Volume 1 Issue 3
So here we are again one more wonderful and exciting issue of the Cade Chronicles. It's a long one, but a pretty good one.
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Still Not Sure
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Geez it looks like I may never leave this country. I was supposed to leave like Jan 7, but due to circumstances beyond my control I'm still here.
I finally got all my visas and stuff together and am ready to travel. But can I leave? No. Why? Because it's the time of year when Muslims take
their pilgrimage to Mecca. So they're all on holiday, the guy who is going to teach me about the product is in London and won't be going back till
Feb 17, and I'm stuck here "learning" all I can about the product I'm going to sell. This is funny, because the people here don't know all
that much about it in the first place, which is why I'm going there to learn about it. Talk about circular reasoning.
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Another Country
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So I got told I was probably going to Egypt on my trip. This sounds pretty cool, but we're going to only be there for a few days. Not too bad 4
out of 7 continents before I even turn 24. Hopefully I can fly from India into California and maybe switch planes in Australia (to add another
continent), and that way I can say that I've been around the world. Yea that would be sweet.
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Saudi Visa Revisited
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You have no idea how fun it is to try and get a visa for Saudi Arabia. I got my letter of guarantee from here, my letter of invite from there
(overnighted to me), my
passport, my visa application, and my $108 money order to process it. I take all this stuff, thinking this will be a breeze, to the Consulate
General of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. When I get there the lady says that my letter of guarantee doesn't look exactly like it should and I have
to bring another one. I ask her if everything else is ok so I can change it if I need to and she says sure, looks fine. So I take my stuff to the
Egyptian Consulate and boom $15 and four business days later I get my visa and one of those working days was the MLK holiday. Talk about service
with a smile. Ok so I get my letter redone and head back to the Saudi Consulate the next day. Take my stuff up there and she reads my letter of
invite (which is in Arabic mind you) and says "Ooo this won't work. It says here that you're a British citizen." To which I say,"Yea
baby, uh course I'm British baby. God save the Queen baby." Ok, not really but it makes for a good story. Actually I just hung my head in
disgust. What kind of idiot writes my letter of invite that they know they are going to have overnighted to me and doesn't even make sure the info
is correct." So at least to fix it they can just fax a new letter directly to the Consulate. I go back to work and ask them to fax a new one
to the Consulate. So I come in Monday morning and find that they've faxed it to the Consulate, super sweet I think. I go back to the Consulate to
drop off my forms and money, but another slight problem. The person with the key to the office with the fax machine in it isn't at work yet. Once
again I liked to have killed someone. Since I've been in so many times she feels sorry for me and lets me leave my stuff and if they can get the
fax before noon they will start processing, if not they will process the next day and it will be done on Friday. So of course it wasn't started
till the next day and would be ready Friday between 3 and 4. On Friday I go to pick it up and get there about 3:45 except I missed the memo that
they like to leave early on Fridays and there was no one there. Yea I bet you saw that on coming. First thing Monday morning I went and picked it
up and now have in under lock and key, because I never want to do that again.
