Dubai Life as I Lived It - I remember

Remembering what everything was like.

Since coming to Dubai, I have never seen myself suffer in the changes, challenges and obstacles that one has to face on a daily basis. These things helped me grow mature and somehow “scarred” me.

Imagine moving to a place where everything is unsure and the only thing that is sure is the fact that everything is unsure. See how confusing it is? I am writing this in total recall yet everything for me was a “BLAH!”. But for the sake of having to tell my story on how I am doing in Dubai, I’m trying to flip open all possible dots that could somehow connect my life from the past to the present.

I remember trying to check the amount I will be sending back to the Philippines given that my salary was of a humble amount but is not given on time.

I remember trying to budget a bag of Spanish Bread for 3-4 days for my lunch at work. I would buy a box of instant coffee and store it in my drawer in the office. Consuming one stick a day and trying to smile above all these. Back then the Metro was the only mode of transport I get. I seldom get into taxis in the thinking that this will never let me survive.

I remember trying to extend my salary to more than a month since we don’t get it on the dot. It is always delayed and sometimes doesn’t come for more than 3 weeks to a month. I remember my officemates and I share 5 dirhams just to make sure one gets to the office so no one can get a deduction for the monthly salary that doesn’t come at the end of the month.

I remember going to work on a weekend – wasted to the level that I felt that throwing up in the bathroom was the agenda for that day. I drank the night before with a mind-set that I will never have a regular weekend off since my job doesn’t allow me too.

I remember walking in the cold winter breeze at 7 in the morning going to the train station then realizing that the breeze was too much. I didn’t take the taxi as I can’t afford it. And even if I can, it may be my last bill and have to wait for the next uncertain salary date.

I remember being asked in the mall “Do you want to buy something?” and inside I would rephrase the question to “Can I afford to buy something?”

I remember waking up to the sound of my alarm clock, going down from my bunk bed and realizing that tears have flown down my cheeks. Bewildered about the idea that I am working but not getting paid in a city that somehow can offer everything – including a good reflection about life – at a certain price. A humble amount that I not getting.

When I was new, I was taken away by the dream; the promise of life and the comfort to the sound of the phrase “Living the Dubai Life”. It was a ride that changed me.