The Small Routines That Slowly Make the UAE Feel Like Home
If you ask someone who has just moved to the Emirates about their experience, they will likely respond with phrases like exhilarating, new and quick. Everything you see is moving, whether you look at construction, highways, traffic or even the skyline it’s a visible representation of movement.
However, if you give that same person 1-2 years to adjust, typically their response will change from overall excitement to very little excitement other than routine.
After enough time has passed, they will find places that become part of their routine. For example, visiting a specific café where the employees, know what drink they want before ordering; going to breakfast at 1 p.m. on Fridays with friends and either walking along the coast or talking over multiple cups of coffee until noon.
Some people have developed the habit of driving late at night throughout the city when there is no traffic and enjoy seeing all of the lights reflecting off the buildings. These types of routines/familiarities based on comfort do not happen overnight.
Formation takes time and can happen by accident. An area you’ve only been to on one occasion can soon become a location you’ve been to several times. Someone you met once can now be seen every weekend. An area previously unknown to you can now become an area in which you feel at home.
This is when many people think about the changes that have taken place in them.
Before, the UAE was simply their place of employment.
Now they have started to regard the UAE as their day-to-day life.
And sometimes this discovery happens without warning; a conversation with someone new, walking alone or driving through familiar neighborhoods and streets.
