JULY 09
No knapsack, I have found myself. On a Switzerland train in silver heels, I sling my fake Prada on my shoulder instead of a guitar. A handsome uniformed boy describes peace-keeping conscription for Suisse defense. I realize I am reading the quotes on the train from my middle-aged bubble.
“DIE VER SUCHUNG, DIETER, DRAMALIKER, ROMANCIER, ZU WERDEN IS GROSS. MIT EIN WENIG TALENT UND PHANTASIE KANN MAN ES SCHAFFEN” J R VON SALIS
“TUTTE LE VIE CHE DERIVANO DAL VERO SONO BUONE QUELLE CHE DERIVANO DALLE TEORIE A DALLE REGOLE POSSONO ESSERE FALLACI” VINCENZO VELA
Basel, Weichs, Lausanne… a crisp breeze through the beer gardens. Four official languages, Mozart’s Opera in Italian with German and French subtitles on the screen. People meet as they walk along the market cobblestones beneath the multi colored shuttered windows. Large leaves crumple and fine gravel crinkles under my heels as I keep walking and walking; reminiscing and drinking in as much as Europe as possible.
I know I took this for granted in Canada. “How Beautiful! How Clean!” tourists would comment. I knew they were right, but had never known anything else. We recycle, we don’t litter, “take out more than you take in” when we camp. I have never heard of the Saskatchewan river polluted from industry. Restored to a beautiful turquoise 100 years later like the Reine. My girls weekend trip was too quick. I walk out from cigarette littered airport entrance into stainless steel and Helvetica type. I am spoiled by Canada’s more considerate (and less) smokers.
I feel like Dubai gives my children some example of the global scale. Living here, and traveling to other countries. The opportunity they have to meet people from all over the world. However, a large expat workforce means we have a huge demographic gap. Teenagers 18-24 are usually studying abroad, and the elderly are almost invisible. I smile remembering the elderly in Europe, walking up and down hills, getting groceries, walking dogs, visiting friends. A wonderfully whole society. I hope Dubai can build the bike culture, and pedestrian society that we even push for in Canada.
I am working on Dubai landscapes now. Capturing the beauty of the desert. The red sand dunes and the nature that does exist amongst highly polished contemporary design. The silence of the desert, and when you finally get there, it speaks to you.
Visiting your life.
Thursday, February 19th, 2009“Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not;
but remember that what you now have
was once among the things you only hoped for.”
—Epicurus (341 BC – 270 BC)
We will be visiting Vancouver this spring, a year since we moved to Dubai. I am nostalgic about Canadian values of equality, education, respect for differences and a stabilized honest life. (Even the banks don’t require assistance in this financial crisis). I am proud to have grown up in crisp, conservative, considerate, coniferous Canadian.
Canadian life is full of chores and activities. Busy multi-tasked lives with little disposable income, but surrounded by the luxury of good citizens that respect great friends, and natural beauty. We take care of the Canadian environment.
I anticipate seeing a fresh perspective. Enjoying the culture shock of returning to something so familiar as my skin. Not realizing what has changed in myself — until I’m surrounded by my old habits. I can’t wait to see everyone.
Surviving the stress of immigrating to a new country was easy knowing my parents did it with so much less. No job offer waiting, polite interviewers wouldn’t tell them their education was not valid in Canada. My sister and I were two small babies, and my parents had no network of people to rely on. No ‘personal days’ back then when your children were sick.
Acclimatized in Dubai one year later, my News Years’ goal to fit in my husbands’ jeans can’t compare. (My mom certainly wasn’t getting her nails done.) My parents were not looking for charity, just an opportunity to prove themselves. Just a chance. Canada gave them that, and a future for their children. I can see Dubai as a bridge for some.
Exposed to so many cultures, we enjoy each other, learning so much. I joke how at a Dutch party I was kissing everyone three times on the cheek. Now when I see my friends in Dubai I kiss them three times. “If I can kiss a room full of men I don’t know, at least my friends should have a kiss three times!”
“Working as a foreign correspondent, we were trained to read through the competitor’s headlines before your second cup of coffee.” Says my good friend. The Dubai newspaper hints at Canada amongst international headlines. (Pickton’s family is suing the police for destroying their pig farm?) Dubai international headlines are graphic, touching and political issues are never black and white. (How could school have made Social Studies so boring and insensitive?) I feel closer to the political strife here amongst Dubai’s demographic mixture of 1st and 3rd world. I realize to some degree what my family left behind in Chile.
The financial crisis has affected Dubai. The mood is grim at times, projects have been cut, families leaving. People leave their life in a glove box, their keys in abandoned cars at the airport. There is cautiousness here, a worry of the economic future. Cost of living is high, stocks are down, school fees are high. Rent is dropping from 320,000dhs a year, but it is still high at 200,000dhs ($4500/month). — And here, rent is paid in full for the entire year.
My husband and I have a lovely safe home, family, two wonderful children and a relationship that has grown over 17 years. We are rewarded in our highly competitive careers and have friends from all over the world. What else could I have ever hoped for?
When some days are overwhelmed by disappointments and minor frustrations, life is full of so many more significant things to remember. It is best to keep the right photos, the good thoughts. Like a library of memories, it is worth investing in the right literature.
We have had the success of knowing what we wanted in life. Taking the steps to get there, then the hard part… remembering to take the care to maintain everything we could have hoped for.
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