Hair woes

Finding a decent hairdresser when you live in the same place and speak the language is hard enough but imagine you keep moving from place to place and half the time you have to communicate by grunting and pointing. I have had the bucket hairdo, the mullet, the old lady and the just plain bad. Now I have a pathological fear equalled only by my fear of dentists (sorry Yamen!).
So, the choice now is to go to the only hairdresser I trust, who happens to be in Cyprus, a place I lived when I had no hair, or go on the search … again!

Film festival

It must be challenging to set up a new event in a market saturated with international film festivals and the inaugural MEIFF here in Abu Dhabi seems to have had its fair share of ups and downs.

The venue was stunning, if a little out of the way for a non-driver. It is possible to get numbers to rival a national football match in the sumptuous Emirates Palace hotel and not feel crowded. The sheer scale of the place is more than impressive but the size also posed one or two problems when trying to find your way around. Thankfully, there were well-trained staff on hand at every corner to point you in the right direction but a few well-placed signposts would have been a welcome addition. Maybe they just don't go with the gold décor!

Let's take the promotion of the event - I only found out about the festival one month before and that was from a filmmaker coming to represent one of the documentaries in the official competition. Taking a look at the website, it seemed well set up and fairly easy to navigate but, again, where was the information? No schedule info appeared until about 10 days before the festival was due to start.
The majority of the people I spoke to were unaware of the festival going on, either before, during or after the event. At the closing party, those attending did not even know that it was to mark the end of a weeklong event.

There was an interesting selection of films - none of which were censored - in each of the categories but it was such a shame to see them so poorly attended on the whole. The main point and success seems to have been in the area of film finance; apt for a festival held in one of the capitalist centres of the world.

But the best part? Crashing the closing party. Red carpet and all ;)

Kite surfing

I went kite surfing at the weekend. Well, when I say 'I', what I really mean is, I went to the beach and watched other people kite surfing. Which was cool. In fact, it was hard to believe we were still in the UAE. The beach was beautiful, the atmosphere was relaxed and everyone was just there to enjoy the sea, not to stare at white women in bikinis.

The ugly friend

I've never thought of myself as being beautiful, but I've never been short of an offer or two when I've gone out. Now, I seem to have turned into the ugly friend. You know the sort. You see two girls out on a night out and you know which one is going to go home with a fit bloke at the end of the night and which one is going to have to talk to the guy's mate to pass the time. Well, I seem to have turned into the ugly friend. Time for a revamp obviously!

Feminism

I have a degree in political science and a personal interest in international affairs; I like watching rugby, cricket, football; I have opinions of my own on a number of topics and I refuse to be patronised by someone by virtue of their age or sex.
And that seems to make me an arrant feminist.
What is wrong with being an independent woman with education and opinions? What makes us so scary a breed?
It seems little has changed since Samuel Johnson's times. Women are supposed to be incapable of higher thinking, particularly when they look good in a cocktail dress.
Maybe I've been reading too much Virginia Woolf and am just a bit touchy at the moment; or maybe the type of men I've been meeting in Abu Dhabi are just Neanderthals!

Open prostitution

Ramadan has been going on for a few days now and unlike other Muslim states ('liberal' Dubai for one), bars are still open for the hordes of expats who want to carry on drinking throughout the holiest of holy months (me included). One change that does take place though, is that no music is allowed to be played within said bars. I'm not quite sure why music is more of problem than the consumption of alcohol, but who am I to question the wisdom of our illustrious leaders?
Anyway, finding a bar with some atmosphere is a little more difficult this month, except for those places showing the rugby world cup. On the hunt for an interesting place to have a beer with friends, I stumbled across a place that could definitely be described as just that. Having lived in Bahrain, I'm aware that prostitution goes on in this part of the world. I've even seen it firsthand. But I was lost for words at the openness and amount of prostitution going on in Blitz. I was the only woman out of about 20 who was not on the game. There was a sofa near the front door where about 10 girls of different ages and nationalities (mainly Asian) were lined up waiting for business. And the clients? The majority European.
The funniest thing was when I looked up the description of the place in Time Out: a mix of nationalities and a good band were the only things mentioned.

Fireworks

This is my 3rd Ramadan in the Middle East but the first where the state has organised a fireworks display for the beginning of the holy month.
Despite the very lax advertising (between a group of 10, 3 people had seen the event advertised once), the Corniche was full of people eagerly waiting for the display to start. Again, the time was not well publicised so the main spectacle to start with was the mass of people trying to get to the vending machine next to the walkway so they could empty it of water and sweets full of E numbers.
When the show finally started, it was spectacular. I dread to think how much it would have cost - the fireworks seemed to go on forever. And with each new type, there was a new gasp of awe. And the 3 sites were in perfect unison, making it even more impressive.

This is my favourite. They looked like palm trees - cool! I hope you get the general idea from my amateur photography ;)

And then you can see the ones to match the colours of the flag. Impressive camera work, I know!