Maybe you grew up watching the TV show "Dallas". I know that I did. Friday nights I was glued to the TV for the Dukes of Hazzard, Dallas, and Falcon Crest. [maybe I shouldn't have admitted that - but oh well, there it is - it's true]. So I've been thinking about "Dallas" a little this summer.
One of the odd feelings that Cindy and I have had this summer is how familiar it feels to be back in America. We have lots of friends, we are enjoying seeing family, we know lots of great things to do and great places to go.... And it feels like we could step back into our lives here without any problem. Same people, same places, same everything. And it would be like our year in Dubai never happened. It would be one of those things where we'd ask each other, "Did we really do that? Did we really live there? Did we meet all of those people? Did all of those things happen?" It would be like the "Dallas" dream season [season 8, if you recall, was simply one of Pam Ewing's dreams].
That's how the summer in America has made us feel - like our life in Dubai is a million miles away and not quite real. Friends who've lived overseas - including several military veterans - have said the same thing about their overseas experiences. It seems like a whole different life - not completely real.
Of course, we know our life is real. I have plane tickets, pictures, and paychecks to prove it. And of course our time in Dubai isn't like Pam Ewing's season-long nightmare - we've loved our time in Dubai. We've met some great friends. And of course we know that we're going back in about two weeks. But it has been a strange feeling to live in two places. When we're here, our life in Dubai doesn't seem quite real. And I suppose that when we get there, America won't seem completely real, either.
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