The Other Side

We've been in Dubai for a week now. It feels like we've been here forever.

The very beginning was not great. I kept thinking things had better get better. Malta International Airport offered up it's most unprofessional personnel, the plane we were on (for eight hours) was an old one so it lacked all the fancy stuff we'd promised Emily and stuff we'd banked on for entertainment, Adam screamed for three hours straight because he was annoyed that he wasn't in his cot, Emily gagged on a piece of pasta and vomited all over herself and her blankie, the meet and greet service we booked (to make things easier because we were landing at 1am and wanted as smooth a transition as possible) were waiting to meet and greet us at a different gate to the one we got dropped off at, and to top it all off, when we got to our (non-smoking but still stinks of smoke) apartment at around 3am, the cot we'd booked for Adam wasn't there.

I was in no mood for much else by that point. It was 3am, I was exhausted and really stressed out, and I regretted it all. Emily was in a similar situation, saying already that she wanted to go home. I hated that I couldn't muster up the positive energy to so much as try to convince her otherwise. All I could do was hug her.

The cot arrived and eventually, we went to sleep.

When we woke up, things were different. Somehow, we got the kids on to UAE time within the day, and they were in bed by 7pm. This was something I had been worried about as I didn't want to spend a week wasting mornings because they were fast asleep until 10:30am every day.

They did wake up late that first morning, but it was all about catching up on sleep. They were obviously so disorientated from the broken night the night before on the flight over, they had no idea whether they were coming or going so fell into the routine I offered them right away. I am hugely proud of them for this.

Everything got better. David and I were the walking dead that first day, but we had smiles on our faces. We ran some errands, and by the time David started work after the weekend (Sunday!), I was eager to and confident about getting out on my own.

The kids have adjusted well, Adam especially, but that's no surprise. Emily loves Dubai but has struggled with missing her friends. It's broken my heart (and the hearts of the mothers of the friends who also miss her) to think that they understand friendship so deeply at such a young age. We are eager to meet up with everyone in Malta in the Summer.

All in all, I regretted the move at 3am on the night we arrived, but there hasn't been a moment of remorse since then. I find myself wishing we moved here years ago. I feel at home, at last. I feel like I fit in. I am deeply happy and content and so very glad I gave in and said yes to the move.

I have lots to blog about. We celebrated Adam's birthday early the weekend before we left Malta, to be able to celebrate with family and friends there. We hope to move out of temporary accommodation and into the house next week. Emily is fully in big girl pants and Adam is trying to walk!

Here's a quick look at what we've been up to this week: