It has been almost 5 years exactly since we first flew out to the UAE for a visit. We visited to see if we might consider moving from Boston to Abu Dhabi for work. In the back of our minds we knew that it meant we would be giving a lot up. We would be giving up our jobs, our apartment, our daily commute on the Silver Line, and most importantly we would be leaving our friends and family. When we were decided about the move we didn’t really consider or realize just how very far aware the UAE was the USA. Sure, you see the distance on a map, you can figure out that it is roughly 6,500 miles, and you can quickly sort out that there are no direct flights from Boston to Abu Dhabi (Dubai, yes, but not Abu Dhabi). But until we moved I do not think that we realized just how far away we were going to be.
Yes, we looked forward to the change and the adventures that were to come, but we were not prepared for just how very intense and life altering the change would be. I had no idea that I would literally be staring into open fields of sand looking for a house – for a place to call home or driving across empty terrains of sand chasing after delivery men or the cable guy…
Over the years we have learned that time has changed. It is different since we moved. There are weeks that pass like minutes and then there are days that seems like months. Time moves differently in Abu Dhabi, and perhaps that is what made me realize we were far – so very far away from what we knew to be our home. We now have a home in Abu Dhabi – in a land that is so very far away from our families. But we – my husband, daughter, and I – are also a family, and as far as a home goes this is the only one our 2 1/2 yr old daughter has ever known. A home in a land so very far away from what we called our own homes.
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