A Spanish state-of-mind

Since I have arrived in the land of paella and sangria, I have been extremely busy with the usual things you do when you have moved countries for an extended period of time. Apartment, language, groceries, laundry, phone line, new people, etc etc.

The days have gone so quickly, I can‎’t believe I have been here a week already. And I have been so calm within. So at peace with myself. Didn’t think I’d feel so rejuvenated so soon.

I think it’s because it is just refreshing to be in a ‘normal’ country. A ‘real environment’. An environment where the grass is uneven and people don’t shave if they don’t want to. And knowing that I am here for a while makes it mean a lot more. It’s not just a 3 week vacation from life. It is my life for 6 months.

People here are just ‘being’. They are not trying to be the richest in the world, or the smartest. They want their weekends and will not sacrifice them to make some extra bucks. They will drive their 1988 Fiat as long as it runs. They will shut shop at 5pm, go to the beach, have a drink, eat some good food, meet some friends and just chill.

They are not trying to fit into a mould that is has been preconceived as the ideal ‘mould’. They are who they are, they earn what they earn, they do what they want. So natural. The way it should be.

I guess when you have been so accustomed to a place like Dubai where you need to be the best, richest, hottest, smartest, tallest to be noticed, a natural environment hits you like a bolt of lightening. And when you realize that this is how most people live all over the world, you realize what you have been missing living in the bubble of Dubai.

Perhaps it is just a state of mind I am in at the moment. Perhaps I’ll want to fly back home in a few weeks. Perhaps I will appreciate Dubai more than I do at the moment. Perhaps I won‎’t. I really do not know.