Morag from Manama

Stress and I don’t mix very well. I do everything I can to avoid it at all costs. My manic need to be organised and in control is a coping mechanism I have developed to maintain a relatively stress-free life, all to a certain degree, of course.

Along with a slow-paced lifestyle and keeping a small inner circle of good friends, I generally mosey along quite well, most days … until my safety net of being ‘in control’ is put into the hands of others.

Small tears quickly appear, resulting in a gaping big hole in my net and Morag, the redhead, spins out of control!

This is exactly what happened to me this week in Bahrain when my well-laid plans to accompany my son back to university in the UK and attend some important meetings I had lined up, went belly up.

The husband (yes, you guessed it) decided to have all of our residents’ visas and CPRs renewed, even though they were still valid until June.

But, hey, ho, I gathered our family’s passports and CPRs, popped them into a nice white envelope and handed them over to the husband.

“Will we have our passports returned in time for our travel plans?” I suspiciously asked whilst looking him directly in the eye. That was my foolish decision, handing the husband that envelope a week before our travel plans. I should have known better!

Thursday arrived and I’m frantic, no passports, the weekend upon us and flights departing Sunday.

The husband’s appointed agent seems to have forgotten how to communicate, as emails, WhatsApps, SMSs, iMessages and phone calls, all go unanswered and I need to know where our passports are!

I am now verging on hysteria. Finally, at the end of the day the husband makes contact with his elusive agent, only to be told the system at the LMRA is ‘down’. Frustratingly, our visas had been renewed earlier in the week, the husband received email confirmation and receipt of payment but until the system is ‘up’ we can’t get our passports. I open a bottle.

But, not to worry, the system will be up on Sunday, Inshallah, and we are booked on to the late flight.

The weekend comes and goes and you guessed it, yep, so did our flight … without us on-board.

‘System down’ and I’m starting to feel like a passenger aboard the sinking Titanic. Flights, car rental, accommodation and appointments are all rescheduled at a cost.

Our son is anxious and fretting about missing lectures, I’m morphing into a woman possessed and the husband is sensibly keeping his distance as we play the waiting game another day.