boss'. I had a translator with me and we were halfway up the stairs when I begged again for him to just let us go, but he said 'No the big boss saw me talking to you, he knows you have to pay the fine' *sigh* then the cop says something to Miguel (my translator)... 'if you give him 20 he will let us go' ooh a bribe. mmmm 20 mets (less than $1) vs. 3000mets (over $100)... YEAH for 3rd world corruption. I paid the bribe. My first one ever. It was interesting. And cheaper.

moving on: I had bought the black plastic and the plates & cups when it was time to go home, well nearly - just have to stop at the traffic police again to pay the speeding ticket. We got there and found that the guy who writes the receipts had gone home for the day, AND that apparently you can only pay fines in the morning. SO my license is sleeping there tonight.

It was an interesting day, and I hope tomorrow will be less interesting... I'm getting the hang of the road rules here in Beira - they're kinda wierd, for example, if you are in the circle/roundabout you have to stop to let the people from the side streets in. But not always. And there are potholes to dodge, and the cars in the lane with the pothole will randomly swerve into your lane to dodge the hole, so you have to watch out for that too! Crazy!