Travelogue to Azerbaijan

Officer 0045

The trip to Azerbaijan and Baku was fantastic and left me with happy memories. As I handed over my suitcase and made my way to passport check, I was greeted by a young officer who was chewing bubblegum instead of responding to my greeting. His code name was 0045.

When he looked at my passport, which was issued from Munich, he accused me of lying about losing it during my trip to Germany. Instead, he claimed that I had obtained it from Munich because I wanted to stay in Europe. I was taken aback by his accusation, but managed to keep my cool and informed him that my passport had been lost during my trip to Germany and I had obtained a new one from the Iranian Embassy in Munich.

The officer was skeptical and began to scrutinize my passport, looking through it multiple times. He noticed the numerous Schengen, Canadian, and other visas and continued to accuse me of lying. He even claimed that he had arrested some Iranians who were trying to escape from Iran with fake passports and that everyone wanted to flee Iran due to the poor conditions there. I responded calmly, confirming that Iran’s conditions were good.

As the officer delayed my departure and continued to question me, I couldn’t help but feel frustrated. I eventually took my passport back and told him “Screw you” in Persian, he asked the meaning I said it means “Happy New Year”. Despite this unpleasant encounter, I reminded myself to stay cool in such situations. After all, when the lion is not around, the frog becomes a revolver!