Tag Archives: life in the UAE

Q&A: Behind the book

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Where did the idea for Distracted Housewife in Dubai – Diary come from? I absolutely love all the Bridget Jones books (and movies), and thought it would be fun to create an expat version (Brittany Blum) – with kids and living in a sandpit. Like Bridget, Brittany starts the year resolving to turn her life around, and spends the next twelve months struggling with her lack of job, weight, kids and failed marriage. She takes it all on with good humour, and with the support of four very different friends: Adrianne, Natasha, her first ‘ex’ and a bottle of Prosecco.   So Distracted Housewife in Dubai is not a true story then? Well, no. But it’s certainly true-to-life, and some scenes are based on my own experiences in Dubai. I’ve lived in the emirate for eleven years, and during that time I’ve gathered LOTS of quirky stories and memories of our wonderful city. I’ve written a blog for about eight years now, in an attempt to chronicle some of the hilarious, ‘only in Dubai’ moments (so much fodder!). Inevitably, some of these have made it into the book. I’m just not going to reveal which bits actually happened, and which didn’t! Are any of the characters real? No, they’re all totally made up – but, of course, over my time in Dubai I’ve met so many different characters here who might have crept into elements of my fictional characters. Brittany’s friends, Natasha and Adrianne, are mash-ups of all sorts of people that I’ve met here. I wish they were real as I’d love to have them in my life! Over the past decade, I’ve had some amazing friends here who have now left – and that’s hard. I really enjoyed having my fictional characters in my head, as they weren’t allowed to pack up and leave!
Dubai is described in vivid detail in the book – was this a challenge? Being able to describe some of Dubai’s most well-known locations and events, from the New Year’s Eve fireworks to a trip up the Burj Khalifa at sunset and afternoon tea at the Burj Al Arab, was an absolute joy. I hope that people who know and love Dubai will enjoy reading these parts of the book, and that people who have never been to Dubai will finish the book wanting to visit. I tried to weave plenty of cultural information into the narrative so I also hope that readers who know nothing about the UAE will learn something about the country, and let go of any preconceived notions.    You mention in the book that white lies on social media are quite common in Dubai. Why is this? I do think expats in Dubai are in pole position to win a Twitter or Facebook boast-off. Apparently, according to a survey, three out of five adults in the UAE have lied on social media websites to sound smarter. About the same number confessed to tampering with photos to make themselves look more attractive. I’m sure people do this all round the world (and who wouldn’t want their eyebags airbrushed, their fine lines smoothed?), but in this corner of the globe, there is a lot of pressure to stage manage your online presence. Even if someone is having a difficult time transitioning to life in the UAE, and questioning the reasons they moved here, they’ll still fill their Facebook feed with photos of blues skies, beaches and Dubai’s iconic sights, rather than admit on social media that they’re homesick.   What’s next for Brittany? I’ve mentioned in the ‘blurb’ that this is her first diary, leaving it open for a follow-up diary, if she captures readers’ imaginations as she did mine. But I’ve also got a few more ideas for other books set in Dubai. Watch this space!

Buy Distracted Housewife in Dubai from Amazon here

Silent Sunday: Humps ahead

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The camel – an iconic symbol of Emirati culture and a topic of conversation among our neighbours this weekend. On Friday, four kamikaze camels were spotted meandering along the major highway that runs past our compound – giving a new meaning to the phrase ‘speed bumps’. Drivers beware!

At least this one (which I photographed at Bab Al Shams) isn't going anywhere fast...

At least this one (which I photographed at Bab Al Shams) isn’t going anywhere fast…

Another side of Dubai

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[SUBTITLE: On feeling very thankful]

It never ceases to amaze me what can be accomplished practically overnight in Dubai.

Behind the dizzying construction work that goes on in the emirate there’s an army of immigrant labourers, who built the city’s skyscrapers, the mega malls, the highways, the Metro and the schools.

They’re transported by bus into the city each day from the camps in which they live. Their accommodation facilities are basic, conditions crowded. In one camp I saw photos of, the residents were eating on a floor lined with newspapers advertising the luxury watches, five-star hotels and high-end residential developments of Dubai.

The labourers pay employment agencies to get here – to escape the poverty of their home countries (places such as India, Bangladesh and Pakistan) and instead toil for low pay in the extreme heat of one of the world’s richest economies. All, or nearly all, of the money they earn – which can be as little as £150 a month – is sent back to their families.

Migrants comprise some 90 percent of the 1.7 million workers in the UAE

Migrants comprise some 90 percent of the 1.7 million workers in the UAE

The modern-day monoliths these labourers have created are truly staggering: the Palm Jumeriah, reclaimed from the sea; the tapering, glass Burj Khalifa – the construction of which involved pumping concrete nearly one kilometre into the sky; the Dubai Mall with its world’s largest aquarium (and more in the pipeline).

These obviously weren’t built overnight, but Dubai does tend to change very quickly. Over the past few months, we’ve watched a major fly-over that’s brought us 10 minutes closer to town be completed at breakneck speed. Yesterday, we drove past a small battalion of workers beavering away on the new Al Sufouh tram. While projects are frequently delayed, once they’re prioritised, they continue apace.

Landscapers working in our compound, in their regulation uniform

Landscapers working in our compound, in their regulation uniforms


On a less-grandiose scale, our compound is staffed by immigrant workers who keep everything ticking over, tending to the landscaping, the communal areas, and maintenance issues. This week, we woke up to see that some 100 flags had appeared around our community’s perimeter. I could imagine the conversation: “We need more visibility,” a BMW-driving manager must have declared. “Bring flags.” And so off scurried the staff, to put up more flags than you’d see at the Queen’s Trooping the Colour.

I’m not sure what the terms and conditions are like for the employees in our compound, but the city’s construction workers arrive in Dubai to find their employer has almost total control over their pay, living quarters, diet, capacity to change jobs and their ability to return home.

To their families.

Several of my most moving interactions in Dubai have been with migrant workers who have children, back home, the same age as mine. I once got talking to a man who I noticed was watching me with my sons.

You might think this sounds creepy, but I guessed why he was staring and smiled. “How old?” he enquired. “Four and one,” I replied, “And yours?” I asked, intuitively. “A boy, four, same like yours,” he told me with a wistful expression. “And a baby girl I haven’t met yet.”

Short of paying for him to travel home to see his family, asking to see photos – which he duly pulled out of his wallet with pride – and giving him a phone card was the least I could do.