by Deborah Quinn | Jul 16, 2016 | Abu Dhabi, Politics, religion, The National, UAE
Last week I wrote an article for The National about the newly ironic question of “where do you feel safe?” That’s the second question people ask when I tell them where I live, as if Abu Dhabi is some terrifying city “over there.” But...
by Deborah Quinn | Jul 6, 2016 | Abu Dhabi, religion
Eid mubarak! The long days of Ramadan have passed, and now it’s the time for celebration. We’re in New York already, and still in the hazy fugue-like state of jet lag (compounded by having been in Bangkok ten days ago); I wake up in the middle of the night...
by Deborah Quinn | Nov 22, 2013 | Abu Dhabi, environment, expat, NaBloPoMo, NYC, religion, The National, Travel, UAE
I live in the suburbs now. From the maelstrom of Union Square in Manhattan to the slightly more sedate “urban” experience of highrise in downtown Abu Dhabi was one shift. But in a weird way the shift from one cityscape to another wasn’t as big a...
by Deborah Quinn | Nov 12, 2013 | Abu Dhabi, expat, NaBloPoMo, religion, street notes, UAE
Just at the afternoon adhan today, I was out walking in the neighborhood near my office, searching for candy a nutritious snack to carry me through four hours of back-to-back meetings. I am struck always, in Abu Dhabi, by the juxtaposition of glassy office towers...
by Deborah Quinn | Nov 1, 2013 | NaBloPoMo, religion, Travel
Did you know that Vesuvius is still considered an active volcano, and a dangerous one? It could blow at any moment, theoretically. That thought gave Caleb the added impetus he needed for the hike to the top of the caldera, a task that sounds more impressive than it...
by Deborah Quinn | Oct 30, 2013 | religion, Travel
These ladies had just left Saturday morning mass, in Naples. The church where they worship, Pio Monte della Misericordia, dates to about 1678. We were asked to leave the church while Mass was said–for about ten people. Why were we in this little church on a...
