OK, so all nationalities except for Americans can just present their driver's licenses, pay the fee, and walk out with a Qatari license. There is some story that is likely exaggerated, that the Emir was almost crashed into while driving in the U.S. (there are several variations of the story, but the bottom line is: if you have an American license, you must pass the vision, signs, and road test.) The vision was done last week. Today at noon we were sent an email that we Americans (7 of us) were going to take our tests today at 2. Now, a bit of time to prepare would have been nice...perhaps a booklet with the signs, but alas, no such luck. I had to teach a class of juniors (or Grade 11's as they are called here) from 1-2, and prepare the lesson before that.
So, we all drive in a cramped little bus-ish vehicle, and Saheer--the man who takes us to all of these appointments and is getting our residency permits, etc. came alone. He used to be a man of very few words, but we are getting to know him with all of these excursions, and he's very funny. He thinks I'm ridiculous...says I'm always worried for nothing....I don't know what he's talking about. :-) So, the driving test facility is divided into men and women, but thankfully Saheer was able to sweet talk the police chief into allowing us all to go together. On the 20 minute ride, we were frantically asking him what all of the signs mean. For example, there is a sign with a trumpet with a slash across it, and oddly enough, it doesn't mean no trumpets :-), it means no horns. Another example is a sign of what looks like a man digging a grave that means "men at work." Those were the easy ones....the round-about rules...forget it. Caution is an exclamation point, and yes, there is a camel crossing sign. Best one is the "end of speed limit" sign. It means that you may now drive as fast as you wish! So after 5 minutes of studying the board of signs on the wall, we were taken one at a time to be tested. Because of where we work, we only had to know 4 signs--the very stern man just pointed and grunted, all the while talking to the person next to him. I think I got 1 of the 4 wrong, as I had no idea what it was, but I passed. (others have to know 30 signs!)
The call to prayer came on and all of the motor vehicle workers promptly left their windows/stations, and began praying. Women are not meant to be present, so we tried to sit quietly in the back, in the FILTHY chairs. Oh--and I finally came across a toilet hole in the ground with a hose and no toilet paper...thank goodness I'm sick and had tissues. Yuck!!! Super FILTHY!!!
The next part I truly wish I had on video tape. None of us wanted to drive a stick shift/manual, because frankly, why would we?? For about 15 minutes in 106 degrees, we played musical cars...3 cars, and they kept moving us around...in the back of one car, then the front of another, then there were 3 of us in the back of a manual, and the men were standing around laughing, so I think it was a bit of a game to them, watching the foolish American's play musical cars. In the end, 2 cars were automatic, and myself and Don, followed behind one of the cars in the manual. We were laughing hysterically as the tester had poor Stephanie drive through a huge round-about, with cars honking like crazy....fortunately, no one was injured. When it was my turn, I only had to drive through 2 small round-abouts, make a u-turn, right turn, and pull over. We didn't know if we passed, as the man didn't speak.
One of the poor girls in the car failed, but Saheer came to the rescue and convinced him that she would practice and already has a license and would only drive from home to work, and surprise...she passed! We are soooo lucky that we work for the company we do, because other schools' American's are failing and having to take 16 weeks of driving lessons. Our company just happens to be run by members of the royal family...this goes a long way, I'm discovering.
In the end, we had to pay $200 for the tests, etc. and we could have paid another $100 for temporary licenses, but Saheer assured us that we would have our residency permits next week. I asked him if he is sure we are getting the RP's next week, and he said 'Yes." My response was "yes" or "insha'allah" to which he replied "yes and insha'allah". Grrr. Anyway, once we have the RP's, we have to go back and pay again for a 5 year license, so we all left without the temporary ones, since in a week's time we can get the 5 year and only pay once. The DMV-or whatever it is called-kept the paperwork....I do not have great faith that the paperwork will be there when we return, based on the filing system we could all see. However, Saheer assured us it would all be there. Easy for him to say....
I just got an email that tomorrow at 2 we go for finger prints....hopefully that won't be as complicated as medicals and licenses. Gotta go with the flow in the Middle East....
So, we all drive in a cramped little bus-ish vehicle, and Saheer--the man who takes us to all of these appointments and is getting our residency permits, etc. came alone. He used to be a man of very few words, but we are getting to know him with all of these excursions, and he's very funny. He thinks I'm ridiculous...says I'm always worried for nothing....I don't know what he's talking about. :-) So, the driving test facility is divided into men and women, but thankfully Saheer was able to sweet talk the police chief into allowing us all to go together. On the 20 minute ride, we were frantically asking him what all of the signs mean. For example, there is a sign with a trumpet with a slash across it, and oddly enough, it doesn't mean no trumpets :-), it means no horns. Another example is a sign of what looks like a man digging a grave that means "men at work." Those were the easy ones....the round-about rules...forget it. Caution is an exclamation point, and yes, there is a camel crossing sign. Best one is the "end of speed limit" sign. It means that you may now drive as fast as you wish! So after 5 minutes of studying the board of signs on the wall, we were taken one at a time to be tested. Because of where we work, we only had to know 4 signs--the very stern man just pointed and grunted, all the while talking to the person next to him. I think I got 1 of the 4 wrong, as I had no idea what it was, but I passed. (others have to know 30 signs!)
The call to prayer came on and all of the motor vehicle workers promptly left their windows/stations, and began praying. Women are not meant to be present, so we tried to sit quietly in the back, in the FILTHY chairs. Oh--and I finally came across a toilet hole in the ground with a hose and no toilet paper...thank goodness I'm sick and had tissues. Yuck!!! Super FILTHY!!!
The next part I truly wish I had on video tape. None of us wanted to drive a stick shift/manual, because frankly, why would we?? For about 15 minutes in 106 degrees, we played musical cars...3 cars, and they kept moving us around...in the back of one car, then the front of another, then there were 3 of us in the back of a manual, and the men were standing around laughing, so I think it was a bit of a game to them, watching the foolish American's play musical cars. In the end, 2 cars were automatic, and myself and Don, followed behind one of the cars in the manual. We were laughing hysterically as the tester had poor Stephanie drive through a huge round-about, with cars honking like crazy....fortunately, no one was injured. When it was my turn, I only had to drive through 2 small round-abouts, make a u-turn, right turn, and pull over. We didn't know if we passed, as the man didn't speak.
One of the poor girls in the car failed, but Saheer came to the rescue and convinced him that she would practice and already has a license and would only drive from home to work, and surprise...she passed! We are soooo lucky that we work for the company we do, because other schools' American's are failing and having to take 16 weeks of driving lessons. Our company just happens to be run by members of the royal family...this goes a long way, I'm discovering.
In the end, we had to pay $200 for the tests, etc. and we could have paid another $100 for temporary licenses, but Saheer assured us that we would have our residency permits next week. I asked him if he is sure we are getting the RP's next week, and he said 'Yes." My response was "yes" or "insha'allah" to which he replied "yes and insha'allah". Grrr. Anyway, once we have the RP's, we have to go back and pay again for a 5 year license, so we all left without the temporary ones, since in a week's time we can get the 5 year and only pay once. The DMV-or whatever it is called-kept the paperwork....I do not have great faith that the paperwork will be there when we return, based on the filing system we could all see. However, Saheer assured us it would all be there. Easy for him to say....
I just got an email that tomorrow at 2 we go for finger prints....hopefully that won't be as complicated as medicals and licenses. Gotta go with the flow in the Middle East....
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