What is a Visa?

       To some, a visa is a piece of plastic you use to pay for something when you are shopping, or to withdraw money. To others, it is a stamp in a passport that is their ticket to another country. Some people have both a visa in their passport and a VISA card in their wallet. This allows them to go to another country and easily get cash almost anywhere at a moment's notice. However many people who live in developing countries, like the Central African Republic (CAR), don’t have this double luxury. A visa is needed to get in the country, but there are no ATMs around. Cash can be quite difficult to get, and there has to be a lot more planning involved in order to get money when you need it.

       It is like this for many other things too. Food, and basic necessities like shampoo and clothes are more difficult to buy. Many markets don’t have much available because they are either so isolated or there is just not high demand for these goods. Often things can be found in larger cities, but it takes a lot of planning since you may not always have a chance or time to go such a distance. So when you are able to go, you stock up on goods to take back and have available for when and if you need them. I am constantly amazed at how easy it is to get something when I feel I need it here in the States. At a moment's notice I can walk out of the house, drive to a grocery store, pay for a product with money that is readily available, and be back home very quickly. Things just are not this simple in central Africa.  

       Yesterday I found out that I got a visa for CAR in my passport. This is my ticket into the CAR, which is one of many developing countries without ATMs, or well-stocked stores just around the corner. I have traded in one visa for another. Life is going to be different and challenging over the next two years as I figure out how to get things when I need them, or be patient until I can get them. On the other hand, I will not be needing quite as much either. Life is simpler and does not require a whole lot of products out there. Either way, this new visa is going to require a change in my lifestyle.