"The Hokey Pokey- The Process of Getting Your Visa and Emirates ID"

"The good life is a process, not a state of being. It is a direction not a destination."

*Carl Rogers

When I arrived at the school, the first thing they did was take my passport. Luckily for me, I was warned of this from the Facebook group that I had joined, so I wasn't completely out of the loop as to what was happening and why.

They take your passport so that your documents can be processed for your work visa and Emirates ID card. I hear it usually takes about 2 weeks to have you passport returned to you with your visa and Emirates ID, however, the person responsible for this task at my particular school had a family emergency to tend to outside of the country, so there was a delay in my process.

The process for me included the following:

1) I handed over my passport to the school's head secretary
2) She turned it over to the person responsible for processing Visa and Emirates ID documentation
-My school paid for m visa fees, Emirates ID fees, and blood work and x-rays needed for the process
3) I was taken to the local health department by school transportation during my planning period where they drew blood from my arm and tested it to ensure I wasn't carrying any diseases or was with child, performed an x-ray on my chest, and sent me over to take a picture for my ID card
4) Once my visa was complete, I was taken on another day to have my first dose of the hepatitis vaccine at the preventative medicine clinic (this is a 3 dose vaccination that is monthly)
5) Once my Emirates ID was complete, the school sent a driver to go and pick it up, bring it back to the school and give it to me. 

When everything was given to me, I finally felt official. It was International Women's Day to be exact and i thought to my self, what better way to bring this day in than to be OFFICIALLY a resident of another country. I had gone from Houston, BACK to Georgia, to now the UAE as an international educator. I had a little celebration with my self internally and the smile on the outside of my face spoke volumes.