Dubai?

One of my best friends (he was a groomsman in my wedding for Christ's sake) announced on Monday he's moving to Dubai. His girlfriend got a job as a librarian at a college there. Dubai is a city in the United Arab Emirates, sandwiched between Saudi Arabia and Oman. Although it's the most westernized city and country in the Arab world, it's still smack dab in the middle of the Middle East.



I'm kind of at a loss here. On one hand, I think it's kind of cool he will get to live abroad, but on the other hand, I'm losing one of my best friends. It's a three year contract, so we're not exactly talking about a short-term thing. He has to marry his girlfriend, so he can get a visa. They're looking at it as a paperwork marriage, not a real one. They don't want to spoil the wedding they may someday have.

The job itself comes with a lot of perks, including nine weeks of vacation, and two round-trip tickets a year to any where in the world. Each. Plus, she'll make considerably more per year than now, and their housing and transportation will be taken care of by the school. All of those perks are great for them, plus the adventure of living in a foreign land. Does it make me selfish to wish he'd stay? My wife, Midge, is jealous that they get to try this. She's always been an incurable traveler, and studied abroad for 8 months in college. Ugh... I just don't know what to make of this.