Prepaid cellular service in Africa is a much better deal then it is in the United States. However, in Mozambique the scrutiny one must go through to obtain a SIM card almost cancels out the benefit.
The entire process took about an hour, required me to fill out a form, show my passport, and possibly, I'm not sure about this, enlist for two years in the Mozambiqan army. I'm not worried about deserting the military because considering how reluctant they were to let me into this country, I expect they'll be quite relieved see me leave.
Seriously though I was astounded by how much scrutiny they gave me just to get a SIM card. It's no hyperbole to say that it's easier to get a gun in Pennsylvania than it is to get a Vodacom Sim card in Mozambique
The process was made somewhat more tedious by the fact that the Vodacom agent attempted to fill out my form himself. To me it made more sense to have me fill out the form, since English is my native language and I knew the answers to all of the questions on the form.
But I have the SIM card now, and I have purchased the data I need comma so now these updates will continue unfettered. And that's a good thing because today was truly an amazing day. More to come...
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