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hey admin, please change the name of the topic to THE PARTY! coz we are talking abt other parties ...tell me abt dubai man...how was it?

Dubai - it's a happening place - lots to do , lots of people , the only thing that doesn't look right arer those incomplete massive buildings with cranes just sitting there. There sooooo many of them - just imagine if this financial crisis never happened - how this city progressed so fast.
There's women here might you be interested

nahhhh...i was in dubai for 4 days while coming back to saudi arabia from a vacation last year...can never be interested in dubai ladies!!! cant say much here

if you got choice between the two - you know where to go
I can wait to get there and see for myself the life aheaqd of me -

MMmmmmm....Our party is on and we have decided the date as well but we gonna keep it hush hush....right Allie?

...but then how will the Al Jazeerah TV reporters get there to film the action?

OK ladies, Im back in town.Ìý Lets try and get something going this weekend.

u r late CAF, the date has been decided

CAF, u be the secret agent and can give us the report of the incident;)

...and tickets are all sold out, HOUSE FULL!
try next weekend

CAF - and try the weekend after that weekend and so forth and so forth since it took a long time to set a date for it

Hmm.Ìý So I did!Ìý I'll have to get with Nonzie and Allie and get the details!

was joking with u CAF...contact the cat and nonz for that, hope u dont miss the bus

Alliecat wrote:

Any other girls interested?Ìý Loana, jump on a jet!

Today was V day

The day I have been waiting all week for..
so, we did Easter and the company went back to work and processed my papers then sent me an email to say you are good to go and apply for your VISA...

Excitedly I drove the 50km to my nearest agent, spread my papers out in all their glory and then..
I was told that because I am a FEMALE I need just one extra little paper from the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs:mad:

I rang back the company and they apologised profusely..this is why I want to get ALL the details up on a blog so the next woman doesn't have to go through this rigermorole..

Alliecat and Nonz it's going to be a GREAT party...hold the pomegranate juice till I get there:P

Its not a problem at all, Shahab.ali!Ìý I've already sent a note!!Ìý I'll get the details - but i have to keep them secret!Ìý Ìý

Ioanna - if its any consolation, it took us almost 4.5 months to process our papers.Ìý When they initially told us it would take that long, I seriously didn't believe them.Ìý Patience is a virtue here!Ìý Hope to see you soon!

Took me seven moths to get the visa (got here a five weeks later because I had to give 30 days notice on my Stateside contract).

Problem for me was that I hadÌý all the visa materials to get together PLUS all kinds of extra stuff for my employer.

And they would tell me ONE thing at a time so I never had much going simultaneously.Ìý They don't seem to understand how long it can take to get appts. with physicians in the States!

Nevertheless, all's well that ends well <-- my mantra!

It took me four weeks to get my visa to come to KSA in 1979. Had to travel to Bombay to collect it since there was no KSA Embassy in Sri Lanka at that time. Thank God my employer at that time, SAMBA, paid all the bills for my grand stay at the Holiday Inn on Juhu Beach. It was fun. A wonderful way to start a career in KSA with a fully paid 4 week vacation in Bombay. What more could I have asked for? Great memories of that adventure. Came on single status, too. Just 31 years young, and rearing to go.

I hope my visa doesn't take that long while I'm here at Dubai.
I will soon find out later this afternoon. If all goes well, I should be in there by Thursday.

Ray, I think they have speeded up the process in recent times. The delay in issuing me my first visa to enter KSA was mainly because all my educational and professional certificates were not authenticated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Sri Lanka, which I was not aware of since there were no recruitment agencies and HR services to assist then. I was hired directly byt the bank and simply packed y bags and left when they told me to travel to Bombay to collect my visa.

The Commercial Attache of Sri Lanka at the Trade Secretariat in Bombay, who happened to be a close friend of my Dad, assisted me in sending my papers back to Colombo via their courier system and having it endorsed and returned to me in Bombay. Had it not been for him I would have been in deep trouble. That was the only reason for the delay and the fault was with my aemployer/sponsor who didnt inform me of the basic requirements for visa issuance.

Can you belioeve it that the Saudi Embassy in Bombay asked me "Who or what is IBM" when they saw my employment certificate issued by them? That was 1979 my ftiend....

Now they eat IBM for breakfast.

IBM -

that means,

InshaAllah
Bukrah
Malesh

check the meanings out when you get here....

InshaAllah - God Willing
Bukrah - Tomorrow
Malesh - Never Mind

Things will get done when it will get done - in other words

spot on, young man.
you sure are a fast learner.
you are surely gonna love it here, in the sun.....
abhsolutely fabulosa!

girl party:mad:

why dont these clucking hens simply wrap up this never ending event and get back on track, please?

Nonz - Dont be mad!Ìý The party will happen eventually!Ìý InshaAllahÌý LOLÌý

Raylarch - I agree with Musicman, you are going to like it here, despite all of the unusual rules.Ìý It just has a weird kind of draw.Ìý So different from the states and yet so comfortable.Ìý For me its a bit of a love hate relationship.Ìý In some ways I can see why people stay.Ìý Not sure we will stay longer then our contract, but I guess we will have that discussion in about a year!Ìý

CAF, I originally signed up with SAMBA for just 2 years in 1979. Its 2010 now, I think..... heh heh

ya...wen i landed here, people welcomed me by sayin "welcome to the royal prison" and by "welcome to the quicksand!" i didnt understand the second one is asked for the explanation. to which he said everyone thinks to work for 3-5 years here and then go back home which will never happen. he will stay here for atleast 15 years it seems

sure, the quicksand is not easy to wriggle out of. we are in it up to our eyeballs now.

well then - you guys must be wiggling veryyyyyyyyyy slowly cause the more you wiggle the faster you sink in the quicksand.
that's it - you guys are much laid back now.

the whole of Saudi Arabia is laid back...i think this quicksand theory is the reason

no more wiggling. just stay still as we are. period!

company is booking a flight for me to the quicksand kingdom tonight. Finally, I will reach my destination while keeping still.

thats great man, you will be here in time for the weekend.
A 1001 nites awaits U

let's do something this weekend if I'm available.

raylarch wrote:

let's do something this weekend if I'm available.

be patient ray...thats the ONLY thing i learned in saudi arabia. and in fact, i m happy for it

okay -i will play it by ear

u will have to play it by YEARS

no man no - let's not do what the girls are doing - drag it