Techie nightmare

Today I received an email. Unfortunately, it wasn't the email I have been anxiously waiting for (the one from the travel agency with my travel documents). Today's email was an update from my recruiter. In it, it informed me that I have finally cleared the security screening and will now be worked on by the Visa agency. Hold on!  I thought that was what I was already waiting for?  I was only waiting for the security screening?  *sigh* Ok, so what does this mean? 
I am now waiting for the Visa to be issued. It can take 1-5 days to process. As soon as this is completed my information will be sent to the travel agency and then my E-ticket will be sent to my E-mail address.
While I've waited for all of this paperwork to finish up, I've met some people on some Facebook group pages. Members of these pages include people in the same situation as myself, and LTs already in place in Abu Dhabi. It has been wonderful to chat to someone who is either in the same boat, or has already progressed through it.

Without their help, I would have never known about a VPN, MagicJack, or unlocking a cell phone. I know, it sounds complicated. I thought I was a pretty good Techie, but these sounded out of my league!  A VPN, or Virtual Private Network, will censor me and not allow access to many websites that are blocked within the UAE. Some of thee websites includes Youtube and Facebook.  What no Facebook???  This will NOT be tolerated! :-)  After paying for a VPN, I downloaded it onto my computer. This allows my computer to have a U.S. ISP address and it will not be blocked while I am in the UAE. I will even be able to access NetFlix.

If you have seen the late night television infomercials, MagicJack is a device a person plugs into their USB hub of their computer and then they will be able to use their computer to make long distance phone calls. This will be awesome!  There are two types on the market today--MagicJack, and MagicJack Plus. They both allow for long distance calls, but the MagicJack plus will also allow you to use an electric plug. I decided to go with the basic one due to its more reasonable cost. Hopefully, that will work out well for me.

Unlocking a cell phone?? I never knew my phone was "locked". Every cell phone uses their own regional providers. For example, Verizon has towers across the U.S. and I can make calls without roaming charges. However, if I travel internationally, my phone will still use the same U.S. sources and I will incur large roaming fees. To fix this, you must have your cell phone unlocked. Some phones can be done by your provider, but some cannot. If you are able to get your phone unlocked, you will then need to purchase a SIM card for the area you will be visiting. This will allow your phone to access the local provider's towers and there will not be any roaming charge. Sounds easy, right?  Well, I can tell you that this is not all that easy sometimes. Many providers do not want to unlock your phones. They lose money afterall. So you will eaither travel as is and hope the fees are within your budget (I've read stories of people receiving their phone bills will several hundred or thousand dollars worth of roaming fees on their bills!), or purchase a new phone when you arrive in the your new country. The UAE has many stores where you cn purchase phones like Tracphone to use pre-paid minutes. At the least, you will know how much you are spending on your phone bill. Oh, another note on cell phones, if you cannot get your smart phone unlocked and decide to travel with it, you must turn off your setting that allows roaming. If you do not, you will be charged roaming fees even if you do not use your phone!!  Even when not making calls, smart phones access data using the local networks.
Some of the technical aspects of international travel can be a little daunting and I am sure I do not know everything. Hopefully, I will learn quickly and I will not be in internet hell.