Friendship in Dubai

When I moved to Dubai 3 years ago, I was very excited and positive but I also knew that I had to face a big challenge: to give up my job and be a “stay at home mom”.
Sounds like a very good plan but that just seemed not right for m e .

Since the 25th of April 2015 we found ourselves in a totally unknown situation: no kindergarten, no friends and relatives, no job. It was about me and my daughter together 24/7.
Twentyfourseven!

I spent the first few months trying to create a positive environment for my daughter Ludovica.

I took part in every single event of the Italian community in Dubai, I was constantly looking for a new play area or a new activity to entertain her.

I didn’t want her to feel lonely, I did’t want to hear from her that she was missing our old life…. And we felt exhausted.

But at the and I realized that we didn’t need all that effort; we just had to spend time together, even without doing anything special.

Little by little we found a new routine, we got used to our new place, met new friends.

And friends was the key for both of us.

FINALLY by the end of August the school started.

We were super excited about the new uniform, the shining backpack and the lunchbox we had prepared together watching bento boxes’ pictures on Pinterest (first and last time for me! 🙂

And there, while waiting for the gate to open I noticed a familiar face.

It was Elena.

She was the one I first contacted for a collaboration when I opened my own company back in Milan 6 years before. She was in San Francisco at that time and due to the distance we couldn’t collaborate.

I was soooo happy to meet a person who knew me, the “other me”, Raffaella before Dubai!

And here we are, three years later, in the same school, arguing all the day long about everything and discussing lots of ideas and projects.

I realized that friendship is so important for me and at the same time that if you have to put such a big effort in a relationship, it probably means that is not the right one. It should come easy.

With Elena is super easy, and this is enough.

(And Elena sorry again for jumping on you on that first day at school screaming at your ears…”Elena, is that you…”??. And by the way you answered with your usual grace “Who wants to know it?”)