Golden Notary

I must share today's experience with the notary. We have never needed one in these three years, but today we had our first encounter. We had an American document on which the notary had to verify my husband's identity and witness his signing the document. First, we thought the Post Office (here called Post) would have such a service, but no, notaries are rare here, maybe one every 20 km! The first one we called was on vacation for the entire month of July, but his office sent us to another notary. I called this office and was told that I was very lucky to get an appointment the same day! We went to this legal ooffice that is a four partnership and was invited to sit in a small, absolutely bare room, with just a table and four chairs, a phone in a corner and some sort of old looking document hanging on the wall. A lady took our papers and passports, and left. Five minutes later, she came with the notary, a small black suitcase, and a folder with an invoice already printed for us. The simplest of witnessing operations and date of birth verifications became almost a misterious ritual with the secretary opening the suitcase just half way to produce the seal first, and then the different stamps. The notary polietly conversed with us a few minutes, signed the seal and shook our hands. In just 5 minutes and $122, we had the job done! $122? YES! NO, I didn't buy a house and I didn't merge a company with another one... It's just that I recall how for such simple things there were public notaries at every other desk in the American institutions where I worked before. They didn't take a penny for this trivial operation, and I didn't have to take time from work to have documents notarized... Yes, I do feel lucky for getting an appointment today, knowing how notaries work here, and I'll feel even luckier if I never need one again! I'm posting a nice hibiscus flower today, to make everyone smile at the beauty of nature!