When I graduated from high school…It was me who left and ended up alone for the first while…Now, I’ll graduate from college and I won’t leave but I will end up alone too…EVERYONE is leaving…I can’t find a single friend who graduated and still is in Lebanon…and there are few who left even before they graduate…some went to UAE, some went to the states, others went to Australia…etc. There are only one or two who didn’t leave but they want and they will soon and their current jobs are temporary(for them). It’s really hard to me to understand this process, I was 40 days old when I left Lebanon, and I was almost 18 when I came back and guess what?! I never regretted this decision; not because it was horrible out there, on the contrary, it was pretty nice but I will never consider living somewhere else but here.
Back to “there”, the building we lived in had up to 7 Lebanese families in it. And for those who tried to live abroad, you will find it normal… Yes we tend to group together despite all the differences, which makes it really weird when you find the opposite happening here!
Anyway, for those who want to leave (or already left), I am a sample of your future, my parents left as a new married couple, some left single and got married there, some left engaged and got married and the spouse came with him/her later. All of them had children while living abroad, all of them lived there for at least 10 years (my parents 20), all of them had a successful life (keep in mind this is not the case…you might not be that lucky), all of them enjoyed a life that they wouldn’t dream of if they stayed here, and ALL of them are coming back now, the building I told you about… 1 family is still there, and the rest…. they visit each other here now!
I didn’t come back because I miss here, I didn’t even know here to miss it. The thing is no matter how friendly the people are, no matter how living there is great, I always felt I’m a stranger, and believe me it’s not nice to live as a stranger!
And I always say this to my friends: “اشرف الي اتبهدل ببلدي مش برّا”
3 Comments
I think we’re all strangers to the world, to each other and to ourselves, no matter where we are, at least once, at one point in time…
How this world runs, how and why these processes happen, I really don’t understand either…
Blah…
Layal, I admire your strength, your initiative and your patriotism. I have very high esteem for people like you! I wish all arabs were more like you…:)
strength? well thanks because I’ve always thought of it as a weakness…
thanks again and be careful with what you wish for 😛 one of my plans to solve the Arabs’ situation is a couple of nuclear bombs 😀
By the way…”there” that I talked about is where you are from: Egypt..and I had the best time there 🙂
kol sana wente tayyeba 🙂