Whew!!!! What a week!

LAWD! LAWD! LAWD! Have you ever had one of those days that your literally felt like you were being punked? Well, imagine feeling that way an entire week. I know that in a few weeks I will look back and laugh at this entire process and laugh, but when you are in it, it can be quite stressful. I am so thankful to all the vets who shared the advice of staying calm and patience. It certainly helped this week.

My week began extremely hopeful about finally securing all the necessary paperwork for housing. In this respect, teachers have it so much easier. For admin, we have to be movers and shakers, mixed with negotiators and translators, and that is before any piece of furniture is selected or moved:) In the case of me and my fellow admin, we have to follow these steps:

1. Find a property
2. Get an offer letter from the landlord and submit to ADEC for approval. Just because you may be within your housing allowance, doesn't mean that they will approve it, as was the case with my first selection.
3. After getting ADEC to approve it, you must submit all the required documents to ERP. You can do nothing until you have a working ERP number, again as was the case with me. I had a flat chosen for nearly a week before my ERP number would work. I had to venture to ADEC and with a bit of "niceness", yet firmness, I was able to get the IT department to "make it work". Again, you catch WAY MORE BEES WITH HONEY THAN VINEGAR here. Some of the documents needed are: building plans, your realtors credentials, the landlords ID, their passport, their banking information, proof of ownership, and probably some more that I can't think of at this very moment. ALL of these have to be submitted for you to be approved.
4. After you receive approval, you then have to get a contract from ADEC and have your landlord to sign. Make sure that all the information on the contract is correct before you leave ADEC.
5. Once you have the contract signed, you can them move to getting your utilities turned on....this is where the work really begins:)
6. You go to the building and apply for utilities. There is a 1100 aeds deposit that is due at this time. This document is called a tawqeet (sp). This document is incredibly important because you will also need this to sponsor your family. KEEP YOUR ORIGINAL ALWAYS. The building will then submit the paperwork and notify you the next day (Inshallah) when it is ready.
7. You then take your "tawqeet" to the ADDC (water and electricity). They have several branches. The one I visited is in the basement of Mushriff Mall. Be prepared to pay 1000 aeds for a deposit! Thankfully, they did not ask me, but I know it will be billed. Hopefully, within the next 24-48 hours your services will be turned on. (Inshallah)
8. Etisalat is your cable provider and this process is pretty straight forward. No deposit is required, but they will bill you for your router. I selected internet only has I am addicted to netflix and my apple tv and have found nothing on regular tv that I would want to watch. The monthly bill will be about 350 aeds. It will take anywhere from 2-3 working days for them to set up your internet/cable.
9. If you have natural gas, you will need to call and have the service turned on. When they come, you will have to pay a deposit. I have been told anywhere from 500-800 aeds. I have not turned on my gas so I am unsure of the actual deposit or monthly cost.

FUN FACT: In the US when you go to SEARS or Home Depot or wherever you may purchase your appliances, there is normally one delivery for everything you purchase. Well, in the UAE, when you buy your appliances and they are made by different manufacturers, each brand delivers them separately. So in our case, our landlord (who I will mention in a moment) bought our 4 of our appliances, but by 3 different brands. So, I had to wait on three separate deliveries the other day:) 

PRAISE BREAK: I have the BEST landlord ever. I won't divulge his identity, but he is someone of great influence judging by his job in Dubai. He offered to buy ALL of our appliances and spared no expense. He has called and checked on me throughout this process and I am so grateful to him and his wife. He has gone over and beyond and is extremely particular about wanting my family to feel at home. It was simply by God's grace that I chose a flat that was owned by him. Remember, this was my second choice, but God blocked my first one because he had something better for me!!!!