Postcard from Dubai

[whipchick]

Dating in Dubai is like dating in high school

Comments

Fascinating

[drwex]

Last night I was at an MSF presentation and someone asked about their recruitment process. High on their list of criteria was "Travel well, outside your comfort zone."

(So was "speak French" which I mostly don't, but I can hear French well enough to catch some of the differences between what people are saying on screen and the English subtitles.)

Re: Fascinating

[whipchick]

I love that saying! And I think I do it a lot :) What is MSF?

We've learned enough Arabic and enough Hindi/Urdu to thank the audience for coming, and they love it :)

Re: Fascinating

[drwex]

Oh sorry, MSF is Medicins sans Frontieres - most Americans know it as Doctors Without Borders. I went to a screening of their documentary film that talks about how they operate in conflict zones.

Re: Fascinating

[whipchick]

Ah, yes! Interestingly, there is also a Clowns Without Borders, and i have a fair number of friends doing social circus projects through them.

[frecklestars]

I missed seeing your excellent descriptions on my friends page! Glad you're back, for the moment at least. Very much enjoyed this little snippet of your life.

[whipchick]

Thanks :) I spent the past couple of months focused on publication, which has been fruitful, but I'm ready to write again - nice to know it's welcomed!

[halfshellvenus]

Dating has probably rarely felt so dangerous before. Wonderful description of such a different world.

[whipchick]

Thanks :) It's been interesting, for sure!

[dragonwrites]

I have a friend who is Jewish and grew up in Casablanca. He would tell stories about fooling around with girls in cars, which was mildly frowned upon for religious Jews but illegal for Muslims. They would almost get busted, but the police would realize they weren't Muslim, and were not subject to the same rules. "Look the other way" versus "public condemnation and shaming." Maybe you couldn't bring any more shame to your family if they were already Jewish. Funny guy. As an adult, he moved to Paris, where the prejudice against North Africans is palpable (and anti-semitism isn't exactly unknown either) and did his best to assimilate completely. Seems like life was friendlier for him in Morocco. He came to the US for a while and I kept telling him, "Don't tell Americans you're French; being Moroccan is more interesting to us." He didn't believe me at first; he thought Casablanca was a backward, embarrassing place of origin, but after a couple months he came in and said, "Americans really don't like French people do they?" "Not really," I

[whipchick]

This is fascinating, and I can definitely picture all of it very clearly.

[dslartoo]

I would like to visit Dubai someday. The BBC show "Top Gear" has done numerous specials shot there, and it makes it seem like a place that is just FULL of awesome, with technology and gleaming buildings and supercars and Rolls-Royces everywhere. Reading this, though, has reminded me that there's a lot more to the place than the public image. I am profoundly grateful for the reminder.

cheers,
Phil