Steve left just a couple minutes ago for the U.S. Consulate, located a couple miles outside the compound, to renew our passports. Our Saudi residence visas are about to expire and they will not issue new ones if you have less than six months remaining on your passport. The boys' passports were just issued in Dec. '07, but ours were issued in Beijing nine and half years ago.
No big deal - getting a passport renewed is easy...fill out the form, get two passport size pictures, give them money, and leave your current passport at the consulate. A few weeks later you can pick the new one up.
Wait...leave your current passport at the consulate ?!? For a few weeks?!?
That is very unsettling to me. What if we want to go to Bahrain over the weekend? What if it doesn't come back in time for Spring Break (we have flight/hotel/car reservations for the UAE)? What if something horrible happens and we have to evacuate the country immediately? What if....
I'm upsetting myself now so I'll stop with the "what-if's."
I'm sure it will be fine, but it really makes me uncomfortable. Years ago, they didn't allow expats to hold their own passports while living/working here. I can't even imagine that. I need to know that if something horrible happens, we will be able to get out immediately. I need to know that I still have some freedoms, such as going to Bahrain for the day. I need to know that my passport is being kept safe, not being used under a desk leg as a leveler in an office somewhere.
In a sense, it's a tangible symbol of the rights and freedoms I own as a U.S. citizen. Not having it in my possession, even if for just a few weeks for a very valid reason, unhinges me a bit.
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