My name is Nader (a pseudonym), I am 36 years old. I am an engineer and I have been living in Dubai for four years. When I arrived, I thought I had found what many seek: a clear trajectory, a stable salary, a country moving fast. I worked hard to settle in, to be “up to it,” to secure my family who remained in Tunisia. I even ended up telling myself that, for once, the future would be simple.
And then war intruded into our lives.
At first, it was just background noise, distant news we follow on our phones. Then it became a tension in the air. And finally a real fear, when the escalation between Iran and Israel rekindled regional fears, and the Emirates were involved in retaliation scenarios.
When you’re expatriated, you don’t just live what happens where you live: you also live the reactions of those you love, in Kairouan, in front of a screen, imagining the worst.
An equilibrium built in Dubai, a family left in Kairouan
I am married. My wife and my daughter live in Kairouan. It wasn’t supposed to last, but life sometimes makes plans stronger than ours. School, family balance, the paperwork, the costs… we postpone. So I am over there, they are here. And I carry this weight every day: the distance, the guilt, the waiting.
I work in engineering, on demanding technical projects. Dubai gives the sense of a country that never stops. We move forward, we produce, we execute. And I love that: we know why we get up.
But this pace comes at a price: if we slow down, we feel like we are falling. You must always perform. Always stay strong.
My salary, my expenses… and what it represents
We often hear: “In Dubai, we earn well.” Yes. But it all depends on what we forget to count.
