Everything is shiny...

Conservative, traditional, segregated, sweltering, sandy - of all the adjectives I would have thought would describe my new home, shiny certainly was not among them. Yet that is what keeps coming to mind. From the shimmering glass and steel of the Al-Faisaliah Tower to the glistening waters of my compound pool. From the sparkling fountains adorning the hospital grounds to the resplendent luxury vehicles cruising the streets. From the mountains of incandescent gold and jewels of the Dira gold souq to the delicate sparkle of the sequins on my otherwise austere abaya. This is my shiny new life.

Let me rewind a few years - the last time I wrote here I was leaving the African continent for home. Since then I have been working in Calgary and biding my time until my next big adventure. Of course I managed to mix in a sprinkling of travels throughout my time in Calgary - driving across the maritimes with my sister, house building in El Salvador, venturing to Northern Canada by train with my friend Danielle and traveling back to East Africa to summit Mt. Kilimanjaro with my dad. I've also been enlightened on the kinds of adventures one can have when staying rooted for a little while - I bought a house and started to feel a little settled in Calgary, I worked in a busy Calgary Emergency Department and learned many things both inspiring and depressing about the world, I have made some wonderful friends who's company and support I dearly treasure and I've even discovered that life's joys and struggles can be shared with someone you care about to the betterment of both.

But alas, I can't stay for long.

So now here I sit, nine time zones from home, in my new apartment listening to the whirr of the a/c and outside my window the sounds of chaotic traffic mingle effortlessly with the wailing cry of call to prayer. I am in Arabia.