I'm nearly finished with the process of getting my residency permit. After work yesterday, went to the Municipal Health Center in Sharjah City. Think, pretty much any bureacratic building you've visited (American friends: the DMV comes to mind), except that 80% of those living and working here are not Emiratis and must get work/residency permits. So it's a massive operation.
I had my handy notebook and so was able to work on my Arabic letters while I waited and waited. I was given a medical form listing various examinations, but no further instructions (in English nor Arabic). Finally got somebody to tell me to go the x-ray room on the men's side of the building. Walked in and a doctor instantly tugged at my shirt and said "remove!" He took chest x-rays, stamped my form, and all of a sudden a group of maybe twenty Pakistani guys entered, all shirtless (they apparently knew the drill). Wow, got there just in time. Found the same person who told me to go the x-ray room and said to her "halas?" (that's it?). She shook her head and said "blood," pointing toward another room. Waited in line, got blood drawn (which often makes me pass out, but I said to myself: "you're here by yourself and you can't pass out"...worked!). Back to the same lady: "halas?" She nodded.
Then, next door for fingerprinting. They have a sweet digital machine with a scanner. You place your palm and then each finger on the scanner, one by one, both hands. Then a retinal scan, a photo, and you're done. I should be a legal resident (permit gets embossed right in your passport) on Sunday or Monday, test results pending, inshallah.
If you know me, you know I'm not going to waste a trip into the city. Last trip, I had unsuccessfully looked for a place called Saddaf, a Persian restaurant that's supposed to be good. Found it this time, but it's also on a street--Mena Road, Al Marija St--with some other, even more interesting places to eat, especially the Iraqi and Afghan places across the road. Sorry Mazin, the Iraqi place looked good (saw some good looking khobz tanoor through the windows) but had to give the nod to the Afghan joint where most dinner are like 22dH (about five dollars) and had outdoor tables. By now it was like 7:00, the sun had set, and there was a nice breeze from the lagoon/creek (the little Gulf inlet). What food. Place is called Al Kabab Al Afghani Al Jadeed, a real mouthful. The polaws are like biryanis--spiced rice dishes with raisins and your choice of meat. Huge platter of food, plus a little salad, broth, and yogurt. Such a great savory and sweet dish. Loved it, and gave scraps to the cat sitting under my table. The meat seemed especially good (the cat thought so too) and upon exiting I noticed we were right next to the livestock auction. Doesn't get much fresher than that. Hope to go back to the area this weekend and try the Iraqi place next door. Made haste to al Itihad Square in time to get the night's last bus back to University City.
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