Someone recently asked whether I still felt good about our decision to come here. My answer is overwhelmingly yes, but it is my nature to make the best of any situation. Whether it's the snippy shop clerks of France, the underpant stealers in Japan, or the rude librarians of New York City, a good cry or some retail therapy usually does the trick to bring me back to my sanguine state of mind.
But here in the UAE, there are days when frustration bubbles up out of nowhere. This could be explained by reckless drivers, road rage and babies in the front seat, a littered desert, sewage spills into our favorite gulf swimming spot, as well as blocked internet sites, enormous speeding fines and students who are holier than thou.
However, I think it's really more about the stuff that's missing. Having stored our precious belongings (my estimate is 1 1/5 tons) in a block-long chain of storage units in dusty Colorado, we've come to the other side of the world without our sheepskin houseslippers, our quirky collection of coffee table books, seldom-used kitchen appliances, and art. And even though we had plenty of time to think about what life would be like in another country, (we'd been casually job-seeking for years), our own domestic attachments didn't become apparent until the dust settled and we started spending time in our new home. My longing at times for bagels, uncensored movies, unfettered Internet access, cheap bacon, and the smell of hippies at concerts is a sad but true betrayal of my fantasy self-image as a true citizen of the world.
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6 comments:
If you close your eyes and concentrate really hard, you can almost smell the hippies....but surely you don't REALLY miss patchouli and B.O.?
You, my friend, are experiencing a wave of good ole fashioned homesickness! Take a deep breath and pop open a Coke or Coca-Cola Light (surely they have that EVERYWHERE). It will make you instantly feel better! Trust me. Love, Ann
I've just been reading the the NY Times that Dubai is laying off foreigners faster than I can type-- so I'm just happy you have a job to both enlighten and irritate. I have to agree you're missing nothing on the hippie smell, but I just took a new ice skating class where I swear I turned into an ice princess and floated down the ice. ME! I'll take you someday and you can take me skiiing in the desert. All will be well. XXOO Sally
Dear chris uncle greg and I call that the ruby slipper syndrome.
You are not betraying your world-citizen image at all. You are out there, doing it, my friend. A twang for the familiar is only normal. Those of us surrounded by bagels and slippers are jealous, for sure.
Christina - to me, a concert is not a concert if it does not contain hippies... I will be sure that sense is refreshed when you come home for a visit! -Janell
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