We have received many emails from family and friends asking, with all that is going on here in the Middle East, are we OK? The answer simply is very much so!
We watch the same TV news channels as we did back at home and the goings on are reported here in the UAE newspaper. I don’t know if anything is censored in the papers but many pages are dedicated to the struggles. As we look at the maps featured on the news’ channels showing the chaos occurring all around us, it is a bit daunting to see the UAE surrounded by countries going through such turmoil. I will admit that we have had interesting dinner conversations about what is going on. I do not believe we would be having these discussions back home. Here the girls have friends who are either from, or have relatives in, Egypt or other Middle Eastern countries. So the kids talk about what is going on around us at school – it has taken on a more personal meaning. They now realize how lucky we are to be a democratic nation.
I do not worry about this type of uprising occurring here. Just last week Sheikh Mohammed – the Crown Prince – travelled around the country to meet with the Sheikhs of the different Emirates to discuss any issues they may have. The Sheikhs announced that they would increase benefits for the Nationals and have allocated millions of Dirhams to improve infrastucture in the more northern Emirates. The Emiratis are very happy here as the Sheikhs have been very generous to them. And they only make up about 15% of the total population! We joke that us westerners do get frustrated but it’s about silly things like not being able to wear shorts or tank tops out in public! But that doesn’t seem very important when we see people dying in the fight for democracy.
These uprisings have dampened many travel plans for westerners, as Egypt is a very popular vacation destination being only 3 hours away. But we can put that on next year’s list!
We appreciate everyone’s concern. I feel safe and I truly believe we will be OK!
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