Eid Mubarak and Happy Holidays to you all! I know it has been a long time since I wrote last, but I promise I won't let it go so long next time.
It is hard to say what has happened and what hasn't in the last month or so, I feel like things have gone by so quickly, I haven't had time to think, let alone write here. Please forgive me!
I have said it before and I will continue to say it now, Dubai is a very interesting place. On a daily basis I am: amused, frustrated, excited, awed, and pleasured by what I see and hear in this country. It is truly a melting pot on people where, black meets white, brown meets yellow, and blue meets green. This place would be a sociologist dream, really it would. --- Where is Rin when you need her?
Let us start by talking about work: work is work! I know, I know, boring right? Not so much when you work in PR. Day-to-day stuff is always different and it goes by very quickly, which is nice, though exhausting sometimes. As a wise woman once said, "you don't get ahead by the normal 9 – 5." – love you Suzie!
In the last few months I have learned a lot about the PR industry and how it works, I think I like it... We, my PR firm, just did a big event for a Microfinance Organization here in Dubai and it was a great success! We were happy, the client was happy, the people were happy, and the media ate it up! It was glorious. Now that it is all over things come to a crawl here in Dubai for the month of December.
{You can read about the organization here: http://www.thenational.ae/article/20081207/BUSINESS/387973895
This article appeared just a few days after the event. The reporter, I met and have been in contact with on several occasions and wrote a really nice story. Enjoy.}
We had "National Day" on the 2nd of December, which is their 4th of July, and then we had Eid alAdha, which is the Muslim holiday remembering Abraham's devotion to God and his willingness to sacrifice his son for Him. Here, they don’t group the holidays like they do in the States; the holiday is when it is. So, if it falls on a Tuesday, we work Sunday, Monday, have Tuesday off, and then return to work Wednesday and Thursday. It is kind of nice sometimes because we get breaks in the middle of the week and that is always nice!
Most of the pictures here are from my neighborhood, "JBR." I think it is one of the best places to live in Dubai, I really like it… and I am close to my girlfriend, an added bonus. It’s an amazing area with shops and cafes, similar to 3rd Street in Santa Monica. Most nights, I will go down for a walk and go back and forth once or twice, people watching. It is probably about a mile in length, so I mean, it makes for a decent walk. The weather at night now is SO FANTASTIC! Cool, breezy, maybe 70 or so, and being right on the beach, you can't beat that! I unquestionably love where I live!
Lets see, what else, I still don't feel like I belong in Dubai, but I am starting to think no one does at this point, not for any bad reason, but no one is really from here. Everyone that I have met is from somewhere else; they call somewhere else home, as do I. California is home, born and raised! Not corn-fed, more like hummus-fed! (With a side of kibbeh) J --- Oh, before I forget, can someone tell Tete that I need the recipe for Fool; I really want some, for some strange reason.
Anyway, I have babbled enough for now… OH, totally forgot. My housing situation: I found a new place and I hope you all are sitting down. It's a master bedroom on the 26th or so floor with views of the desert and most of Dubai. It is pretty stellar. Once I move in, I will post pictures.
I love and miss you all. Keep your thoughts and prayers coming…emails too!
It is hard to say what has happened and what hasn't in the last month or so, I feel like things have gone by so quickly, I haven't had time to think, let alone write here. Please forgive me!
I have said it before and I will continue to say it now, Dubai is a very interesting place. On a daily basis I am: amused, frustrated, excited, awed, and pleasured by what I see and hear in this country. It is truly a melting pot on people where, black meets white, brown meets yellow, and blue meets green. This place would be a sociologist dream, really it would. --- Where is Rin when you need her?
Let us start by talking about work: work is work! I know, I know, boring right? Not so much when you work in PR. Day-to-day stuff is always different and it goes by very quickly, which is nice, though exhausting sometimes. As a wise woman once said, "you don't get ahead by the normal 9 – 5." – love you Suzie!
In the last few months I have learned a lot about the PR industry and how it works, I think I like it... We, my PR firm, just did a big event for a Microfinance Organization here in Dubai and it was a great success! We were happy, the client was happy, the people were happy, and the media ate it up! It was glorious. Now that it is all over things come to a crawl here in Dubai for the month of December.
{You can read about the organization here: http://www.thenational.ae/article/20081207/BUSINESS/387973895
This article appeared just a few days after the event. The reporter, I met and have been in contact with on several occasions and wrote a really nice story. Enjoy.}
We had "National Day" on the 2nd of December, which is their 4th of July, and then we had Eid alAdha, which is the Muslim holiday remembering Abraham's devotion to God and his willingness to sacrifice his son for Him. Here, they don’t group the holidays like they do in the States; the holiday is when it is. So, if it falls on a Tuesday, we work Sunday, Monday, have Tuesday off, and then return to work Wednesday and Thursday. It is kind of nice sometimes because we get breaks in the middle of the week and that is always nice!
Most of the pictures here are from my neighborhood, "JBR." I think it is one of the best places to live in Dubai, I really like it… and I am close to my girlfriend, an added bonus. It’s an amazing area with shops and cafes, similar to 3rd Street in Santa Monica. Most nights, I will go down for a walk and go back and forth once or twice, people watching. It is probably about a mile in length, so I mean, it makes for a decent walk. The weather at night now is SO FANTASTIC! Cool, breezy, maybe 70 or so, and being right on the beach, you can't beat that! I unquestionably love where I live!
Lets see, what else, I still don't feel like I belong in Dubai, but I am starting to think no one does at this point, not for any bad reason, but no one is really from here. Everyone that I have met is from somewhere else; they call somewhere else home, as do I. California is home, born and raised! Not corn-fed, more like hummus-fed! (With a side of kibbeh) J --- Oh, before I forget, can someone tell Tete that I need the recipe for Fool; I really want some, for some strange reason.
Anyway, I have babbled enough for now… OH, totally forgot. My housing situation: I found a new place and I hope you all are sitting down. It's a master bedroom on the 26th or so floor with views of the desert and most of Dubai. It is pretty stellar. Once I move in, I will post pictures.
I love and miss you all. Keep your thoughts and prayers coming…emails too!
