As I started doing this in 2024, I might as well do one for 2025/beginning of 2026.
Its been almost a year since my last post. 2025 has been…a ride. The beginning of the year was okay, I had just graduated, made some new friends and was on the come up for something good in life. I found a job that I thought I would stay in for a while, but because of recent management changes, after two months of my recruitment, I was honorably fired. At that time, I had moved out of my parents’ place up in the suburbs and went downtown, close to where all the functions happen. I won’t lie, the move was incredibly scary. I hadn’t gotten used to living alone for a while, but after a few weeks of being by myself, I felt okay. During that time, I was with someone who’s been with me for a while; we’d gone through some rough patches, but it seemed we managed to hurdle whatever came at us, whether it be individually or as a couple. In October, I went for work to London. I was the creative manager for a fundraiser. I had the chance to meet Emma Watson, Lucy Dacus, and other famous people who I can’t remember at the top of my mind. (They were mostly fashion and finance influencers whom I never heard of but knew they were famous.) When I came back to Greece, I again, tried job hunting. But because of Greece’s competitive nationalistic mindset, I could not find a job so easily. I tried looking internationally but I learnt the hard lesson of “know people who know people”. December came around and I was broken up with. I spent my birthday with my family and consecutively, Christmas.
I’m 25 now. In the middle of January, I was called and asked to come to the office where I took some training courses for an HR position. The hiring manager, a family friend, and a used-to-be colleague asked me if I was interested in a job in Abu Dhabi. For those who don’t know, I lived in Abu Dhabi for the majority of my life. I quickly said yes. Nothing was working for me in Greece, and I needed a change of weather, literally and metaphorically. After signing my contract, I started preparing to leave Greece. I moved out of the apartment I recently moved into. I packed my bags, got all the paperwork ready, and just began preparing myself for a new chapter in my life. The last few days before my travel, I played a lot of games, ahhaha, this might sound silly, but I was basically burning myself to milk the very last of my dopamine hits. I also played with my friends, who I knew would miss me dearly as our communication channels were blocked in the UAE. And so, the 7th of February came, and I had to leave. My parents took me to the airport and helped with all the formalities. We walked to the gates and for the first time, I saw my dad crying. He held me, and hugged me with his arms wrapped around my head and said “I’ll miss you, son.” My mom was bawling. She knew I would be safe, but she also knew that this was something she’d had to do, to let her bird out of his nest. We huddled and we hugged as if this would be the last time we would see each other; this is the type of hug that displaced families do when one member leaves the family unit. I walked towards the security gates and waved at them. As I passed through passport control, I turned around for one final wave. I could see them next to each other, my dad’s hand around her shoulder and his eager smile knowing I’m going somewhere better for me, and I could see my mom wiping the tears off with the ball of her palm.
As I landed in Abu Dhabi, I could feel a bit of tension in my stomach. An anxious, uneasy, new-moment coming my way. I was excited but also scared. New people, new environment, new workplace, but also, people who speak the same language, a world where I can let go and be myself without feeling like I don’t belong, and just a safe, clear-headed idea that this, as much as it is not Bethlehem, is my second home. I had a driver pick me up from the airport. We drove almost 20 minutes to the company accommodation. It was a shabby building with shabby people and a shabbier room. The whole building smelt of old mold and nastiness. I did what I could with the smell, I opened up the windows and went to sleep. The next morning, the same driver that picked me up from the airport came early and took me to the office. The early sun rising on the horizon of the dunes of the desert really did it for me. I was in a familiar place.
I’ve been to these offices before when I was a kid. My dad used to work here, and, on the odd occasion, I’d join him. As soon as I walked in, everyone thought that I was my dad. They were all staring and laughing at the similarities that I have with him. Regardless, they are all so lovely and kind and they were welcoming on my first day.
I now have my own apartment and my own car, and I can safely say that I’m on the road to healing. It’ll take some time, but I guess I’ll have to make do with what I have. And it might not seem a lot, but I now have my childhood friends who we go out for beers every Friday after work; a massive social change from having no one to interact with in Greece to friends who I can trust and be myself with here in Abu Dhabi.
I’m writing this in my office. I should be responding to emails and whatnot, but it’s Tuesday morning and I don’t have a lot of work. The coffee in this place is so good. It has a sweet taste with low notes of caramel.
