Back to the Motherland: January 2014

The whole point of this blog was to keep everyone (including my future self) updated on my goings on in the motherland. And guess what I didn't do - not once - while I was in the motherland: write a single blog entry. So here's the nutshell version of my 5 weeks in the desert.

To recap since it's been a while: management sent me on a TDY to the US consulate in Dubai last November/December to keep me busy while they continue trying to find me a new home (more on that later). Actually getting to do my job for real was a remarkable experience and showed me quite plainly that all this waiting has been worth it. I worked a LOT making up for lost time and it was fantastic.

My father timed a business trip so he could be in Dubai for my entire first week there. He showed me around town and did all sorts of touristy things with me - the fancy mall with the indoor ski slope, the dancing fountains in front of the tallest building in the world, the palm-shaped island in the middle of the Gulf, that building shaped like the sail of a boat, the third-largest mosque in the world in Abu Dhabi, one of those desert "safaris" - I can't remember when my father and I had so much fun together.

I spent my second week in Casablanca leading a training program that had been planned long before my TDY. Unfortunately it was cold and rainy and I didn't really get to see much of the city, but at least I got to go to Morocco! The night before I flew to Casablanca I got to go to a reception for the Dubai Air Show aboard the U.S.S. Harry S. Truman...quite possibly one of the coolest things I've ever had the chance to do. Everyone should take a tour of the flight deck of an aircraft carrier at least once in their lives, just saying.

Thanksgiving weekend was extra long for us since the following Sunday/Monday was UAE National Day (the country celebrated its 42nd birthday - also unclear as to why it was a two-day celebration but hey, why not). Since I was already on that side of the world, I took the opportunity to go to Cairo and see the family. The city feels different than it did the last time I was there, pre-revolution(s), but it was good to be back nonetheless. I especially enjoyed meeting the 4 new family members that have come onto the scene since my last visit. They're the cutest, seriously. I also got to party with my cousin Sahra - she showed me parts of Cairo I've never seen and shared her super cool friends with me. Very good times.

Back in Dubai for 3 weeks, I hung out with my GW friend Priyanka who lives there now, made some great new friends, loved a little, worked a lot, and made Dubai my own. That city has ruined me for every other place. At least it's only an hour flight from Kuwait, my new home. Like how I just casually threw that in there? My limbo is (allegedly) over!

I came back to my home base in DC (thank you, thank you, thank you Chris) for a week and then headed to Florida for Christmas and New Year's. I loved every minute of it except for the part where I got the flu that turned into the bronchitis I now have. Seriously though, I got to catch up with dear friends and spend lazy days with my ladies...and little man Murray. Heaven. AND Lindsey and Dave came to visit! Mom and I also managed to rescue a smaller blonde version of Murray we saw wandering the streets. We let him spend one night with us but let's be honest, it's Murray's house. Period. Blondie is in a good foster home, don't worry.

Up next: I'm heading out in a couple of weeks on another series of TDYs - over the course of the next 3 1/2 months I'll be in Kuwait, Dubai, Oman, Casablanca, Cairo, Bahrain and Jordan. Then I'll come back to DC, pack up my life and move to Kuwait. At least that's the plan...we all know how that goes. I'm thinking of having a one-year anniversary party of my original going away party last April. This time for real. Maybe. Deep breaths, one thing at a time, everything is as it should be.