Once the immigration and residency process for the UAE was started my Canadian driver’s licence could not be used anymore. Not a big deal as driving seems rather crazy here – yes, even more so than in Vancouver where stop signs are often ignored and drivers squeeze through an intersection even when the light changed to red two cars ago – and I prefer taking the bus. It provides me with a leisurely view of the city and plenty of time to knit.

Taking the bus is not a long-term solution, though, unless I like spending a lot of time planning my day. So, it was time to have my drivers licence transferred into a UAE one. We had planned to do this for a few weeks, but were hindered by our travels, shorter opening hours during Ramadan and my husband being busy at work with long days. He felt he might be needed for the procedure as it is so often the case with a housewife visa. Yesterday everything aligned and we drove to the Driver licence office to arrive before 7 pm. A stack of papers, copies of visa, drivers licence, passport photo etc in my hands. The building is new and set up for a high volume of customers who can go there to pick up their car license and pay their fines as well.

For the licence one starts with the information desk for a quick review of completeness of papers and receives a number to wait for the eye exam performed by an in-house optometrist right on the spot. After paying the fee of currently 30 Dirhams the applicant takes the form specifying glasses or not for driving and another number to wait for the licencing officer to check the papers and the original licence. Waiting for another few minutes it was my turn and after answering a few questions, having my picture taken, paying another fee and showing my Canadian driver’s licence a licence card was issued right there. What an efficient procedure! No waiting for it to be mailed to us by Canada Post or here Emirates Post- Yes!

“Do you want to drive home?” was my husband’s question when we left the building at almost 7 pm. While I was considering my answer we arrived at the car and noticed the right back tire had lost some air. Now what? We had no idea where we could drive and preferably close by to have this repaired. After two quick calls to my husband’s colleagues we learned that our best option may be the vehicle inspection office right behind the office we just left. Getting there was an experience in itself as signage is hit and miss. One sign said to go left, but the arrows on the road indicated the opposite way. We tried it anyway and ended in a dead-end in front of a metal barrier gate. It could be moved by a single person: out of the car I hopped, opened it for our car to pass through, and put it back in place. All the time hoping the local police would either not see us or be too busy to ask us what we were doing. Around the block was our next try: success, but there was a line-up of 20 and more cars and we did not want to wait all evening for an assessment. In the meantime we learned that we may try one of the ADNOC gas stations instead. We saw one half a block away and found it had a small repair bay. Asking the technician he located the nail in the tire, but told us he could not fix it. We would be best off going to another ADNOC station with a tire repair shop about five blocks away next to Khalifa University. Off we drove and luckily I knew where Khalifa University was and what the building looked like: typically there are no street addresses and locations are given by close-by landmarks only. We were helped immediately by the technician who after a quick look pointed out that the tire not only had a hole, but a bubble had formed as well, indicating a rupture in the tire lining.

That meant the tire needed to be replaced. To keep the wheels balanced we needed at least two tires, but seeing the condition of the others he suggested we buy a new set. A short time later he had the correct tires located and brought over to be installed. All worked out really well and in about one hour, albeit not very cheaply. A quick licence transfer ended up being an evening of learning and with four new tires on the car. Who would have thought?

Until next time, Maike.