Trouble on the Bridge

I think I jinxed myself with the last post about patience and understanding.

The passport office on the Saudi Side of the King Fahd Causeway was full of immigration officers in their early twenties. The place smelled like a thousand ashtrays, and it reflected the total chaos of the country’s administrative units. I walked across traffic to speak with the officers after being denied re-entry to Saudi Arabia from Bahrain for the second time.

Why was I denied re-entry? My visa said that I can only enter Saudi Arabia by air. However, I had entered the country already 5 times by car from Bahrain without any trouble. Immigration’s response was “We changed the rules.”

That’s the thing about rules here. They are always changing. There is a lack of clarity.

My driver turned the car around and followed the sign that said, “Back to Bahrain.” I took a deep breath. I relaxed. Bahrain is like the rational, more organized older sibling to KSA. Overall, the population is far more educated and tolerant.

We visited the Saudi embassy in Manama to “fix” the visa “problem.” It was early in the morning, and we arrived before they opened at 9am. A heavily armed Pakistani was waiting at the gate. At 9am in the morning, the sun was harsh and bright. One could easily get a sunburn, and the temperature was boiling. It was 9:05 and I stood in a queue of hot, impatient people who were facing problems too.

After a show of his authority, the guard let us enter the embassy. There was only one worker standing in a dull, stuffy room. It did not match my image of how an embassy should look. We were given directions to request a new invitation letter from my employer and apply for a new visa. When I asked him why I was denied, he said “This is happening to a lot of people. We don’t know why immigration is doing it.”

I thought, “Really? Shouldn’t the embassy know about these kinds of things.”

I contacted my employer first thing. The letter could have taken 5 minutes, but instead it took two days to write.

I stayed in Bahrain overnight, which was not devastating for me.  But I missed my first two days of teaching. I imagined classes full of women waiting to learn, but I was not there to teach them…

Yesterday, I arrived in KSA around Maghrib (sunset). There was a big golden sun sinking into the horizon. I questioned the purpose of my time here. Is it really worth the trouble?Two days, two trips to the embassy, three trips to immigration on the bridge and 12 hours of waiting in offices.

I have not even had a chance to teach….