Thanks to the offended sensibilities of some Qatari official/minister who tried to rent a car at Dulles and was given grief from the clerk about his foreign driver's license, Americans who want to drive in Qatar are required to take and pass a driving test. The rest of the Western/European countries can just exchange their existing license for a local one. Since we already bought our cars and have had difficulty getting Fox Transport (local taxi/limo company) to pick us up when we want them to, we've been anxious to get our licenses as quickly as possible. After waiting 10 days since receiving my residency permit and ID card without anything happening, I went up to HR the other day to ask them to start moving things along. It took some doing, but they finally got me set up to go to the driving school at 830 on Thursday morning.
I met Abdullah there and into the building we went. The first thing I noticed was how lost someone would be if they tried to do this without a handler/expeditor helping them out. There was only one large room, filled with dozens of chairs holding a mass of people sitting and waiting for something. Without any helpful signs pointing to an information desk or directing you where to go, it was tough to figure out what to do first. Let's hear it for Abdullah. He walked us right over to a window underneath a sign that read "New License," started talking with the guy behind the desk like they were old friends, and handed over my paperwork with a smile. Looked like progress to me, and while I didn't think I'd be handed a license right then and there, I hoped this meant I'd be getting an appointment date within the next week. I paid my 50 QR (about $18) when asked, but other than that I wasn't sure what was going on.
With more papers in hand, off we went to the next desk. This one appeared to be the main reception/information desk, but instead of getting a "deli number" like everyone else, Abdullah started talking to him and handed him our papers. A few more minutes of back-and-forth and shuffling through papers ensued, followed by the guy pulling out a form of some sort from under the counter and telling Abdullah to fill it out. Once he wrote my information on the form (hand-write in Arabic is quite tedious, I learned), we headed for the door out to the area where the cars and testing area are. This seemed to me like a good sign, maybe even one that I would get tested right then and there.
But no, this was not to be. Instead, we walked to the building next door, entered an office with a sign reading "Staff Only," and began talking to the officer there. I assumed by the two stars on his uniform and the big wooden desk he sat behind that he was in charge of the whole operation, so I made sure to stand quietly and smile politely whenever he looked over at me. A few gestures later, he had signed the form the guy behind the counter had given us at our last stop, and off we went, back to the guy at the counter. Abdullah showed him the signed form, they had a long conversation while flipping through all the other papers, and then it was over. The guy handed them back to Abdullah with a shrug that clearly said there was nothing more than could be done.
"So, what's going on?" I asked Abdullah. He gave me a grim smile and told me that we were missing a stamp on the form the officer signed, the man who could give us the stamp was not there, and that my appointment for the test was on February 2nd. He said I could talk to Basem (the guy in the HR who has a business card that reads "Interface Manager" and apparently knows everyone who is anyone) next week, but otherwise wasn't too helpful, explanatory, or interested in trying to do something while we were there. Back to the office I went, trying to figure out what I'd say to Basem when I got there.
To be continued.....
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