Yesterday, though still sick and forlorn, I had to head to the local police station to renew my driver’s license. Well, I was so sick that I could barely stand up so I thought I was going to be in for an event for sure. I called Andrew, my driver, to pick me up at 9:00 to which he said that he would send one of his junior drivers. The License Office at the police station closes at 11:00 a.m. and with Ramadan expected to start on Monday, I had no choice but try to make the time deadline. Besides, I hadn’t driven in the last week since my license expired.

I kept looking out the window, and out the door, to no avail. At 9:10, my driver hadn’t arrived so I made a call again to see where he was. Well, there are at least four Al Jazeera Compounds in this city. My driver had gone to another compound at least five miles away.

What was one to do…? I was at the mercy of my driver. Andrew said that he would now pick me up. About ten minutes later he arrived at my villa and off we went to the police station.

From the outside, the police station was a rather nondescript looking white concrete building with white concrete walls surrounding its compound area. A flock of “touts” met me when I got out of Andrew’s Toyota Landcruiser. My first experience with touts was in Sri Lanka about two years ago. Touts offer their assistance to do whatever you need to do. In the beginning, there is no mention of money. An inexperienced traveler or Expatriate (Expat. for short),like some of my newly arrived Canadian colleagues, might think that the service is free. That is definitely a misnomer.

Touts can help you climb a mountain, show you through a Buddhist temple (like in Sri Lanka), or they can help you through the process of getting your driver’s license renewed. After it is all over, however, the touts expect a high return on their investment of time and consequently demand high prices for their services.

Andrew saved me as he waved the touts away. I followed him into the police station where I was pleasantly surprised at the interior of the building. People were lined at the counter where there were six to seven attendants. The process seemed to be quite efficient. Then again, Andrew helped facilitate the process for me. I would cut in once and awhile with my little bits of Arabic. “Mesa al Khair” (Good morning), and “Shukran” (Thank you) went a long way, I think, to ingratiate me a little with the attendant.

I have had my original license for five years. The attendant, Bakhit, asked if I had the same picture to give him. I immediately thought I was in trouble…. “Excuse me”, I said, “that picture was taken five years ago and today I am even more beautiful”. This I said as I chuckled and handed him the new 2×2 photo. He laughed. I quickly realized that sometimes a little humor goes along way.

Five minutes later Bakhit presented me with two copies of my license, one with the old photo and one with the new photo. He asked me which I preferred so I chose the most recent (beautiful) picture, and he agreed that it was the better of the two. I then asked about the eye test that was a usual part of the process.

Bakhit said that the eye test was not necessary…no kidding! No eye test I thought, but everyone has an eye test. Bakhit shook his head and said everything was good. I smiled, shook his hand as I said “Shukran, ma assalama”. I bolted through the door with Andrew.

Roxy

www.roxydoes.com