Two months later...and a month to go?

A reason to celebrate!
Well, I just logged onto my blog last night and discovered a reader comment on my last entry! As a first time blogger, seeing that first comment was pretty exciting! lol In any case, it also reminded me that it's been an entire MONTH since I last wrote, so an update is long overdue (though, admittedly, there is not too much to update you on!)

I love comments! :)

The visa saga continues...
Although I initially applied for my visa on September 19th, because of the paperwork error (my name written in the wrong order) I knew I would either have to add a new, corrected, document to my application, or restart it. I didn't think I'd have to restart the entire thing; however, when DH went to the passport office at his work, the passport guy CANCELLED my original sponsorship paper in order to issue me a new one. No one thought to call or check with me or my visa consultant (who said we should have just left it all is it was...) So I had to wait AGAIN for the new sponsorship paper. It came on October 1st, and I had my visa consultant reapply (she had ordered my original visa application and passport to be returned to her from Ottawa). So, my 30 to 45 days wait are now from October 3rd. 

The long-awaited visa authorization slip! (not mine, but  a sample...)

I just called my consultant yesterday to see if people who applied through her at the start of September had waited closer to 30 or 45 days for their visas (since September 1st was when the long wait time was implemented). Alas, applicants from the start of September began to receive their visas this week...which means I am now counting on having mine a month from now, around November 18th. I was realllyyyy hoping I'd have it in two weeks so that DH and I could spend Eid al Adha together in Jeddah, but I guess we'll have to have a belated celebration together. Maybe I will fly in on our 4 month wedding anniversary, November 22nd. Saturday is our 3 month celebration day, and it will be almost 2 months since he left :(

Happy (early!) Eid al Adha!

Life on the home front...
It seems that I'm being called to write something about life while I wait. My sister's cell phone is ringing / playing music (which I assume means ringing?) and she's apparently forgotten it here while she's at school. Poor thing! She must be going crazy in history class without the ability to bbm and text her bffs haha :p (If you're reading this, it's all jks, sis ;) )

Tutor extraordinaire!

I've been passing the time tutoring my sister in English and History (my majors, which she is studying this semester in grade 10). We just finished World War I, and "life on the home front." That topic struck home for me! I've also picked up two other tutoring jobs with some tutoring companies in town. I'm not getting many hours, and to try to reconcile my situation as being "productive" rather than "laziness" on my part, I decided that these two months of waiting are my belated "summer holidays" that I never had. With finishing my master's degree, wedding planning, starting my medical tests and visa application for Saudi Arabia, I experienced more stress and craziness than I can remember enduring before... So now's my change to take it a bit easier. 


Vacation?
The problem, however, is twofold: (1) I do not, for the LIFE of me, know how to relax!!! Especially after the past academic year and all of its insanity (good insanity for the most part, which pushes me to keep the possibility of a PhD on the back burner!) it is impossible to suddenly STOP! Yet, apparently that's what I'm supposed to do lol (2) The other issue is the oh so necessary MONEY thing... I've spent probably close to $1 000 on things connected to moving to Saudi, visa application, medical tests, document notarization, etc, etc and DH and I decided to rent a new apartment in Jeddah closer to where he works (and I might work). Over there, it's pretty standard to have to pay 6 months of rent upfront at signing time. Our new place is gorgeous and located centrally; however, his university doesn't pay our housing allowance until December. Now both our pockets are completely empty until we're reimbursed. 


Plus, we bought an SUV for safety when I'm there. He'd been driving a Civic for the past two years, but there wasn't an air bag on the passenger's side (of course, since women can't drive in Saudi I won't be driving, so that would be my permanent seat lol). After the flooding this past January (see photos here: http://www.arabnews.com/saudiarabia/article243502.ece; video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iAaM7G1wbLI) and DH's near drowning / being stranded in filthy flood water on Jeddah streets because his little car couldn't handle the RIVER or rushing water, we decided to buy something safer. I can just picture me in a flood, trying to swim upstream IN AN ABAYA in streets without sewers... NOT cool! I'm thankful we have a larger vehicle now. Then we won't be stuck like this smaller car (below) in the event of another flood.

Small car in Jeddah flood

Anyways, there's my long-winded explanation for our ongoing expenses in Jeddah. Now that I'm two or three months behind schedule with commencing work, these things that would have been easily affordable are killing us! So...I really can't "enjoy" my downtime knowing that I should be doing something to contribute to our family expenses. 

