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 | Dec 27, 2011 | Abu Dhabi, family, NYC, UAE
We’re back in New York for the holidays – our first visit home since July, when we moved. When we left Abu Dhabi last week, the malls were filled with Christmas: fake pine trees, over-wrapped gifts, and big statues of Santa, often just down the hall from the prayer...
by Deborah Quinn | Nov 23, 2011 | Abu Dhabi, Children, expat, shopping, Travel
It seemed like a good idea at the time. We’d just zipped through the City Palace in Jaipur–carvings, screens, gorgeous mosaics—and the Jantar Observatory was closed, so we thought: let’s just walk through the Johari Bazaar and then meet the taxi driver back at...
by Deborah Quinn | Nov 13, 2011 | Abu Dhabi, environment, expat, Travel
We survived our trip to India: nine days, two kids, four people, one hotel room, three long train rides, many ruins, one safari, a smattering of elephants and crocodiles (but no tigers), a snake charmer, and the requisite souvenirs: scarves, bangles, carved Ganeshas...
by Deborah Quinn | Aug 10, 2011 | Abu Dhabi, Politics, wordless wednesday
I lived in Manhattan in 1992, when the Rodney King verdict was handed down in LA and the riots began. The university was shut down and everyone was told to go home; the streets were echoed with the sounds of shop-keepers slamming down their store gates and...