Some well needed family time

I didn't realize how much of a difference my Dad's presence here in Qatar makes to me until I had to be alone for the first time in this country since last November. My family - Mom, Devin, and Steve (brother-in-law) - visited Doha last week. I saw them back in December, but it was a little harder seeing them go this time because I have no clue when I'll see them next.

They came in last Friday night just in time to catch the end of the post-rugby-tournament festivities. Saturday we slept in a bit, went to lunch at the Ritz with my dad's boss, Dr. Abdullah from QF, shopped around at the souqs, and then went to dinner at Thai Snack. Sunday was another lazy day in the morning followed by a dhow cruise all afternoon starting at 2pm, with an early bedtime to get enough sleep for an early start on Monday. Monday and Tuesday we spent in Muscat, Oman. We did the usual tourist things: lounged around the pool/beach at the hotel, took a city tour to Muttrah/Old City of Muscat/Bustan to see the Grand Mosque, Sultan's palace, souqs, museums, etc., and went on a dolphin watching/snorkeling boat tour of the coast. It was a whirlwind and I definitely want to go back to Oman, but now I don't feel like I need to go to Muscat anymore and can go straight to Salala, which I hear is even more beautiful! Anyway, Wednesday and Thursday I had to work in the mornings, so my dad took the other 3 to the malls and on tours of Education City. Wednesday afternoon we did a desert safari, and Thursday afternoon we putzed around at the souq again and had dinner at the Iraqi restaurant. Friday came way to quickly, and I had to take all 4 of them to the airport and see them off all together b/c my dad was flying back for a conference. That was a bit depressing. I pretend not to be emotional about these things but it always hits me with a delay reaction.

So here I am, back in my own apartment after having spent the week at my dad's place. I had loads of cleaning, laundry, grocery shopping, and cooking to do in preparation for being incapacitated for a few weeks come this Wednesday. I had a great week with the family, but it ended on a less-than-positive note. The last night I decided to take Devin and Steve out to the Irish bar at the Sheraton, and we had a great time. It wasn't until on the way home that Devin decided to bring up the sensitive topic of my shoulder surgery in the same manner that got me into an argument with my Dad about the necessity of playing rugby. I've posted before about what being a part of a team means for me and having a competitive outlet through rugby. Somehow I can't verbalize this effectively enough to my family members. And then we get in arguments about why I need to be doing this and why they think it's unnecessary and stupid to return to a sport that got me in this mess in the first place. Not how I see it. Argument aside, it left the week on a slightly sour note, which I whole-heartedly regret. This seems to happen every time I leave to go off somewhere for a long time far from "home." I guess it's just an indication of how much anxiety the separation creates for everybody. One of these days I'm going to figure out how to manage that. I need to if I plan on staying abroad as long as it looks like I might at this point.