Medical Check, etc.

So yesterday I endured the medical check I have to have in order to get my Qatari Residence Permit. It was, well, interesting.

First and foremost, as I've explained earlier, a lot of places have shorter working hours. Particularly the government. The reason for this, of course, is because it's Ramadan. So if you need to accomplish anything, it has to be done in the morning.

Second, in spite of the massive number of people relocating to Doha for various reasons--joining family, working, etc.--, the Qatari government doesn't feel compelled to have more than one location in which you can accomplish your tasks.

So there is one small clinic for the medical check, and a whole heap of people who go there every day.

My driver, Abdul, and I arrived at the clinic. Since it is segregated, men and women, all the men waiting for wives,etc. are reduced to staring into the women's reception area, as though we were animals in a zoo.

You walk in, and there are a few workers who are charged to control the masses by keeping them in queue. This is important, as there are a lot of people (a lot of the women I saw were abeyyah-wearing, I'm sorry to say) who feel that queueing doesn't apply to them. So they'll try to cut the queue.

You go through 4 processes. First, you do a pre-registration, where you have to provide a contact number. Then, you go through through an even longer queue to register and pay for the medical. If you wonder, the paperwork was already done for me, and a 100-riyal note tucked into my passport by the HR rep. at Cornell. (since you don't get a receipt, you can't get reimbursed directly)

Then you queue again, for your 'physical exam' (there wasn't one--they just glance at you) and blood drawing. The nurse in the blood drawing was actually quite nice, but they really have to work fast. Then you join another queue for your chest x-ray.

The clinic isn't so sanitary. Gowns are used and reused. Cornell sent a gown with me to change into, which came from the laundry and will be sent out again to the laundry since I've returned it to the HR rep. If I had to choose between the dirty gowns and no gown, I'd rather do no gown.

All in all, the process took longer than usual, at 2.5 hours. It usually only takes 2 hours, but with Ramadan there were a lot more people than usual. If you wonder, I had to defend my place in line a few times. When you would get up to move chairs (this is how they queued you), some women would try to take your chair. I had to be polite but aggressive to keep my spot in line.

Today I will go, along with the wife of a new co-worker, to get my temporary drivers' permit. This consists of an eye exam, and I don't know what else. Surely not traffic rules, as they don't exist here. I'm sure, though, it won't be a 15-minute process. And, unlike the whole 'scam' in Japan, it's a little more straight-forward. Since I have a drivers' license already, and I purchased an International Drivers' License, and I have an American license, I've been told there won't be problems with me getting a license. Unlike Japan. I took the test twice here, but my friend Lee Sean took it 9 times. He is calling racial profiling there (he's Taiwanese).

I've been speaking with the drivers about the driving here, as we go around. The biggest challenge I'll have is roundabouts. Usually, in places like the UK, there is something called "lane discipline", where you have to exit roundabouts based on your lane placement. However, in Qatar, the rules are mere suggestions. Most people are able to drive an approximation of the rules, but there are still people who will cut from the inside lane (next to the circle), across two full lanes of traffic, and exit right. Needless to say, you have to be on your toes. I have been advised by both Cornell drivers to just take the middle lane in roundabouts, as that means I can exit either straight or left. If I want to go clear around, of course, I'll take the left lane, and exit right on the next road I'll take the right lane. But also, in the UK, people signal obsessively. You signal into the roundabout and signal out. Here, though, apparantly only new expats and Cornell drivers do this.

I also had to go have a blood group certificate done. This is for my Qatari ID card, which will also require fingerprinting. If my medical clearance comes through, I'll be fingerprinted next week. I am not sure if the blood type goes directly on the card, but I can see the logic if it does. Blood group typing is extremely easy, inexpensive, relatively painless (they poke your thumb with a lancet and put 3 big drops of blood on a glass piece, to which they add chemical) and can be done in 5 minutes. It only cost me 15 riyals (between USD $4 and 5) to do so, which is reimbursable. I actually think it would be a good required addition for drivers' licenses and ID cards in the States. If you're ever in an accident and need a transfusion but can't communicate your blood type, the medical people would then just have to look at your ID.