No Arab loves the desert. We love water and green trees. There is nothing in the desert and no man needs nothing

(Prince Feisal, Lawrence of Arabia)



Tuesday 9 April 2013

City or amusement facility?

I have just found the bellow blog post in my drafts (haven't been on this site in quite a while!) and thought I would share it with you all...


"... seeks to distort conventional perceptions and startle people with unstable and unpredictable physical circumstances within an atmosphere of wacky whimsicality."

'Funhouse', Wikipedia, the free encyclopaedia

The area in which I grew up in the UK would, every October, be descend upon by Hull Fair, one of the largest travelling fairs in Europe, and thus, every October, my brother and I would persuade our parents to take us. There was something about the lights, the size of it and the totally different culture of the people there that enchanted me, as well as the draw of my favourite 'ride' - the funhouse. The funhouse was an attraction which I had always presumed was only favoured by children. It wasn't until I decided to spare my Mother from having to accompany me, I saw that she had always done so as much for her own enjoyment as mine - needless to say it didn't take much persuasion for me to accompany her!

Regrettably, I have not attended Hull Fair in many a year now yet I feel that I have found my own little bit of carnival in the Middle East. The quote above isn't too far removed from how I have come to discribe Abu Dhabi and the UAE. the distortion comes not from wobbly mirrors though but a seeming total shift in attitude. Children seem more naive then in other countries whilst young adults mature years before their age; people speak fondly and defend jobs, and the country, that they would otherwise hate and companies employ those who are vastly under qualified; the young look at buying property whilst the more mature seem more keen to rent.

A few months ago I attended a friend's 21st at her two bedroom villa in the suburbs. The party consisted of the birthday girl spending the evening ensuring peoples drinks where full whilst her partner looked after the dog and manned the BBQ. The one moment of 'letting your hair down', which entailed the two of us climbing into her pool, fully dressed with drinks in hand, merely left the rest of the party staring at us in utter contempt. My 21st involved me going to a bar, having a few too many shots of whatever was being bought for me and retiring with room spin... does this make me massively immature or does this country just insist that people grow up quickly? And I can't help wonder that if the latter is the case, then why haven't I?

When I turned 25 in March my Mother stated that this is the age when one is a 'real' grown up (or at least when she felt like one) and with the past few months, predictably after things were going so well, bringing the end of a relationship and, yet another, redundancy, I finally feel like one. Unfortunately what my new found 'grown up' state has helped me realise is that I actually don't know, or can be sure of, anything, from who I want to be, where I want to go, or what I want to do. All I do know is that I don't want to be settling down into a life of baking cakes in the suburbs with a dog yet - or working 60 hour weeks!

I'll let you know when I have found a compromise.

Until next time

Scarf Girl (June 2011)


So it seems I have now found my compromise. I have fallen in love and got married and although I am now baking cakes on a neighbouring island it is just a stop gap for a couple of months until we move to NZ. About a year and a half ago I woke up, everything was clear and haven't looked back :)

This blog will no longer be active but to stay in touch with what we're up to be sure to check out our website www.totallyaddictedtolife.com 

Take care 

Mrs Scarf x