Public service announcement #1: If you, like us, haven’t obtained a fuel smart card, now may be the time to look into it. As exactly none of us here have yet done so, a handful of us will be trying to register vehicles in the coming days — Egyptian and foreigner, in Arabic and in English. We’ll report back the results. Ahram Online has a how to, but it seems in any case that the first steps are to:

• Want the card in person? Head to El Moroor (foreign readers: imagine the Department of Motor Vehicles, only in hell).
• Or arrange home delivery by sending a text message to 4555 — it hasn’t worked for us yet — asking for instructions.
• Visit www.esp.gov.eg for more detail

Pre-recorded instructions (Arabic only) are available on 19683. You’re also supposed to be able to call 19680, but that wasn’t working for us any more than the text message system was. ESP.gov.eg also includes a page on which you can request a new smartcard if you’ve lost yours. You’ll need your chassis number (also called a vehicle identification number, or VIN, typically stamped on a little metal plate just inside your windshield, where the windscreen meets your dashboard) and your motor number (usually stamped on your engine). Both numbers are printed on your vehicle license.