Back In Melbourne

Back in Melbourne I thought that life would be the same and nothing would have changed but I was wrong, those two weeks away had changed me. My body was in Melbourne but I had left my heart in Egypt. Everything was no longer the same my focus was different. All I could think about was how I would be able to get back to Marwuan as soon as possible. Most the conversations I had with my friends turned to be about Marwuan and my plans to move overseas. A lot of my friends thought it was all talk and I would get over it in a few weeks like a lot of my plans I had for my life lately, but a few close friends could see how serious I was and like me knew that no matter what I would make it happen.
The first thing I needed to do was save money. This was not going to be that easy. I was living right in the middle of the party scene.

My apartment was on Barkly Street, St Kilda right at the end of Acland Street and summer was only a few weeks away. I knew that meant lots of time out at cafes and bars that were surrounding my house. That was the whole reason I had moved to that location so I could be close to that scene. I didn't want to turn into a hermit and not hang out with friends but I had to ensure that I was not wasting money like previously eating out most night of the week.

Marwuan and I would speak daily by phone calls and text messages but it still didn't make it any easier. Lucky it was a busy time of year both at work and at home with Christmas just around the corner, the days few by and before I knew it was New Years Eve. Instead of going out and spending big dollars on a ticket to a party, my house mate and I decided that we would have a low key BBQ at our house with a few friends over. One of the people I had invited over was Ben from my tour in Egypt like me he was wanting to do something low key and also I wanted to introduce him to my best friend I thought that the two of them would both get along quiet well.

The night was going perfect we were all out on the balcony watching the world go by celebrating the New Year coming in drinking champagne and smoking the sheesha that I had bought back from Egypt. Close to midnight I gave Marwuan a call to wish him a Happy New Year before the phone lines got clogged up. He was happy to hear from me and was asking all about the night. I went into my room so I could speak to him privately.

After some time Ben came in looking for me and jumped on my bed we were drunk so we were jumping on the bed playing and laughing, Marwuan did not like this at all. He got very upset that another man was in my bedroom and was laughing and joking with me while I was on the phone to him. I saw no harm in it. We were doing nothing wrong I was still talking to Marwuan I was not think I was doing anything out of line however he disagreed. He hung up on me and a few minutes later I received a text saying that he could no longer speak to me tonight while I was drunk and behaving this way. I tried to call him back but he did not answer I kept trying to call but he turned his phone off.

After trying to call for another hour I stopped and went to bed I hope that when I woke up in the morning I would have a text message or a phone call from him. However when I woke the next morning there was nothing from Marwuan. I tried to call his phone but it was still switched off. We had never had a fight like this before if we ever had a disagreement we would talk through it and be over it within the hour as we couldn't stay mad at each other. This time was different. I started to worry. I knew that he would be about to be seeing the New year himself and be out drinking for the first time since I had been away from him I felt insecure and unsure about our future. Being hungover was not helping the situation my emotions were all over the shop. Not a great way to start the year.

That day I did not hear from Marwuan at all I did not hear from him the next day also I was pretty sure that our relationship was over. I had tried to call him but he never answered I sent him text messages but he never replied I also wrote him via facebook but no response. How could he end the relationship without even talking to me about it?

2 days after New Years Eve my phone rang and it was Marwuan he was acting like nothing had happened. I could not pretend that the last two days didn't happen so I asked why he had acted that way and not answer my calls, text messages or emails. He went on to explain that in his culture he would never let another woman in his bedroom unless it was his sister, mother or partner while he was in a relationship. He said that he has been very understanding with the fact that my housemate is a male but letting another man in my bedroom is something he cannot accept. I could see his point of view but I wanted to know what other things he would not accept as I did not want to be in a relationship with someone that could change the person I was.

Marwuan said he did not want to change the person I was he loved the person I was, that’s why he was in a relationship with me he said that he will have to make a few adjustments to get used to the western culture just like I will have to make a few. He made it very clear I would not have to change I just had to respect his feelings and not put myself into situation where I would disrespect him.We made an agreement that we could not go days without talking about the problem again and if anything was ever upsetting each of us we would talk about it that moment and not ignore the problem.

We spoke for hours and by the end of the call I felt like we were back to the place we were before New Year's Eve.