Goodbye Sandpit…

So I owe everyone an explanation. I said end of June and here I am a month later. Would hate to be one of those bloggers that had just upped and left and hadn’t bothered with the telling.

Be warned… this could be a long one.

So… You’re a smart lot and you’ve probably worked it out from the title. Yes, I’m leaving Dubai. Very, very long story short, we’ve been idly contemplating change for a while; happened to have a Canadian residency lying around that needed deciding on; and of course happen to have an 11 month old that could do with a home since neither of us really wants to go live where we were born at this point… and things lined up. So we’re making one of the quickest moves in the history of the world… to Toronto. Why quick? Because it gets cold quite soon (well not according to them, but def to long term desert dwellers). And apparently there’s no quicker way to get depressed than to move somewhere when its cold and grey. And we wouldn’t want that now, would we? So we’re off in under 3 months from when we decided.

The past months have been a varying mix of absolute elation and sheer terror. And as the day dawns – literally, we leave in the morning – I find all that giving way to sadness. I didn’t actually think it would be so hard to say goodbye to the sandpit to be honest. Probably shouldn’t be surprised though. That’s what happens when a wandering soul finds a place very close to home I guess.

Oh, let the snobs criticize… to me its been home.

I came here 8 years ago with very little money and a ton of confidence that I could make it on my own in ‘shariah compliant sin city’. Didn’t tell anyone that I was taking a chance; just came here and took it. And guess what? It worked out. I’d say every one of my materialistic dreams came true (except that Range Rover Sport I was lusting after at one point. But hey we need to leave something up there right? I’m only 30- errr 20-something ;)). But more importantly, this is where I grew up! Found my future in more ways than one… properly found a sig other, grew into someone just shy of semi-important on the work front, had that baby! And met some of what I hope will stay the best friends of my life… Learned to drink loads (yes, its odd in an Islamic country, I know), put on make up (including while diving ;)), walk in heels, wheel and deal and many other significant life skills I don’t remember ever living without. All in truly flamboyant Dubai style. Loved every minute! Ok I lie, loved 6 out of every 10 minutes maybe. Seriously, that’s pretty good!

So today, its time to take my head out of the sandpit and go play in the real world. I’m pretty sure I’ll like it. Or who knows maybe I’ll be back here as soon as I possibly can. All I know is that as I say goodbye to the steady trickle of awesome people that came by and called today, I don’t think I’ll ever quite be done with this place! So for the moment, lets just say… till we meet again Dubai.