Shadow and Light

"When I first moved to the Middle East, I only expected the extreme heat, sun, sand, dust, and good food. It never once occurred to me that I might meet someone there. That was the furthest thing from my mind. For me, the main purpose of moving abroad was so that I could experience living away from home, be semi-independent, and explore a new country with all that it had to offer. I wasn’t expecting to be in a relationship but I knew that I wanted to experience something new; something different, a complete 180 from what I had known in Manila. I arrived there with open eyes and an open heart. I had no judgments, no reservations, and no preconceived notions. I was a sponge ready to absorb new information and experiences, but not in a romantic sense. So imagine my surprise when I met someone I would eventually get into a relationship with throughout my stay in the Middle East.

It began with a random girls night out during my early days at work. One of my girlfriends, who I knew from Manila, had moved to the Middle East for work as well. She was working as a cabin crew member and wanted to meet up and go out. She suggested that I invite one of my officemates to tag along. The officemate who joined us was a long-time resident there. We all ended up at the bar of the Sheraton Hotel. At the time, you could only drink alcohol at hotel bars and the purchase of alcohol anywhere else was prohibited. My officemate brought along an Arab friend and introduced us. As the night wore on, I got to know this friend better. He spoke fluent English and he was charming, funny, and cute — all the hallmarks of a romantic movie male lead. It definitely boosted my ego that he was also flirting with me throughout the night. Before parting ways, we exchanged our phone numbers.

For 21-year old me, it was all so thrilling! Oh my god, someone was interested in me! I could hardly believe it! I had butterflies in my stomach every time my phone beeped with a text from him, even more when it was a phone call! Ah, young love! We went on a couple of dates (ice cream, coffee, dinner) before he officially asked me to be his girlfriend.

The whole new budding relationship was so new for me. There I was, dating a boy from a different culture, different background, different everything. The novelty of it all was exciting! Being together felt different. Thrilling. Out of the ordinary. I grew to understand Islam in a different light (no, I didn’t convert but I did read the Quran from cover to cover!). I even managed to quit drinking altogether even when I returned to the Philippines for vacations. It felt like a whirlwind romance. I even entertained thoughts about a future with him, staying for good in the Middle East and actually marrying him. I really thought he was “the one.”

While we were together, he would give me gifts, big and small. But of the many experiences and gifts given to me, the most important one was Sophie, a Saluki. She was my royal Egyptian dog with tassels below her ears, a feathered tail, and feathered legs. I got her as a puppy, when she was probably still too young to be weaned from her mother. Normally, I thought that all puppies were cute, but no, not Sophie. When she was given to me in a box (A used cardboard BOX! Facepalm. She could have at least been placed in a nice box, with a bow), she was really ugly. She looked like a small, brown, dirty little rat. But okay – she was a gift and I was a willing recipient. It was a dog! Here I was living in the Middle East and I had a dog! I picked the name Sophie because it sounded regal, much like how I expected her to grow up looking, eventually. She was also my Dink, as she would later fondly be called by family. That nickname evolved from the many iterations of Sophie by everyone in my family: Fiffer, Fifai, Fiffer Dink, and then eventually just Dink. I put Sophie in the passenger seat of my SUV and texted my dad.

“I have a surprise for you!”

His reply was, “Oh good. I hope it’s food.”

When he arrived in our little one-bedroom apartment, he looked at me in a puzzled sort of way even before his foot stepped over the threshold. He glanced at the dining table, then looked back at me and said apprehensively, “What is it? What’s the surprise?”
I gave him a look which I’m pretty sure showed I was up to something, and glanced at something on the floor, near my bed. It most definitely was not food.

A very loud, slightly panicked “No no no no no! That better not be what I think it is!” followed and I just laughed. I showed him the new puppy. He took one look at her, shook his head, and sighed.

And just like that, Sophie was the newest member of our family."