Transient

Hey friends,

Ever since I have moved out of my old apartment, and into a temporary house, waiting to move into my new apartment, I feel like I am stuck in between worlds. I am neither here nor there, and it's a very strange feeling. I also left my old job and will be starting a new job soon, so that's been a bit weird too. It's like those situation in the movies, where you see characters stuck between the two worlds: life and death. I am in a very transitional phase of my life right now: moving from one house to another, moving from one job to another. Every single person I have talked to in Dubai has came up with one term for this city: Transient. Here is what it means (courtesy of dictionary.com):

1. not lasting, enduring, or permanent; transitory.
2. lasting only a short time; existing briefly; temporary: transient authority.
3. staying only a short time: the transient guests at a hotel.
4. a person or thing that is transient, esp. a temporary guest, boarder, laborer, or the like.

I thought back to the time when I came here in 1998, and all those friends I made, and stayed in touch with have all disappeared off the face of the planet. Where are they now? People move on. Old people leave. New people come in. At my last workplace, I saw more people coming and going in my life than my entire lifetime. This phenomenon was something I did not witness in my years at Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. There things seemed more permanent. I think a lot of factors play a role in people coming and going in and out of Dubai: rising cost of living/ expenses, job insecurities, better opportunities abroad among other reasons.

I myself am thinking along the lines of leaving Dubai too because of better job offers elsewhere outside of this country. Nothing is confirmed, as I am going to be working in my new job soon, but I know there will come a day soon when I would want to pack my bags and move elsewhere to a different country, probably my own home country of Pakistan, and make a better living.

Transient. Transitory. Temporary. I am only but a person, simply in transit.

Mansur