by Deborah Quinn | Dec 6, 2013 | Abu Dhabi, Books, expat, Feminism, reading, UAE, writing
It’s been a big week out here in the ‘Dhabs, I have to say, starting with the Rain Day two weeks ago. What is this “rain day,” you ask? Well, my dears, that’s when the serene desert skies bust open and it pours, like a veritable...
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 16, 2013 | Abu Dhabi, Books, environment, NaBloPoMo, UAE, Uncategorized, urban nature
I have a garden, which I’ve wanted for years. In New York I had to be satisfied with window boxes and urban tomatoes (they look pretty but oh, those airborne carcinogens, especially if the tomatoes in question grew fourteen stories above a 14th street bus...
by Deborah Quinn | Nov 14, 2013 | Abu Dhabi, environment, expat, NaBloPoMo, Politics, UAE
It’s hot here in the desert. Even now, in November, when people say “ah…the heat has broken,” we’re still talking 90F at midday. The road I have to take to my house winds through a whole huge construction project designed to make room...
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 5, 2013 | Abu Dhabi, exercise, Politics, UAE, What's It Like?
What it looks like when repairmen come to your house in Abu Dhabi: Everybody’s shoes get left at the door–whether it’s friends stopping by for a visit or workers coming to see why the dishwasher spews water all over the kitchen floor. And even...
