more visas

this week i did another round of visa gathering with max. we headed off tuesday to the omani embassy to get multi entry omani visas. the place couldnt have been more different from the indian one: we were the first and last people in the queue and it was totally disorganised. but the people were really nice. they gave us free booklets about oman, and let us look at the tons of pictures that were all over the walls. they wished us a pleasant trip, and the one year multi entry visa cost us all of 20 pounds. i am not complaining.
my day got even more exciting when our bookshop had to be evacuated of customers do to an "unacompanied package" on a nearby street. actually our shop was not really in the supposed danger zone, but our fire escape exit was, and if that is closed we are not supposed to have anyone inside, so we chucked the customers out and sat and watched the show. there is a certain personality type (often in positions of semi authority, like school administrators, or police men) who really thrive on these moments. there is also, it seems, a kind of person who finds them fascinating, although i am not sure why. a huge crowd of pedestrians formed behind the barriers to watch the operation unfolding. we had a front row seat from the shop, but i find these things quite boring. my collegues and i had no choice but to be there, as we were still on our shift officially, but i couldnt really understand why people would stop in the middle of a cold evening to watch cops surround and detonate a suitcase.....is it that interesting?