Road Trip: Part 1

Pain in the neck



After our accident I didn’t know how Kara would be feeling but the pain in her neck has gone away and she feels great. It happened while we were in Dubai on vacation.



To infinity and beyond



Well we made it. Zach and I are back from our little adventure on the Arabian Peninsula. We’ve been planning this in one way or another for the past month and a half and it was well worth it. Our trek took us from Qatar, briefly through Saudi Arabia (2 hours of total driving), through UAE and into Oman. We stayed in Dubai (UAE) at night with Kara, Danna and Libby who flew there.

There were a couple of reasons for the trip. One was to go to an RTT (Regional Training Time) to learn how to work in churches in this area. It was the first time I had gone to a conference where the focus was on leadership skills in a church. I honestly did not know what to expect but I found it pretty interesting and was glad that we went. Zach and I wanted to do some exploring in the Omani mountains as well. This was why we drove as apposed to flying. While we were playing Lewis and Clark the girls did a lot of shopping and girl bonding stuff. The last reason was to test the path between Qatar and Oman and see if all the ghost stories were true. Since this is a lot to write about I won’t do it all in one post so stay tuned. Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t think my life is so exciting that it requires a multipart series but lets face it this is the best material I’ve had in a while and I need to make it last.



Socks, Underwear, GPS unit and Satellite phone



Preparing for this trip was a little different from any other road trip I have been on. It might be a little bit from experience, a little from my new surroundings but my to-do list was a little different. Some new additions were:



- Passport

- Saudi Arabia Visa

- GPS Unit

- Satellite Phone

- Used only when testing but was questioned about it at the border

- Register with the embassy

- Embassy phone numbers – The 24 hr Oh Crap! line

- 4 different currencies - You can just call me Jason Bourne from now on

- Check travel advisories

- Road map of the Middle East – On this map all of Israel is called Palestine

- UAE / Oman off-road guide

- IPod - Not a necessity but we didn’t have these in College

- Cell phone - A certain CO trip engrained this into my head



First Look



All of the above were pretty easy to get, especially since we are in the IT department and get to play with the cool toys. The biggest hassle was the Saudi Arabian visa. No lie, it took us 6 trips to the embassy to get this. This was mainly because there was no written instructions on how to apply for one. At least none that were offered to us. Each time we would go they would just tellus what we did wrong and to go away. The trips went something like this:



Trip 1: Get the paper application. We had to convince the guy that we needed more then one. He told us to Xerox it even though he had a stack in front of him. We eventually got the original from him. After this we had to get a letter from our employer saying that we worked here, a passport photo and a copy of our passport. This was one of the first times I have filled out government paperwork and it asked for my religion.



Trip 2: We go to turn in our paperwork and they tell us we need a UAE visa first. After walking to the UAE embassy we learned the guy in the SA embassy didn’t know what he was talking about and it was suggested we try another day.



Trip 3: We try another guy he accepts our 50 riyals a piece and suggests coming back the next day when they open because the line is too long. He also tells me my passport photo with the blue background will be fine and not to worry about the one with the white background.



Trip 4: We get there early when they open and it turns out I needed the white background photo and we also need the license and registration of the car we will be driving. Thanks, information I could have used yesterday.



Trip 5: We get there early we have our paperwork and we bypass the payment line and go straight to the first window where some guy in traditional garb and a massive beard is waiting. I felt like I was 6 years old saying “please sir, can I have a visa?” I timidly passed him my packet of documents, certifications, 3rd grade teacher character reference and all the other stuff they wanted from me. He looked through it for a couple of minutes and mumbled something about coming back on Thursday at 12:00. I couldn’t believe it, it actually worked.



Trip 6: I show up at the right day and time and see a stack of passports with tickets on the back of them. The same bearded guy is calling out the numbers in Arabic. Now I understand this is a SA embassy in Qatar so English probably won’t be used but it just made things even more interesting. I know my Arabic numbers on paper but I still don’t know how to say them. I guess a lot of people were in the same boat because after 30 minutes of this we all rushed up to the window and chaotically pointed and gestured to our passports on the other side.



In the end I got my passport with a shiny new visa in it. It was only good for a month and I couldn’t spend more then three days in the country at one time. No problem, I’m just passing through.