After a recent visit home, I have found for me at least, that it has done wonders for my outlook here in the desert.  I live in Kuwait and about as far as one can get from the U.S.  The trip is about 18-19 hours of flying time and it’s almost 10,000 miles away.  However, you don’t get the chance to realize just how far or close that distance really is until you have made at least one additional trip beyond your original flight to get here.  That second flight serves to help you understand that you can easily travel back and forth if you so desire.  Your only hindrance under normal conditions to leaving is just how willing you are to walk away from your job if you really need or want to.  No one owns you here and even if you have an agreement with your employer, you can walk away if you just can’t handle it anymore.  Not everyone can and an adventure such as this one isn’t for everyone.  There’s no shame in not being cut out for the experience.

When you come to Kuwait and if you have never been here, it can be an overwhelming experience.  The hours you keep and the requirements of settling into your new home can be a bit dehumanizing.  While I wasn’t required to live in shared housing, some are and it can be an additional hit to the standard of living you may have been accustomed to.  There’s blood tests, and blood typing and more blood tests along with x-rays to be sure you are not carrying some disease that could get you deported.  You get checked out and if you fail, you are sent home.  No pats one the head or hugs goodbye, just a ticket home and away you go.  It’s been said you will be lucky to get your personal things that you may have left in your apartment if you are deemed to be a carrier of a notable and contagious illness.  Even though I had nothing to worry about, the process is still a bit degrading especially when you know you are healthy.
Additionally, the language barrier while not intentional, does exist.  English is the international language of business but not everyone understands or speaks it many still speak Arabic as one might have guessed.  This is after all Arab country.  This can also leave you feeling isolated and unable to blend in with society as easily you might have liked to.  As you do travel and begin to mingle with society, you find yourself looking at colors, shapes and pictures to get you through the day sometimes. The road system is more British than the Roman grid and this makes getting lost at first pretty easy.  If you are a visually oriented person, you may have a better chance of succeeding and finding your way around but there’s still that dehumanizing feeling of once being a successful and productive member of society that knows their way around.  (You area productive member of society aren’t you?  How would you have landed a job here if you weren’t?) and now you may feel lost as a puppy.
If this isn’t enough to disorient you, try adding the factor of working on a contract that supports the military if you dare.  This is completely different to what you may have done in the corporate world.  It’s not the same and the only way one can truly understand it is to experience it.  One easy to identify challenging difference is working nights if you were a day worker.  I will say no more on this subject but this is one additional factor to add to the desert experience and the new disorienting world that is the middle east.
On a brighter note, as I mentioned before, the trip back home after a challenging handful of months in the dark has proven to be a major turning point.  When you go home, you remember that you are human and you do have a life back home and you do have friends that miss you and you can still function very well and to some degree, better than before.  I found that I was more able to make decisions and communicate my intent with others both in business and in my personal life while at home.  I think the desert experience has sharpened my ability to recognize the points where I needed to assert myself more and also where to temper my response with a softer approach.  It’s not something that is taught as much as it is learned.

As mentioned earlier, I found that knowing I could leave here if I wanted to does make this feel less like desert exile and more like an adventure that I can stop at any time.  Combine that feeling with the knowledge I have of the place after being recharged at home and I think to myself, “I got this!”