Well, I’ve been having daily talks with the Algerian embassy for two weeks now. The last days we called each other by our first names and even talked about the weather. But most of the time he was just sorry that everything was taking so long and I was sorry that I hadn’t applied earlier. Both of us, it turned out, were very forgiving people and determined to make this work. Our last talk was today.

“Mejani”, he said as soon as he heard my voice, “It’s okey now. You’ve got the visa. I just hope you’ll get your passport in time!”

In time means tomorrow.  I promised to call him and let him know but I have a feeling that he doesn’t need to hear about the canceled trip. I just don’t think he’ll be able to take it.

Tags: Marjaneh Bakhtiari, The day before the day