One of my greatest joys of living in Dubai is the opportunity to meet and converse with people from places I’ve never heard of, or know next to nothing about. Travel and Expat life will certainly make you more gregarious, and thus more comfortable talking with strangers. Living far away from home, we become masters […]
Expat Life in Dubai
Same-Same, but….
Most of us Dubaiyans are familiar with the phrase “same-same” and probably have already adopted it into our own vernacular. My first encounter with the curiously, endearing phrase was — of course — with sales clerks. It typically goes something like this: Q “Is this a real Birkin bag?” A ” Yes sir-m’am, same-same — […]
I Don’t Own The Burj Khalifa
It’s not uncommon for expats to be prodded with random, innocuous questions from friends and family. Some are smart questions driven by curiosity, some are loaded questions, and some are…well, kinda silly questions — BUT, all well-intended I’m sure. They’re often the same, to the point I’ve considered turning them into a pamphlet! No judgment, though, […]
Kitchen Emergency Tales: Even the Best Cooks Have Their Bad Days
So this weekend we “entertained” at our new place. It was pretty much impromptu. We started by just having a few friends over to just throw some chicken on the grill and it really turned out to be a lively party! So the joke is on me this time. I regret to say I had a […]
The Sand Bloweth In the Sky
Sandstorms (or Haboobs) freak me out each time and even after years of witnessing them in the UAE, I’m still giddy when I see the skies here go hopping mad. Despite how ill-omened they appear as the fierce winds raise clouds and columns of sand bringing a coat of tan-colored fog that instantly […]
The Green Cooking Stuff That Makes Me Happy
Who knew making Puerto Rican Sofrito in the land of spices and imported goodies from all over the world would pose such a challenge! It turns out that the essential ingredient needed to make “recao” (as we call it) is recao itself and is practically an anomaly here in Dubai. Gasp! What a tragedy! What do I do now? […]
