20 July 2010

Passage for the Pure: No "Buggy Features"

I am in the process of getting a work visa in Russia.

Obtaining this mythical visa is much like playing a video game.  Once I clear a set of obstacles, the next, more difficult stage begins.  Only the fit and the resolute make this seemingly endless journey.  It also helps to be "pure."

Passage for the Pure

One of the work visa's requirements is to be certified as "disease-free."  I got such certification for AIDS a while ago.  Today I went for a second battery of health tests.  The tuberculosis (TB) examiner was not available, so the nurse decided that I was TB-free by virtue of a visual exam (I did not cough at the moment).  But the nurse were not willing to give me such an easy pass for a complete test for venereal diseases.  It was insisted that my blood be drawn!  So, I bled to prove my purity.

It makes me wonder:  With so much emphasis on sexually transmitted diseases, what sort of "work" was I expected to do with my work visa?  Or perhaps it was Russian government self-protection, as I am certainly getting a "working over" trying to get my work visa.  

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