my Arabian Knight part 2

AFTER 2 WEEKS OF TORTURE, I have missed A so much it made me cry. It was just last night that I finally took the courage of talking to him. Just like any other couple making up, we start with small talk. I asked him about Ramadan and how fasting went for him. And reconciled naturally.
Then we talked about our plans, of me working in Bahrain while he was three hours away from me. He didn’t want me to come to his home country – Saudi, because there were stricter laws and couples cannot date publicly. Bahrain, he mentioned, was a free country and accepted bi-cultural relationships like ours. It would be easier for him to visit and he’d take me to the beautiful Gulf coast for tours and picnics and romantic walks under the moonlight. My fascination with their culture had developed through the weeks, I have been studying and researching Arab laws, Gulf coast countries, culture and beliefs on the internet. To me, it is important as my love for him.
“I hope you will be a Muslim, too.” It was that line that stumped me out of my dream. Suddenly, I panicked! Our family grew up in the most conservative beliefs of Catholicism, enjoying festivities that would include roast pigs, drinking wine and some few things that a Muslim is forbidden to do. It would break my family’s hearts if they knew I would convert. But would I really? That’ll be one of the major roadblocks in my life.
I am targeting the first quarter of 2010 to be getting work in Bahrain and maybe decide from there. Everyday, this thought, this simple yet complicated thought of working it out with a foreigner-boyfriend has become a staple of breeding questions in my head like religion, language, mood, beliefs and traditions. How do Filipinas with foreigner husbands and boyfriends made it through their respective relationships? Did they really compromise without sacrifice? Do I love A enough to leave my family behind? No amount of advice, argument and opinions will suffice the ultimate decision that I will have to deal with later on. And it will come soon.