Today, was another adventurous day in Doha. Just when I thought that the visa monster had been defeated, he was revived and reared his ugly head. But, This time it was a tad bit entertaining. So, apparently to get a work visa in Doha, you need the original copy of your degree and it has to be notarized. First of all, who carries a copy of the original degree. Yeah, so I walk off the stage fold it up and put it in my pocket instead of putting it in a frame. Got it!!!
Anyhow, I have a copy of my degree and teaching certificate. So, we decided to take a trip to the British and American Embassy to get our documents notarized. I really like Doha but one of the most confusing things about this place is that there are no signs. There is a stop sign and large "expressway type" signs but street signs and labels that are actually useful are far and few between. Sidenote: but I think its amazing that everyone knows where everything is and there are no addresses. lol.
We are driving around this "subdivision" looking for these two embassy and playing guess that flag (luckily the embassies have flags). Up the street, down the street, around the corners and back, still no British or American embassies. Randomly, we take a left down this back road and we see this large building with a massive dish on its roof and somehow we know we are in the right area. After a hour in the car and a mind numbing maze around this construction ridden "subdivision" we find this British Embassy only to find out that they are only open to the public from "8-11" and no matter what we said her only response was "tomorrow".
Next, stop the American Embassy. We ask for directions, (well the driver does) and we head out for what we think is the American Embassy only for the driver (who is lovely by the way) to go out of the subdivision to the other part of down and back, pull up to the British Embassy and say we are here. Out of frustration and irony we bursted out laughing. I don't know if its funnier that he didn't realize this is the place that we just left or that we weren't paying attention enough to know we went in a big circle.
Longer story short, we restart our journey to the American Embassy. It's funny because in the carewe are all joking about what our embassies would look like. I said that our embassy would be massive with a giant eagle or flag. Just because we are very nationalistic as a country. We drive by all the embassies you could imagine. But we still can't find the American embassy. After another few minutes and about 7 miles, we drive pass this massive fortress and all I could think was "Oh, say can you see". The embassy was a massive fortress with a tiny flag. Tall walls, big doors and even larger guards lol. My happiness was short-lived though. When we finally get there, its closed, they don't notarize things anyway and we are in the middle of no where. Cheers to another interesting day in Doha :-)
Anyhow, I have a copy of my degree and teaching certificate. So, we decided to take a trip to the British and American Embassy to get our documents notarized. I really like Doha but one of the most confusing things about this place is that there are no signs. There is a stop sign and large "expressway type" signs but street signs and labels that are actually useful are far and few between. Sidenote: but I think its amazing that everyone knows where everything is and there are no addresses. lol.
We are driving around this "subdivision" looking for these two embassy and playing guess that flag (luckily the embassies have flags). Up the street, down the street, around the corners and back, still no British or American embassies. Randomly, we take a left down this back road and we see this large building with a massive dish on its roof and somehow we know we are in the right area. After a hour in the car and a mind numbing maze around this construction ridden "subdivision" we find this British Embassy only to find out that they are only open to the public from "8-11" and no matter what we said her only response was "tomorrow".
Next, stop the American Embassy. We ask for directions, (well the driver does) and we head out for what we think is the American Embassy only for the driver (who is lovely by the way) to go out of the subdivision to the other part of down and back, pull up to the British Embassy and say we are here. Out of frustration and irony we bursted out laughing. I don't know if its funnier that he didn't realize this is the place that we just left or that we weren't paying attention enough to know we went in a big circle.
Longer story short, we restart our journey to the American Embassy. It's funny because in the carewe are all joking about what our embassies would look like. I said that our embassy would be massive with a giant eagle or flag. Just because we are very nationalistic as a country. We drive by all the embassies you could imagine. But we still can't find the American embassy. After another few minutes and about 7 miles, we drive pass this massive fortress and all I could think was "Oh, say can you see". The embassy was a massive fortress with a tiny flag. Tall walls, big doors and even larger guards lol. My happiness was short-lived though. When we finally get there, its closed, they don't notarize things anyway and we are in the middle of no where. Cheers to another interesting day in Doha :-)
Wow keep laughing. I'll stay tuned for the next adventure lol
ReplyDeleteNOW YOU KNOW YOU SUPPOSE TO KEEP YOUR DIPLOMA IN YOUR WALLET JUST IN CASE. MAYBE IN THAT COUNTRY THAT'S WHAT THEY DO. DON'T WORRY IT WILL ALL BE TAKEN CARE OF....I'M SURE NEXT WEEK THERE WILL BE A NEW SAGA.
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