The 2 Week Point

Somebody told me when I arrived here that I would get homesick once I'd been here for about 2 weeks. I have officially been in Abu Dhabi for 2 weeks today, and while I don't feel like I'm totally home sick by any means, I did find myself thinking about home quite a bit more today than I have at any other point since I've been here.

Of all the things I miss, these are the ones that stuck out in my mind the most today (in no particular order):

1. Cooking with my sister: I bought some pasta at the store the other day to make spaghetti (comfort food), and since eating out is starting to get expensive, I decided I needed to make my own dinner tonight. The whole time I was cooking, I kept remembering all the fun times I've had cooking pasta (and other things, but mostly pasta) with my sister this summer.

2. Watching the Chiefs with my brother: I was able to call my brother Chris today, which was great. I can't remember how, but somehow it was brought up that the Chiefs have their 1st pre-season game tonight. Not only am I going to miss watching them play (even if they lose, I love watching), but watching the games with Chris was always the best. I can't wait until I get to do that again.

3. Being a swim coach: It's just a habit of mine that whenever I see somebody swim, I immediately start making a list of things that they could fix in my head. Well, today at the pool, I saw some kids who have obviously participated on a swim team at some point because they were swimming all the different strokes and telling each other "Take your mark . . . " and what not before they would push off the wall. Their mom was trying to give them some pointers with very little success, and the coach in me just couldn't resist so I went up and asked her if they were on a swim team anywhere. She told me how they had just started swimming that spring for a team just outside of London, and I told her about how I am a swim coach. To make a long story short, I had the opportunity to give the kids some pointers on their strokes. Doing so just made me realize how much I miss all of my swimmers back home in KC. :(

4. My nephew: There was no one moment that made me miss Tyler today, but I found myself talking about him 3 or 4 different times with various people throughout the day. I was getting his picture out of my wallet to show them and everything. I'm a proud uncle, what can I say?


To be honest, I love it here in Abu Dhabi, as well as all the wonderful people I have met thus far, and I don't want to go home anytime soon. But if you'll allow me to be a bit cliche, I will say that distance and time definitely do make a person realize which parts of their life they treasure the most.

Good night from Abu Dhabi,

Matt