UAE Driver's License: SUCCESS!

Praise God! Al hamdrilah! I did it! Success!

I had to endure hours and hours of waiting but knowing I passed, I didn't care about the time as long as I walk out of the UAE Traffice Office with my driving license in hand.

The night before, I've been praying that God let me pass the test because I didn't want to pay another Dhs 65 to take it the second time. I even made a pact that if He lets me pass, I'll be happy to donate the Dhs 65 as tithe on this Friday's service. Well, after all this, I've decided to give Dhs 100 because He is worth much more than that.

Now that I have it and it's valid for ten years, I look back at what I had to endure and thought it was all worth while. My test was scheduled at 9 am and I got there at 8:45 am. After waiting for about an hour, my name was called and together with two other ladies, we proceeded to the test car. Two lady instructors were with us.

I was the second to take the wheel and I just followed instructions. With the car parked on the right shoulder, I went to the left-most lane. I was told to make a u-turn so I slowed down when I reached it. After the road was cleared, I went in and got into the middle lane. The instructor shouted, "Petrol, petrol!" so I slammed the gas pedal. She told me to make a full roundabout. I slowed down upon reaching it and entered when it was safe. After practically making a u-turn, she shouted again, "Petrol, petrol!" so I made a full step on the gas. After a while, she told me to "change an." I thought I heard her say 'change hand' so I had to ask, "Change what?" And she said, "layn, layn!" Then I understood that she wanted me to change lane! But, it was too late since we were approaching the roundabout and there were a lot of cars in the que and there was a truck on my right. So, she said, "Kahlas! Go full roundabout." And so, I did.

I went to the left-most lane and she told me to "change layn" and I did. Then she said, "After the pavement, go to the right and park." Then it was the last girl's turn.

When that was done, we went back to the room and waited for our name to be called again. When the instructor called my name, she asked me, "What's your mistake?" I said, "I don't know." She said, "Too much speed. You pass." Then she gave me a receipt with Arabic written on it. Woohoo!

Then I was told to go to Rooom 18. I went there and asked a police in uniform, "What I do now, please?" He turned to ask a local guy wearing a kandura and the local asked for my paper. He then asked me, "When you finish test?" I said, "Today." Then he shook his head and asked "How long you wait here? One hour? Thirty minutes?" So I replied, "Oh maybe only three minutes." He gave me back the receipt and instructed me to go to Room 16 and another guy will come.

Ok, I went to Room 16 and there were a lot of ladies waiting. I asked one lady beside me what we were waiting for and she said she doesn't know. After another hour, a man came with papers in hand. He called names and luckily, I was one of them. Then we went to Room 18 to sign in their logbook and was given instructions to go to the last building and present the paper, the receipt with Arabic written on it, a photocopy of our passport and visa, and one photo...and be ready to pay Dhs 135.

So we went to the last building and gave all the requirements to this lady. I was called to pay the Dhs 135 after about 45 minutes. I checked my watch and it was already past 11 am. I thought I could probably be back in the office at 1 or past 1 pm.

I left the Traffic Office at almost 2 pm! Actually, I was the last soul waiting for my driver's license. Apparently, they had technical problems. The network had problems and the printer won't print. Hence, the loooooong wait.

Anyways, I reached home before 2:15 pm. Just in time for lunch.

Good experience? I'd say compare to others, mine would rate to be a very, very good! Some women with me had to take more than 2 tries before they passed the test. A friend of mine failed her first try because the instructor she got was very strict. Now, she's scheduled to take her second try on August 20.

Getting a UAE driver's license can be easy or difficult, depending on how the facilitators want you to get one. I had a hard time getting approval on my application but it was a breeze to past the test. My friend had a breeze getting her application approved but failed on her driving test the first time. Some are having a worse experience! Was it luck on my part? I think my prayers helped...big time!