Living in the Middle East since 2003. Life here looks normal to us, but may not to those who visit.

Good luck with NaNo! I'll be cheering you all on!

I'm smack in the middle of the same Ramadan as you are. I'm an advisor for the UAE military and I'm constantly getting a whole new list of lame excuses as to why my students are tired and pathetic from having spent the entire night enjoying what they can't enjoy during the daylight hours.

Congrats!! I just completed my first marathon (and a half) in (hilly) San Franciso. I trained like fiend for 20 weeks and now that it's over, I am just a chillin'. Last evening I walked four miles and thought "that's enough, time of a glass of vino."

You were in the UAE? I never knew that. It serves me right, for not asking. I served 4 years in the Navy and my ship had to do gulf tour right during September 11th! I can't make this up, it actually happened. I wrote the account of that day on my journal but for some reason have had a hard time translating it into a story. It was a confusing day and my thoughts were jumbled. We were supposed to have 3 days of liberty but once the second plane crashed into the World Trade Center no liberty for anyone. My group was out in town and were instantly recalled back to base. (shaking my head) I guess I should write about it after all.

Congrats!

That is just sad. Really, really sad. You'd think that with money, then parents would be able to be MORE involved in their kids lives than the people who work 40-80 hours a week so they can pay bills and don't have enough time left over to spend as much as they would like with their children. *sigh* Sadly, this is the world we live in.

Looking forward to learning a bit more about this city.

It does almost appear to be going back in time, don't you think? I mean, this kind of thinking is not something the Western world can understand or even imagine. One has to live or visit a country practising this kind or "morality" to appreciate that it does go on.

Proves that anyone intending to visit a foreign country, especially an Islamic/Muslim one, needs to be well aware of the rules and regulations, because it's easy to cause offence in a different culture. When my husband went to Pakistan some 15 years ago he had to sign a form confessing he was an alcoholic to be able to buy alcohol from the hotel's bar! Okay, he like a couple of whiskies once in a while, but he's certainly no alcoholic!

We live in Izmir in Turkey, and we are here as expats - much like yourselves. It's interesting to see how vastly different our two current places of abode are, although the locals here tell us Turkey is heading towards an Islamic state much like the UAE. They reckon it will take about ten years.