Sand & Stilettos
A Girls' Guide to Life, Work & Play in the United Arab Emirates
by
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One cannot always be prepared for the unique nature of some of the difficulties experienced while travelling in the Middle East. Language barriers notwithstanding, it took less than ten minutes to realise that there was no room to be had. With the time knocking on for ten o’clock at night, this was not a funny joke. We were arriving during the Eid holiday, and all the hotels were full. The polite and immaculately presented gentleman who had originally welcomed us looking dazzling in his local costume suddenly found himself mute, without a tongue with which to speak in Arabic, let alone any other language. We were handed over to what can only be described as a very poor excuse for hospitality. Unable to deal with the situation, I asked that he get hold of someone who could resolve this matter immediately. He promptly told me that the manager was from Lebanon. ‘Is he actually in Lebanon?’ was my cutting remark on the edge of my own, by now, infinitely sharpened tongue that was struggling to keep itself from unleashing a piece of my mind.
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About the Book
This is a somewhat 'tongue-in-cheek' interpretation of the rookie expat' experience of a late-forty something, single, white- western female who, in the summer of 2007, embarked on a journey exploring the minds and mirages of the Middle East. Soaked in sunshine in its many guises along the way, here is a collection of journal entries, anecdotes, snippets of sound advice and observations of a land; its people, its cultures, traditions, and beyond. It is an honest look at all things U.A.E. from the perspective of the uninitiated for the uninitiated. So, whether you are trying to plan your great escape or considering a long over due gap year, now’s the time to pack a flight bag - and don’t forget your stilettos.
About the Author
Scarcely into her third career in thirty years and on the wrong side of forty-five-years old, she decided it was about time that she took some time out for herself. And so after much scrutinizing of her life as it was, her bank account and the international vacancy pages of The Times Educational Supplement, she eventually sold the car (it had a blown head-gasket anyway); signed the job contract; wrote her last will and testament, stocked up her daughter's grocery cupboards and took off for the Middle East.