My qualifications are under review...

Saudi is such an interesting place. Today I went to the health ministry and turned in all of my certificates and notarized letters of experience. They did not seem to understand that in America, you can become a paramedic by either going to college for 2 years, or attending vocational school. The certifications are the same. You are en equally certified and qualified paramedic either way...

The Saudi Health Ministry continues to say I need a diploma, even though I am producing my certificate of completion, or diploma, to them from Methodist in Dallas (my paramedic school.) Here is Saudi everything is nationalized, so the individual states or provinces really have no authority to authorize individuals to be paramedics. This is different than America, where the individual states have the authority to say who can practice as a paramedic in their state and who they will deem qualified.

So then, what we have now is me waiting for my credentials to be authenticated and deemed worthy of note in Saudi Arabia. The ironic thing is that there are many physicians and nurses here who have significantly less schooling than required in the USA, however they want the paramedics to have significantly MORE schooling than in the USA...Supposedly one of the major players for the Red Crescent is going to talk to the Health Ministry on Sunday and explain the dilemma. I am only the second paramedic to arrive here so far, but they have maybe 220 more in the recruitment process, and when the flood gates open, I am willing to bet there may be 70% of them without degrees in the same situation I am in...so we will see how it works out.

I have the afternoon off, and I am planning on taking some pictures! I know I keep promising pictures, but I have not been able to actually get out for an extended period of time and actually explore on my own. Every time I have ha the time to go out, I have had errands to run and photography has taken the back seat. I have never been a big picture taker anyway.

The doctors who live on this compound have taken the housing allowance and may be moving out in the next few days. This means I may be getting my own place without a roommate. That would be nice. Also, the "bachelor quarters" are supposed to be fairly nice, so I am excited to see. Any time they have a single room dwelling here that is not meant for females, it is referred to as "bachelor quarters." I hope the doctors were not to hard on the apartments, they have been living there a month or two...they are from Syria and Egypt, so we will see how well they have been kept.

I hope everyone is well. I will keep you guys posted on how my qualifications turn out!

Cheers!