Approaching the End

It struck me recently just how close we are to the end of our time in Dubai. Since the Viva Bollywood cast departed, the rest of us have been left a little bit dumbstruck and floundering. "That's right", we remember, "We are all leaving soon too. This will end. This was all temporary."

The mainstage cast, Angry Birds crew, street team, and Globo gang all are based in the UK, they will all fly home together. In the late evening of April 8th, I will send off my casts in a bus to Abu Dhabi for their flight to Heathrow before a lone car picks me up for the shorter trek to the Dubai airport and my much longer flight to JFK. I will land at 8:30am EST after a grueling 14 hours in a silver tube. And then what next? I don't know.

The constant swirl of people here has exposed to so many amazing and new things, cultures, information, languages, and lessons I never even dreamed of learning. I thought myself well educated and had my own ignorance laid out in front of me very quickly. Nothing shows you how little you know like traveling beyond your comfort zone. Nothing else shows you how much more there is still to learn, either.

I am returning to my city a different person than the one who left. She still can't speak Arabic, but is learning Hindi and vaguely understands Urdu. She still speaks too quickly but is starting to slow down a little. The fiery temper is still there, but she's learning to pick her battles. She hasn't had a drop of alcohol all week and doesn't miss it as much as she thought, but she misses her bartenders terribly. Her priorities and patience for things have shifted. She has shifted.

I desperately miss my family and friends, but a large part of me also knows that I won't fit into New York the same way I did. I will be shifting upon my arrival there. A new apartment, a new routine, a new life and a new career path yet to be determined. We're all still holding our breath as the end approaches, I can't believe it's already come so soon.