The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

The blog posts have been few and far between lately, maybe because I've been feeling homesick and don't have anything exciting to report.  We have a four-day weekend this week because of UAE National Day, and five teachers from my school went to Beirut.  Initially I said no to the invitation because... well, I don't really know why because the ticket was only $250 round trip and we were staying with one of their friends.  Cheapest vaca ever.  I decided at the last minute that I wanted to go too, so I bought my ticket, shopped for a few things, packed my bag and got up at 4:50 to go to the airport... only to find out something freaky happened with my reservation number and I wasn't on the flight.  After standing in line forEVER to check in and being bullied by a crazy woman (who kicked Julie's bag and cussed us out in Russian), I didn't have any energy left to argue with the ticket guy.  My friends had 5 minutes to get through security so instead of making a big deal out of it, I put on my big girl panties, sucked it up and went home.  It's not all bad, though.  I had a feeling something weird would happen when I bought the ticket.  At least I have a ticket credit for another flight somewhere and Casey and I will get 2 days off together. 

We watched The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel this week, and if you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it.  It's about 6 retirees who move to India because they can't afford to live anywhere else.  Dame Judi Dench's character writes a blog about her experiences, which sort of becomes the narrative for the movie.  India is a whole different world than Dubai, but this blog reminds me of our adjustment to living overseas.

Old habits die easier than we think, and new ones form.  Soon I might even grow accustomed to the storm of car horns and vendors.  Can there be anywhere else in the world that is such an assault on the senses?  Those who know the country of old just go about their business, but nothing can prepare the uninitiated for this riot of noise and color, for the heat, the motion, the perpetual teeming crowds.  Initially you're overwhelmed, but gradually you realize it's like a wave.  Resist, and you'll be knocked over.  Dive into it, and you'll swim out the other side.  This is a new and different world.  The challenge is to cope with it.  And not just cope, but thrive.

This is exactly what we've had to do while living here.  It's not easy, but I would be silly to describe it as hard because we're so lucky to have this opportunity.  We have most of the comforts of home, but everything is so different from home at the same time.  The most accurate phrase from this quote is "Gradually you realize it's like a wave.  Resist, and you'll be knocked over.  Dive into it, and you'll swim out the other side."  We've definitely had to force ourselves to "dive into it" and I think we're better off because of it.  Someday, when were cuddled up by a cozy fire in Denver, Colorado with little babies running around, we will look back on this experience with a smile, and it'll all be worth it.  I know I'll miss Dubai as much as I'm missing Colorado right now, well, maybe not quite as much, but I will miss it, so we're trying to make the most of it while we're here.