Hard to believe I've been here for a month! I feel the time is going to fly by here... although on the other hand, sometimes time is sloooowwwly ticking by... i.e. now, I'm actually at work writing this because I just have a few patients today. No.... I'm not a slacker, here it's fairly common to have cancellations and no-shows even though from the beginning I was having a full schedule, by the end of the day there are always at least a couple of cancellations or no-shows. Am I already starting to develop the stereotype of Arab laziness by actually looking forward to easier days or am happy when a patient cancels? he he.
For now... and this may change when I do my "yearly" update, ha ha, I like work! Besides the cultural experience, I am here for work and now I like it. Everyone I work with is super friendly and nice. I like having 1-1 with patients and I've already seen some interesting cases. I've definitely had to adjust to how I practice, but I feel I am doing less "fluff" and more concise treatments than at home. It's also been interesting working with soo many walks of life, and I'm learning a lot about different customs and cultural differences from all these varying nationalities. Looove it! It's funny, when patients call to make appts they don't ask about experience, how long you've been there, your title, etc., they ask what is your nationality. Although I see quite a mix, I have noticed that our Lebanese therapist sees more Arabs, our Philippino sees more Philippino patients, and I see the Westerners! Another interesting thing for me is, and this isn't just work, pretty much everyone in Dubai is in their 20's, 30's, 40's. Kinda fun to work with a "younger population" but sometimes I think, "where are the geriatric population?" Then I remember that this is a transient place and as most of the population are expats, they go home to their native country. And again, you can pretty much ONLY be living here if you are sponsored by a company, so if you are retired, there are no options here.
I won't dwell on this because I still have a positive attitude and am mentally strong, but it's been a bit of an obstacle for me to deal with that for the 1st time in my life, I have a health issue. Teaches me to be stubborn and take moving responsibilities on my own, because a couple of weeks before I left and still now, I have low back pain. Which, looong story short is now officially diagnosed as L4-L5, L5-S1 herniations. Wah wah. So I'm kinda on 'bed rest,' but still working, doing my own PT exercises, and REALLY watching my mechanics. One day at a time, right? Sitting is a disaster, and I had a total flare-up that is still lasting me a week later when I went out to a bar and sat at a low seat, so needless to say, I've been taking it easy. And... let's just saw as far as my social life, it's kinda low key. To be honest, I don't even remember when I had so much free time! I've actually experienced the "b" word, which has rarely happened at home, but here quite a few times... and that is "boredeom!" I think I've already watched like 239048230948 episodes of random TV show reruns. Thanks Vureel (international version of U.S.'s Hulu)!
As anyone who has asked me, I am more than happy to brag about the weather. I came just at the right time for perfect Dubai weather... sunny and pleasant in the 70's and 80's. I understand it gets cooler in the next month or so, so glad I bought those jeans! I honestly have with me a few "warmer" clothes.
My other obstacle has been some paperwork, some authentication papers are "in process" we'll say, and once I get sorted out with that, THEN I can open a bank acct and actually get paid, or find an apartment/villa to live in, or buy a car. In the meantime, I am kinda in limbo and thank gaaaaaaawwwwwddd for the friends I am staying with, they've been SUPER nice and accommodating to me! And patient with my low back "disease." Hvala puno D&R!
Stay tuned! Once I get up on my feet more, literally, hopefully I'll have more action to talk about!! :-)
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