Qatarized

Well, we've been Qatarized. As of two days ago, both of us are officially recognized as residents of this country. Erik spent a good eight weeks without his passport for two reasons: 1) he arrived during Ramadan, 2) the only really competent person in the orchestra office, who also happens to deal with personnel issues, was on vacation most of those eight weeks. We managed to avoid handing in my passport because I had to leave after my first two weeks here. After entering the country for the second time, I reluctantly handed over my passport. The process only took three weeks from beginning to end, even with several days of religious holidays. Here is our current collection of i.d. cards...

Clockwise from top left: Erik's Qatari i.d., Erik's driver's license, Karen's Qatari i.d., Erik's staff i.d. Still to come will be Karen's driver's license and i.d. cards for the recreation center. We still don't really get why we have to have those. The center is in the Qatar Foundation and Erik already has staff i.d. for the foundation.

What a hassle it has been, especially for Erik, to be without a passport or i.d. for so long. There are so many things you can't do without one or both forms of identification. For instance, Erik was technically not allowed to drive after his first week here. The orchestra office neglected to inform him that he should get an international license before coming. Thankfully, I managed to get one, so at least one of us was driving legally and I could officially rent a car. We didn't worry too much about it though. Erik drove when necessary. For goodness sake, 12-year-old Qatari kids drive themselves to school and policemen look the other way. THEY certainly don't have a license because they are officially too young.

That reminds me about the story of a car accident that I heard. A Western woman was driven off the road and into a pole by a native. Her car was totaled. It turned out that the Qatari was dead drunk, but he got off Scot free because, of course, drinking isn't allowed so he couldn't possibly be drunk. That gives you an idea of the mentality we sometimes face here.

And to follow that same thread, Erik wasn't even allowed to go into one of the few places you are allowed to have a glass of wine - a Western hotel - because he didn't have i.d.

Some more rules and oddities:

• We can't leave the country without permission from Erik's employer.
• We can't drive out of the country without a transit visa from the Saudi Arabian embassy. We're surrounded!!
  
• Erik had to have a "no objection" from his employer to get a driver's license.
• I, as his wife, have to have HIS permission to get a driver's license.
• If we held a joint bank account, he would receive a text message to alert him to how much and where I spent any money from that account.
• We officially can't hold hands or kiss in public. We do anyway, but with caution.
• We can't sit in the same area in the waiting room at the bank.
• We can't buy alcohol without a permit (which requires another "no objection" letter stating Erik's salary level).
• We can't bring alcohol outside of our home. No more hostess gifts involving a nice bottle of wine.

A few days ago was the end of about 10 days of vacation. That period began with four days of religious holidays and continued with another week of freedom for many. A lot of people were surprised to see us hanging around. Well, that's because I had no passport and no i.d. No passport + no idea = no exit visa. OF COURSE, it was no problem to pick up my new i.d. immediately after the holiday. ARGH!!!!

I tell you, we surely do sympathize with the man in Munch's "The Scream".