My world turned sideways, and the view is fascinatingly scary.
At the end of April 2024, I returned to Sharjah and work after an unusually long vacation. We spent the last weeks of Ramadan and some days after Eid in Cairo.
On my first Monday back, I looked forward to my regular one-on-one call with Dennis, curious about what had happened during my absence. He rescheduled for the following day, which initially seemed unremarkable.
When we started the call on Tuesday morning, “Hey, Dennis, you look like shit. What happened?” flashed through my mind. Before I could speak, Dennis said,
“Sorry for the reschedule, but someone from HR will be joining us today.”
In that instant, I knew I was part of a layoff. I was going to be fired. My world had just turned upside down.
For the rest of the meeting, I felt like an outsider, watching my world being flipped through a foggy filter. The HR representative quickly announced that my position had been eliminated and that, effective immediately, I was placed on garden leave. Dennis was forced to read a prepared statement, citing the company’s focus on AI and other factors. I barely registered the details, his voice reached me muffled, like through cotton wool or earplugs.
Long story short: this marked the beginning of many fundamental changes.
That’s why I’m now in Cairo, navigating a reimagined life, starting over in a foreign land and uncharted waters in my 60s.
This blog is my attempt to share my Cairo experiences. There’s a life outside the Western corporate world that’s beyond imagination.
Before arriving here, I thought I already experienced a few things during my visits to Sudan, Uganda, or South Africa the average Otto or Joe would never know or think about. Now, almost every day in my new life presents something fascinating and sometimes scary.
This blog is primarily a journal for myself, but perhaps it will also be an interesting read for others.
The credit for the image goes to Gemini.