I bought my overly priced fluffy wedding dress, 5k worth of new pjs, and I’m almost ready to zip up my bags and go live in a country that calls an ass Makwa. I’ve always wanted to leave home and embrace a little bit more freedom. But a year ago when I was looking at jobs in Dublin, I had no idea that my ticket out of the house was to marry a boy I love and go work in Kuwait where he lives. Most importantly, I didn’t realise I’ll be leaving so much behind.
The Planet has become my haven in a city that seems determined to stifle the hopes and dreams of youth. Against all odds and cultural restrains, you would always find a small group of people who are not afraid to be who they are and differentiate themselves from the herds of conformity. The Planet fostered the revolutionary in all of us, each at his own post had something exceptional to offer. Whether you are an advocate for social justice or believer in young entrepreneurs, here we all found a place to grow.
The planet is where I went from being an employee to someone who actually understand the business and knows how to get things done. That’s because Tarrou2 was always keen on throwing me into the deep end with complicated accounts trusting that I’ll somehow find my way to the shore. And I did… in most cases. The rest Tarrou2 cleaned up! 
I look up to you fash5 and I’ll miss your fatherly hugs more than anything ya Tarrou2!
It’s where we enjoyed reading Shalaby’s long descriptive, and in some cases orgasmic,emails that had equal parts history, 7amas and revolution. Those I’m sure I won’t miss, because I trust I’ll be reading more of them while shopping in Kuwait’s pretentious malls. But I’ll miss our talks in the backyard, sharing “dating” conquests and nights out in wust el balad, some of those were the most fun I’ve had in a long time.
We sat for lunch all together at 3 in the meeting room, enjoying Emad’s beautifully cooked meals along with the occasional “Bonjour Kefek” as we passed by the kitchen in the morning.
We went to the movies, followed it up with kasafa from City Drink, rediscovered El Brince with Shalaby and sailed the nile on a falouka picnic with Tarrou2 and the kids. Had Chinese in maadi, Then Indian, ice cream from Stavolta and sang our lungs out at the dodge karaoke place in Nerco. Shisha fl Tak3eeba, then dinner at Abo Tarek and had ice cream while strolling down Tal3at Harb.
A midst all the craziness, me, Ethar and Afify bonded on a journey through cairo’s contemporary art exhibitions, where Afify ruined my chances of wowing Ganzeer. Afify gives gad3ana a whole new meaning. He also gets annoyingly talkative after some ‘cappuccino’ hehe!
I’ll miss my conversations with Injy, her sense of humor and our bonding moments at the office or on a long ride back to maadi. I always thought it was quite amusing how she is capable of acting like a cute little girl one min and a real bent balad the other. Regardless whether or not the world revolves around Injy :P, she is definitely one of the good ones and I love her an awful lot!
I won’t miss Eman’s constant death threats that came in the form of dreadful stares and whispers. But I’ll miss her signature big curly hair and fitness and health tips…actually no I wont miss the fitness and health tips, they are useless to me.
Nahass, the slow talker I adore! I’ll miss our anti-men conferences fl gnenah, analysis of all the assholes we met, our talks about art and what we want to do with our lives and your obsession with dark skinned men. I love you to pieces and one day you will make a handsome tall African Egyptian very happy.
The planet is where I met Saytara. Its a well known fact that meeting Saytara is one of the best things that could happen to a person, I was one of the lucky ones. Our conversations and her constant support helped me out of some dark moments, for which I’m forever grateful. There is a lot one can learn from Saytara, only too little time.
(Fakarene ntsawar ma3 ba3d ya Saytara :D)
I’ll actually miss the endless conversations with Imam and how much he enjoys playing the devils advocate. Though he is capable of getting on my nerves fash5 sometimes in long and pointless discussions on sexual harassment and rape. He is one of the most interesting people I’ve met with a heart of gold! I love you ya Imam!
Hatem’s sense of humor and dancing! bas kda…very difficult to elaborate on that, they are hard to describe and I’m not sure ‘interesting’ is the right word here. I’ll describe it in memes.
On the other side of the spectrum there is Haytham’s humor:
Now let’s take a break with 3 things only Zahlan would say:
1- الارض بتتبل لما الدنيا بتمطر
2- انا عجبنى الكتاب قوى بس لسه مقرأتوش
3- *interrupts a serious conversation* شوفتو اخر حلقة من المسلسل امبارح؟
I had the honor of meeting the absolute awesomeness that is Mayouie bta3et el face. Mayouie ya3ni 7ob, to keep it short! she saved me from several really bad decisions :D, the rest of the times we talked about the messups in long interesting Facebook conversations. They often included 2-3 ya wes5a’s
Then there is Omar Youssef the 20 something father of Darine with the cutest love story you could possibly hear. I miss you already ya Omar!
And Arafa, who’s life seems sometimes like a series of unfortunate events, but that doesn’t wipe that silly wide smile off of his face. He is always happy to help you in whatever way possible and has very little concern for himself in the process. Selflessness incarnated.
Knowhow, one would think you would find her name as the definition of hard work in an Oxford dictionary. Sometimes, I’m not sure how she tolerates our annoying loud noises and perverted sense of humor at the office. Weirdly enough, I’ll miss her yelling at us to get out of the meeting room.
And I’ll miss my cappuccino discussions with Fouda, didn’t get a chance to get to know you better ya Fouda 
Most importantly, at the Planet I met my soulsister! The only reason why I’ll start planning my trips back to Egypt the min I get to Kuwait and by far the most difficult person to say goodbye to. It’s too painful to describe what me and Ethar share or how much I’ll miss her, but I’m pretty sure she already knows. I’ll come back for you, if not for anything else, I promise!
By far the longest goodbye in history, but it doesn’t seem enough. To put it simply, the Planet will never be a past work experience…it’s home! I love you guys!
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