October 30, 2006 – Stopover in Dubai (04/20/07)

I arrived in Dubai City late on Monday night, October 30^th. I was on my way to Kabul to begin a new job as Financial Controller of a telecommunications company based in my father’s birth city. It was an incredible opportunity that seemed like a dream. My brother worked for the same company as Legal Counsel. He awaited my arrival the next morning.

I hadn’t been to Kabul since August 2003 when my father and his family returned to for the first time in close to 50 years. The experience of being in Kabul with my dad was extraordinary and highly memorable as my first visit had been in May 2002.

It had been 4 years, so I didn’t know what to expect. How much had Kabul changed? How would my job go? How safe would it be? How much would I miss home? Could I handle such a big move being away from home? There were many questions that only being there over days and months would answer.

I had left my family behind in the San Francisco Bay Area. I remember waving to them many times as I went through the security checkpoint at San Francisco International Airport . We all had tears in our eyes. The image of my sweet, beautiful fiancé crying was hard to bear as I got on the plane. During the connecting flight to New York ’s JFK, I felt heavier in my seat than I could remember. I tried to hide my tears. I’m sure the people next to me understood.