Today is Tomorrow and Tomorrow is Today

I have made a shocking realization!

Living in a cross-cultural setting is challenging.

{this is not my shocking realization...wait for it}

Living in a cross-cultural setting is confusing and complicated and exciting and fun and exhausting.

{again...not the shocking part...wait for it}

I have always blamed these feelings on certain things:

#1 - functioning in a language that is not my first

#2 - working with people that are not from my own culture

#3 - living in a climate that is HOT

I have discovered that I have been blaming these feelings on entirely wrong things.

Now for the shocking realization:

Living in the Middle East is challenging, exhausting and confusing because I have to live through THREE MONDAYS EVERY WEEK!

Mondays are never good. They can be challenging, confusing, complicated and exhausting.

And I have THREE MONDAYS EVERY WEEK!

How? You may wonder.

Here is the simple explanation:

The weekend in the Middle East is Friday/Saturday. Friday is the Holy day that revolves around the noon call to prayer and sermon. The streets are quiet. Not many stores are open. Families are hanging out, eating yummy meals together. In other words, the Friday here is like the Sunday I am used to at home. So, by the time we get to Saturday here, I am jolted out of bed thinking it is Monday morning {after having just enjoyed a relaxing Sunday which is really Friday} and my alarm did not go off in time. But alas, I discover, it is just the end of the weekend {that being Saturday here, which is the beginning of the weekend where I come from}. SO, Saturday has become my Monday #1 experience.

It gets worse.

Then Sunday here comes around {which is usually a quiet, relaxing day where I come from} and my alarm DOES go off. I get my kids off to school, and get to work. In my heart and mind, I am functioning all day as though it is Monday because yesterday felt like the last day of the weekend {which would be Sunday where I come from making Monday today!} And I get to the end of the day and am tired and confused about what day it is. Then my iphone tells me I have just finished a Sunday even though it felt like a Monday all day and I go to bed feeling disappointed. And that concludes my Monday #2.

Are you following me?

OK. Then comes Monday {the real one here}. Since I was thinking all day yesterday was Monday, when Monday comes I realize the horrible, shocking truth: I have ANOTHER Monday to live through. So, I just make it through the day as best I can on a Monday. Fall in bed at night and am so happy knowing that when I wake up, it won't be Monday anymore. {But then am disheartened knowing that I only have four more days for the whole vicious cycle to repeat itself.}

Don't get me wrong, there are some perks. By the time I get to Thursday, it feels like I have survived a short week. After all, it was just Monday! Now, Thursday has become my new Friday. The weekend! Then I get to Friday and am so glad it is a day off. Then Saturday comes and the Monday jolt happens. Then Sunday comes and all day I think it is Monday. Then Monday comes and...oh boy, you get the picture.

I have lived in this situation for SEVEN years and have just now realized the reason why I am confused and exhausted at the end of most days {whether it is the fake Monday or the real Monday}.

Mondays are just not for me {any of them}!