Here I am again. Back where everything started in 2018. It is where the journey of “Musafira” began. The name of the place might be the same, yet everything has changed.
And it happened suddenly.
One job ended and the next began.
Trips back and forth over the bridge from Bahrain to Dammam.
Adding more and more stamps on top of stamps in my passport with bent pages, frayed edges.
It has been a hell of a week. Searching for apartments, starting a new job and being thrown in the middle of a training program with no preparation. Enrolling my son in daycare. Driving….
In Saudi, all traditional road-rules go out the window.
In the first week, I am not proud to say that I have abandoned the turn-signal, parked in handicapped spaces, passed in emergency lanes, and cut-off a number of people on the road. Because if you drive any other way, there is no hope for you. You might as well say goodbye to your bumper.
All of the chaos settled for a moment today while sitting in a specialty coffee shop on lunch break.
“I really am back in Saudi. And it feels quite nice to be here.”
The journey from here, to Bahrain, to Germany, to Thailand, to the US, to Qatar, to Bahrain again; has lead me back to the place where I created myself and started a career.
But this time around, Saudi is a different place.
Even the rain falling on the window and the freezing cold breeze makes me think of somewhere else.
I heard Taylor Swift playing in the supermarket.
I played with my son in the park this week wearing jeans and a hoodie (which even feels weird where I was living in Bahrain).
Who knows, perhaps I have found the place I meant to be. Perhaps I have found my freedom on this rainy day in Saudi.
musafira 