Oh, Saudi...
DH is so apologetic about me being left behind, but neither of us can do anything and it's obviously not his fault. I just remember our last embrace at Toronto Pearson Airport...and seeing him whiz off in the subway to the next terminal, promising "see you in two weeks!" and how I said "yes!" but was already a bit doubtful that it would be that soon... Anyways, it is what it is, and I know the wait is more than half over. I'm two thirds there: September, October are past. I just need to wait out a couple weeks of November. 

Canadian fall
For now, I'll watch the Canadian summer fade into fall, watch the leaves fall to the ground, sit by the fireplace in the living room, watch evening TV (hmm...maybe I should get into soap operas and daytime tv, too?), tutor here and there, and try to remain gracefully patient before my adventure begins!

The colours of a beautiful Canadian fall...

PS Shout out to all my international readers / viewers!! I love seeing the "feedjit Live Traffic Feed" and seeing where you're all coming from :) I'd love to hear your thoughts, too!

"Time is very slow for those who wait..."

I am definitely enduring a test of patience. My first instinct, as a lover of literature, and an English grad, is to turn to Shakespeare for sympathy. He says that:


"Time is very slow for those who wait
Very fast for those who are scared
Very long for those who lament
Very short for those who celebrate
But for those who love time is eternal"

Indeed, it is true. Time cannot seem to move any more slowly than it is while I am waiting for my visa. But the good news is I'm in love with my husband, and am trying to focus on the "eternal" nature of time and love! Our time together, whenever that finally arrives, will be lasting!


I have a couple of updates on my visa application process--finally! Good and bad at the same time... DH sent me my paperwork this weekend (Saturday) and I was finally able to actually go to Toronto and apply for my visa on Monday!!! YAY!!! My retired father was kind enough to drive me downtown and joined me in my frantic running around back and forth across the city.


So there is the good news. Bad news? Well, as of September 1, 2011 (and DH and I knew this in advance and were trying to expedite everything to beat the deadline...) visa processing times are between 30 to 45 days. This is a change from the former 5 day timeline! In any case, DH and I were hoping the embassy in Ottawa was just saying this, and not really putting the long wait into effect, but alas, my visa consultant said that I indeed should anticipate at least a month's wait for my passport to be returned with the visa. 

When DH sent my sponsorship papers from the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs, all seemed okay, except that my name was listed with my surname first and given name second. I figured this must be an Arabic thing, since the language reads from right to left. The only things in English on the document were my name and my husband's, so I figured I wasn't an authority to complain about the name thing looking off. Anyways, yesterday, my visa consultant, a Jordanian woman who reads Arabic, pointed out the "error" to me...and it turns out I'm right! *sigh* She said I can try to submit the visa application as it is and see what happens, but if something is wrong, the embassy will likely have me reapply from scratch and wait ANOTHER 30 to 45 days. So, poor DH got up at 5am today to have time before work to go to his workplace's passport office and rectify the papers. He waited 2 hours and the official never showed up in his office! I feel terrible, but neither of us wants to risk having to restart everything (not to mention all the expenses of beginning all my paperwork again!)


All this said, my visa application was submitted yesterday and should arrive in Ottawa today. So the countdown is now on, and I'm waiting for word that my visa has been approved. We're going to send the corrected sponsorship document along once I receive it from Saudi Arabia and try to just add it to my current application. *fingers crossed* it will all work out on the first try!

Of course there were other issues. First, the "travel itinerary" I submitted with my visa application (really, a formality; I'm not supposed to actually book a flight yet) was apparently unreasonable. I'd been instructed to submit an itinerary for a date earlier than 45 days in order to kind of hurry the embassy up...but my consultant said the embassy's been sending back applications requesting more realistic travel dates. So I rushed home from downtown Toronto to send my consultant an updated itinerary for November 6th. 45 days. For a visa. For real.  


Secondly, apparently some of my medical tests need explanation (to me--and my doctor--everything seems straightforward, but you can't reason with the embassy's craziness!) So, I rushed from sending in the new itinerary to the doctor's office where I'd been squeezed in. The doctor said he also saw no issue with my medical test results, but obliged me by writing a note to "clarify" the obvious. 


Anyways, that was my adventure yesterday. I've been reading another blog about the adventures of trying to get into KSA. An Australian woman who went to Riyadh as a scientist at a hospital. It took her 8 months from the time she signed her contract in March 2009 to get her papers, sponsorship and visa in order and actually arrive that November. I guess things are moving along "fast" for me in relative comparison. But really, how absurd is that?! Let me use this as a cautionary tale for any readers out there who would consider a move to KSA: count on the process taking f-o-r-e-v-e-r! If you have one, do not quit your job until you have your visa in hand. Otherwise, anticipate being like me, sitting around your parents' house playing oh so lovely the waiting game.