Re-cap:
- I was offered a job in March
- I needed to get an actual contract so I could change my visa type and legally work
Update:
- I've now been asking for the contract for over 4 months
Ok, now that we are all up to date, let's get started... I have been asking for my contract for over 4 months. It has been a stupid long battle of me saying "I need the contract" and the school saying "nobody has ever needed one before". Well no kidding nobody has ever needed one before... I am THE ONLY American female you have here! It has been a lot of fun trying to #1 - get someone from the university to respond to me; they usually only respond to Daniel because, as a woman, I am not worth the headache. And #2 - to convince them that the Saudi Embassy actually means what they say; they want a contract, so give them a contract!
Still no contract and it is time for me to come home for Ramadan. This is crap, but whatever just get me home! Not so fast... I first need to get my husband's permission to leave the country. No joke, I literally have to have him request a visa for me to leave so I can leave the country. It's like whenever you were in grade school and your parents had to write a note for you to miss class, I have to have a piece of paper saying that Daniel is allowing me to leave the country. Ugh, this country is suffocating me and intensifying my urge to shave my head, burn my bras and go full on feminist warrior mode!
Fast forward... I am home, I get an email from the university saying that they have sent my contract to the Saudi Arabian Cultural Mission in Washington, D.C. and that I am good to go. I go to get all of my medical work done AGAIN, spend a ton of time and money (because I don't have insurance in the USA anymore) and send off my paperwork and passport off to get my visa changed. I'm told it should be one week to have this processed and I should leave to go back to Saudi about one week before Daniel leaves. Alright... let's do this!
Two months later... still haven't gotten my passport back, nobody can really give me an update on what is happening, and Daniel has already gone back to Saudi. Now, bless my sweet angel of a husband's heart, Daniel is so dang positive. Me, on the other hand, not so much. I tend to be super dramatic and recklessly talk about how I am going to light myself on fire and jump out of a window or something else that is never actually going to happen. So while I am stuck in the USA talking about craziness, Daniel is in Saudi Arabia and trying to "talk me off of the ledge", but I can't really hear him because I am going nuts about how I hate this; I hate it with my whole life!
And then it came... the dreaded email... I have basically been banned from Saudi Arabia. Apparently (and I say "apparently" hunched over and rolling my eyes), I was not given the proper visa when I left the country back in July. So, on paper, it looks like I fled the country and left my husband. Say what?!?! My husband is the only reason I was there and for dang sure the only reason I want to go back. I didn't leave him. We just said "till death do we part", and I aint dead! (Side note - they really have a problem with people leaving the country improperly ALL.THE.TIME. See, people go over there to work because the money is really good and they think, "Yea man. This is going to be awesome. I am going to make so much money and it's going to be chill as ice.". Ummmm wrong. It is hot as hell and not that awesome. Culture, yes totally cool... for a Christian white girl like me, it's cool for like a week. So when people leave "improperly", Saudi put you in timeout for 2 years. And that is me, in timeout.)
So here I am, back in the USA. Even cooler than that? I am living at my mom's house. Yup, that's right. I am a 27 year old, college graduate, married, unemployed and living at my mom's house. Oh my gosh, it is so much more depressing to see that on paper than it is in the "reality" I've created in my head. Sooooo plan "B"? Ugh, I don't know. Give me a second to digest what just happened and a least a week to eat my feelings.
- I was offered a job in March
- I needed to get an actual contract so I could change my visa type and legally work
Update:
- I've now been asking for the contract for over 4 months
Ok, now that we are all up to date, let's get started... I have been asking for my contract for over 4 months. It has been a stupid long battle of me saying "I need the contract" and the school saying "nobody has ever needed one before". Well no kidding nobody has ever needed one before... I am THE ONLY American female you have here! It has been a lot of fun trying to #1 - get someone from the university to respond to me; they usually only respond to Daniel because, as a woman, I am not worth the headache. And #2 - to convince them that the Saudi Embassy actually means what they say; they want a contract, so give them a contract!
Still no contract and it is time for me to come home for Ramadan. This is crap, but whatever just get me home! Not so fast... I first need to get my husband's permission to leave the country. No joke, I literally have to have him request a visa for me to leave so I can leave the country. It's like whenever you were in grade school and your parents had to write a note for you to miss class, I have to have a piece of paper saying that Daniel is allowing me to leave the country. Ugh, this country is suffocating me and intensifying my urge to shave my head, burn my bras and go full on feminist warrior mode!
Fast forward... I am home, I get an email from the university saying that they have sent my contract to the Saudi Arabian Cultural Mission in Washington, D.C. and that I am good to go. I go to get all of my medical work done AGAIN, spend a ton of time and money (because I don't have insurance in the USA anymore) and send off my paperwork and passport off to get my visa changed. I'm told it should be one week to have this processed and I should leave to go back to Saudi about one week before Daniel leaves. Alright... let's do this!
Two months later... still haven't gotten my passport back, nobody can really give me an update on what is happening, and Daniel has already gone back to Saudi. Now, bless my sweet angel of a husband's heart, Daniel is so dang positive. Me, on the other hand, not so much. I tend to be super dramatic and recklessly talk about how I am going to light myself on fire and jump out of a window or something else that is never actually going to happen. So while I am stuck in the USA talking about craziness, Daniel is in Saudi Arabia and trying to "talk me off of the ledge", but I can't really hear him because I am going nuts about how I hate this; I hate it with my whole life!
And then it came... the dreaded email... I have basically been banned from Saudi Arabia. Apparently (and I say "apparently" hunched over and rolling my eyes), I was not given the proper visa when I left the country back in July. So, on paper, it looks like I fled the country and left my husband. Say what?!?! My husband is the only reason I was there and for dang sure the only reason I want to go back. I didn't leave him. We just said "till death do we part", and I aint dead! (Side note - they really have a problem with people leaving the country improperly ALL.THE.TIME. See, people go over there to work because the money is really good and they think, "Yea man. This is going to be awesome. I am going to make so much money and it's going to be chill as ice.". Ummmm wrong. It is hot as hell and not that awesome. Culture, yes totally cool... for a Christian white girl like me, it's cool for like a week. So when people leave "improperly", Saudi put you in timeout for 2 years. And that is me, in timeout.)
So here I am, back in the USA. Even cooler than that? I am living at my mom's house. Yup, that's right. I am a 27 year old, college graduate, married, unemployed and living at my mom's house. Oh my gosh, it is so much more depressing to see that on paper than it is in the "reality" I've created in my head. Sooooo plan "B"? Ugh, I don't know. Give me a second to digest what just happened and a least a week to eat my feelings.
