Our summer at “home” has flown by. We spent 3 weeks in Florida, 2 weeks in Tennessee with my family, then another 3 weeks in Florida. Thankfully Leon has joined us to spend the final 2 weeks with us before we all fly back to Abu Dhabi together.
This was not the summer I expected for sure! I imagined restful weeks going to the beach, and hanging out with family & friends! I forgot that our house would need some TLC! Imagine all the maintenance one does on the house, yard, and pool during the year, all having to be done in 6 weeks – ugh! Then there were the doctor, dentist, eye doctor, & dermatologist appointments! Oh my! And the insurance forms that followed! And of course as it got closer to our departure, all of our friends wanted to see us! The shopping for items that we can’t get over there! And the packing!
The girls were also struggling! They had been so anxious to get home in June to see their friends! But as what usually happens during the summer, the kids all have different plans – vacations, camps etc. By the time we got back from Tennessee at the beginning of August, my girls really felt out of sorts. They were ready to go back to Abu Dhabi! THey actually said that if Daddy hadn’t been coming back to FLorida the following week, they would have wanted to go back to Abu Dhabi right then! The kids in Florida were heading back to school the following week and my girls really felt the disconnect with their friends here. They missed their Abu Dhabi friends! I too felt it hard to get back into a groove here. I did not enjoy all the work with the house – I was missing my easy to maintain apartment!
I think because Abu Dhabi is such a “foreign” place to most people, it is hard for them to understand where we are and what we do. I think it is even difficult for them to ask questions – it is so different from what we know in the States that people don’t know what to ask! As I told my Mom – you only “get it” once you have been there – not even pictures and our stories can give a complete picture. Unfortunately I don’t expect everyone to visit us – though that would be nice! Right now we are between two places – not quite in Melbourne, FL anymore, and not permanent in Abu Dhabi either. It is a strange feeling! Where is “home” actually?!!
Leave a Reply