Welcome to Dubai.

This is a statement I have heard waaay too many times in the last few weeks, and not for good reasons. We have been having all sorts of bureaucratic issues in Dubai lately, that leave me wanting to scream at the top of my lungs, "I JUST WANT TO GO HOME!"

Example #1 is the lovely picture of the scaffolding you see above. We both left for work last Tuesday with everything fine and dandy, and then when Jared got home discovered a giant scaffolding inexplicably erected in our garden. Now, no one was home during the period of time when said scaffolding appeared, which obviously meant they climbed over an 8 foot wall and hauled tools and scaffolding over the wall in order to erect it. Not OK. So, for 2-3 days we battled with the building maintenance to get it out, spent countless time on the phone with our landlord's personal assistant, and in the building maintenance office screaming at the building manager and his secretary. We explained that we were perfectly happy to accommodate necessary maintenance, but that breaking and entering into our terrace was really unacceptable. They claimed to have knocked on our door to ask permission, but when no one answered decided to go ahead and build it anyway. I tried to explain how disturbing that whole concept was, because there could have been any number of reasons why no one would answer the door (in the shower, etc.) but that no one answering does not open the door to then climb over a wall to get in. I was horrified that I could have walked out of the bathroom after showering to find men staring at me through my sliding glass doors. Quite disturbing, and after battling for most of the week, it was removed and they put all our furniture back and cleaned (surprisingly well).

Example #2 of bureaucratic hell in Dubai is our rental car. The lease was about to be up and so we had been talking to the company about extending our one month rental into a year long rental. We came to an agreeable price (actually a very good deal) and arranged a time to go swap out the car (because they wanted to give us a 2009 Lancer - classy, instead of the 2007 we were driving since they were concerned about the reliability of a 2007 for such a long rental). So, on the planned day and time, Jared and I drove to Sharjah to sign the new contract and make the swap. We went during Jared's lunch hour, so needed to be quite quick about the whole thing, and because we were in a hurry, of course chaos ensued. They tried to give us a car that was missing a hubcap, which Jared deemed to be unacceptable (oh the trashiness of driving around for the next year with a car missing a hubcap!). So, after debating with the rental car guy about how to handle the situation we finally agreed that they would let us keep the current car (with which we were perfectly happy) for another day and they would then deliver a new car to us the following morning (before noon when I leave for work). So, needless to say, they obviously didn't show up before noon as planned (and despite several phone calls that morning to ensure it's delivery). So, as I was leaving for work (in the old car) I called and told them they would then have to deliver the car to my office. So, about an hour later they called to tell me they had arrived outside my office with the 'new' car. Well, the 'new' car was filthy on the inside and reeked of cigarette smoke and the rear-view window appeared to have been smeared with a dirty t-shirt on the inside, deeming it impossible to see out of. Oh, and it was not a 2009, but upon checking the registration, it was either a 2007 or 2008 (it was unclear). I was mid-lesson and pretty stressed that I had to leave in the middle of teaching one of my students, so I signed off on the car and they swapped it, but called the rental car place as I was walking back inside to complain. Oh so fun. So they said they would call me back within the hour with details of how they planned to replace the car. No call back, of course, so the following morning I called to complain, yet again, and was told, yet again, that they'd be dropping off a replacement to our apartment that morning. Of course, that did not happen and they told me they'd have to drop it off at work, again. So, now into Day 3 of the rental car saga, they dropped off a car at my office (this is following about 15-20 phone calls made by Jared and I). Finally, new car #2 was actually an acceptable car. 2010 Model Mitsubishi Lancer with less than 2000 kilometers on it and actually smelled like a 'new' car, however was full of crumbs (as in someone just ate an extremely crumbly samosa all over the car (picture greasy crumbs everywhere). But, at this point, I figured there was no way I was getting a nicer car than this (despite the crumbs) and complaining would get me no where (I could clean the car myself). So, after three days, the rental car saga was finally resolved.

Example #3 would be some issues I have been having with work in terms of still lacking a work visa and possible lack of payment. I won't get into detail on this issue on here, but suffice to say, my stress level has been high enough with the bureaucracy in Dubai that I have never been a more patriotic and US loving American before in my life. All I can say is, GOD BLESS AMERICA!

Lovely scaffolding which could be seen in our garden for about 4 days...