Goodbye London - Hello Abu Dhabi!

The English Countryside image credit

The Desert in Abu Dhabi image credit

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Some things come so easily: one day you wake up and you realize you need to break up with him, or that you don't want to major in Romance Languages, or that you maybe don't actually hate Mayonnaise nearly as much as you thought. But then some things don't come so easily: actually breaking up with him, switching your major, and taking that final leap of faith and putting mayo on your ham sandwich.

Sometimes with some things every fiber of your being hesitates or even screams out in rebellion, and you have to positively choose to do something, go somewhere that is beyond your personal limitations.

Luckily for me, those types of decisions have always been, ultimately, both the most satisfying and the most exciting. While they may be excruciating for a moment, they usually result in a revelation and a great adventure - not to mention increased confidence and experience. Those are the things worth doing, worth risking for.

Mayo? Not exactly. : )

It took almost 5 months of interviews, phone conferences, a weekend trip to the Middle East (for Matt, at least), frenzied googling, and numerous late-night discussions regarding the pros and cons involved in leaving London and going to a place that is about as foreign as most Westerners would ever be able to conceive of, to finally establish and affirmatively decide that yes, we actually will move to Abu Dhabi.

And now that we've decided and really known for about a month and I have settled it in my mind and in my heart and in my queasy-sometimes-secretly-uneasy-gut, I am really excited.

We're moving to Abu Dhabi!

It's hard to emphasize that phrase in the way I do inside my head. It's excitement and wonder and slight incredulity wrapped up in one. I can't tell you how many times I've dreamed of the day we'd leave London. Not that I hate London...anymore. But seriously, the undying hope always rested in my heart that someday very soon I'd be turning in my Oyster card and looking for a car somewhere back in the good old USA. Instead, I'm going to the Middle East, which is unexpected but fortuitous in and of itself. It's a wonderful, unique opportunity - especially in this day in age - and one that I hope will make us all grow and understand the world in a deeper more well-rounded way. Le sigh...

Goodbye London! Hello Abu Dhabi!

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For those of you who, like me, know very little about Abu Dhabi, here are a couple of aesthetically pleasing images (of course) that might make you change some of your immediate and naturally biased, but somewhat press-driven impressions when I say "Middle East."

Abu Dhabi skyline, at night
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The Coffee Pot Fountain, Abu Dhabi
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Abu Dhabi's Grand Mosque
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Louvre Abu Dhabi:
a projected image of Jean Nouvel's finished museum
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Beach in Fujayrah, a sheikdom near Abu Dhabi
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