Taking your pet out of Egypt

My most precious piece of cargo that is returning to the states with me, is Zooba.  The US is surprisingly very easy about bringing in pets from abroad.  Unlike other countries, like the UK, that require months-long quarantines, the US will let your pet in, as long as he has all his vaccines and a microchip.  It's wonderful!  The truth is, if Zooba had to be quarantined for 6 months, all alone, I don't know that I could have put him through that just to bring him with me.  I probably would have looked for someone to adopt him here, rather than traumatize him.  So I'm relieved that he gets to join us so easily!

We've been preparing him for this journey for a while, by getting him microchipped, vaccinated, and a passport. As advised by the US Embassy website, as you prepare for your trip, the week before you travel, you must obtain a health certificate issued by the pet's vet, and an updated rabies record or passport with all vaccinations.  Zooba's vet told us that this was all not really necessary, as Cairo Airport will basically just let the cat through because I have an American passport.  But he printed out a "Health Certificate" from a Word Document,  to bring to the Quarantine Department.  75 LE.

There are basically 2 ways to proceed after this.  You can just go to the Quarantine Department at the airport, which is apparently open 24 hours, and get the International Health Certificate (make sure it's in English!)  or you can think you're being smart by getting it done in advance and go to the General Authority for Veterinary, Quarantine Department in Dokki.  I thought, why not just get it done ahead of time, it won't take long, and it's right down the street from where I live.  Right.

This experience provides excellent insight on why Egypt is Egypt.

I brought the "official" Health Certificate made by the Vet, Zooba's passport, my passport, and Zooba, as advised by the Embassy website, to the small office.  They pulled out a document in Arabic that I needed to fill out.  I don't read or write Arabic.  I said to the woman, "I'm here because I'm a foreigner who is taking her pet outside of the country, and need this certificate to bring to the foreign country.  So why is there anything in Arabic to be written in the first place?" She filled it out for me, and they took his papers to fill out his English certificate, while I was sent to an adjacent room to get a series of 3 receipts that I can't read.  42 LE.

3 receipts of mystery

There was a little old man who took my documents to be photocopied across the hall.  I met him in the hallway, and he requested "a little something" for the photocopying and 3 stamps.  When I asked how much, he said 5 LE.  I pulled out a 10 (all I had), and expected 5 LE back.  "5 LE for just the stamps, and 5 LE for photocopying!"  I should have known better.

3 stamps for decoration

I went back to that first office, and was told to wait while the woman filling out my certificate got her morning dose of chit chat with her coworkers.  20 minutes later, she emerged with my certificate, adorned with the lovely stamp the old man sold me.  

Then she told me to go back to the office that gave me the 3 receipts, to get a stamp on the certificate, to make it official.  

it's official! no wait, not yet.

At this point, I was done with the Quarantine Department.  No one at any point had looked at Zooba, and I don't even know if it was actually necessary to bring him or not.  But before leaving, I was instructed to go "down the street" to some office of Agricultural and International Affairs (I think that is what I understood).  I had trouble understanding why I needed to do this.  This wasn't written on the Embassy website, so I wasn't even sure it was necessary.  But the government workers there all insisted that this needed to be done in order to be recognized by the Egyptian authorities at the airport.  

So I walked down the long street, found the building, and found the office where 3 women were busy making their morning breakfast.  I just had to wait.  A few minutes later, one woman took my certificate and gave me a stamp.  3.5 LE

But then, I had to go upstairs to another office to get someone else to stamp it.  I find the office and 3 more women are sitting chatting.  One stamps the paper.

Then tells me to go to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on Ahmed Oraby St, (the other side of Mohandisin), to get it stamped again.  At which point I almost broke down in tears out of frustration.  I did ask her why this was all necessary, but got the same response, that it's required to leave the country with the pet.  I said, "What would happen if I was a foreigner that didn't speak Arabic at all?  None of this makes any sense, and I only need this to take the cat into the United States!" She said to me, "It's ok.  It's right here, right around the corner, just go to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.  Don't worry they're open really late, until 3pm, so just go and get it stamped there."

I huff and puff, and find a taxi, meanwhile poor Zooba is panting and freaking out in his carrier.  Took the taxi ride and realized that I had spent all my change and small bills already, so I needed to get change from a kiosk to pay my fare.  After buying water and other crap, the kiosk owner couldn't get me enough change for a 100 LE bill.  So I took the change he managed to give me to the next kiosk down the street and asked the woman for change.  "Are you going to buy something?"  "I just bought from that guy and he didn't have change, I just need some change for my taxi, please." "You mean, you bought from him and gave him business and you're coming to me for change?  No!  Go get change from him!"  "He doesn't have change, can you please just break my 20?"  "No, we don't have change here."  Curses and insults were flying in the air.  Finally went back to the taxi driver and gave him double the fare he deserved, because of course he "did not" have change either.  Curses and insults were flying in the air.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is a mad house.  They literally only take papers that you give them, and stamp them.  Certificates, translations, anything having to do with anything outside of Egypt has to come and get stamped there.  Men were lined up around the block, but when I saw that line, as much respect and love as I have for lines, I walked past it and told myself, there's no f-ing way I'm waiting in line with all these men right now.  Luckily, I found that women have their own, shorter line.  I approached the guard at the door, and asked him if I was in the right place and needed to even be here.  He took my certificate and after 10 minutes of fighting with some Libyans seeking stampage, he actually was the one and only person who gave me a break today, and led me right in to the counter, without waiting. I actually felt guilty about it. The woman behind the counter took my paper, and stamped it.  25 LE.  But I didn't have change.  And neither did she.  So she gave me extra money, and told me to go make change outside.  After that whole fiasco, there was so way I was going through that again.  So I said, "I already tried to get you change outside, this is all I have, just keep the extra 5 LE, I just want to get out here."  The woman started yelling, "Keep your money, I don't want your money, get out of here and go get change!"

SO I went back to the guard, who was mad at me because he did me a favor and let me skip the line, but then the woman and I were causing a scene inside.  I told him I needed change, gave him a 10, he gave me a 5, I went to the window, threw the 5 LE in her face, took my paper, and got out of there.

  

So here we are, 3 hours later, with a certificate that is written up in English and stamped with 30 other stamps, all in Arabic, that the USA Customs is not going to give a shit about.  The policemen at the airport aren't going to give a shit, either.  Because the reality is that Egypt is a country swarming with street cats that they don't want.  And keeping pets is a foreign concept to them, so it's not like someone's going to prevent Zooba from leaving with me.

my "official" certificate

The whole while, furiously, I kept telling myself that a) I should have done this with my husband, and b) I should have just done all this at the airport, like the Embassy said.  I would have avoided running around like a lunatic.  I highly doubt that any of these stamps were necessary, or that I needed to go anywhere after the Quarantine Department.  Nothing that came after that Department had anything to do with US Customs requirements, anyway.  And I'm sure that if anyone would have given me a hard time at the airport, I could have just paid my way out of it.  

But it's done.  Now we're set to travel, and this experience reminds me of just how much I love systems, and efficiency.  And America.