8. March 2019

AT THE HARBOR OF VERACRUZ

March 9th 2019: Finally our car arrived!

On Monday, March 4th, 2019, we drove from Puebla to Veracruz. The ship with our container reached Veracruz on March 1st and it would take another couple of days before we could get our car. An additional problem was that it is currently Carnival in Veracruz. And during this time people work only conditionally!

Two days later we drove with Emilio to the Banjercito, the state bank. There you get the permission to bring a car temporarily into Mexico. Usually this takes about half an hour. But today was the day when retired soldiers, police and civil servants picked up their pensions. When we arrived at 8.45 am, people stood in line a hundred meters long in front of the bank!

Emilio guided us to the desk number 8, where Laura sat behind the counter. She smiled at me and especially at Emilio and asked us to wait a moment. But then a few things came up. The payment by credit card didn’t work. No worries as we had enough cash with us. But the officials need a special permit to receive cash payments – perhaps because of the rampant corruption in Mexico? This permit had to be obtained in Mexico City. So, the waiting continued! It was 2 pm until I could deposit the amount of 1’100 pesos (around US$ 60.-) at the counter. It was the counter where admirals and generals pick up their pension!

The next morning Mauricio, a company employee, sent us this photograph from the port in Veracruz. It shows that Mahangu has finally been released from its container-cage …

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