Those of you who were in Tripoli today will have witnessed a dust storm descend upon the city. Like me, you may have spent the time locked indoors, strategically placing wet towels around door frames in order to prevent the dust permeating into the house. “What a beautiful light”. remarked my husband, of the deep orange dusky coloured light which fell through our window panes. “It would make an incredible sunset”. “Yes, if you could get the sand out of your eyes” I snapped. My “glass half empty” perspective may have been swayed just a little by the fact that I have spent the last month out of the country. A return visit to my home country for precious time spent with family and friends. It’s not difficult to feel a sense of loss when returning from time spent at ‘home’. There are the inevitable comparisons which resurface, and for most, there is the very real awareness that friends and family are so very far away: for me, three planes, long airport transfers and about 30 hours travel from door to door. I am exhausted just thinking about it. The choice we make as expats, to leave our support network and build a new life in a foreign land is one that is constantly revisited, in particular by the frequent questions from those back home “When are you coming home? To get married? To have children? To retire? To grow old? Are you ever going to settle down?” Questions which don’t always carry answers, least of all for those of us on this journey. So I’m back, and despite my earlier comments (I blame jet-lag and sleep deprivation), I’m ready to embrace the things that I love about this country, its people and my experience here. I choose to see the glass half full. Look out Libya. Here I come! EmmaLook_Out_Libya_%7C_Expat_intv.html

glass half full

letter from the editor



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Last updated: Wednesday 10th March 2010.

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This month we catch up with Maureen ; a Canadian who has moved on from her assignment in Libya to the Netherlands. Look_Out_Libya_%7C_Expat_intv.html

Latest: Want to know more about the man behind the new English bookshop? New article “Reading Aloud” by Kate Minogue.  Read it here.