American exceptionalism is a fairly controversial political notion, talked about for nearly 200 years, that the United States is unlike any other country in the world due to its “unique” history and form of government. People of good will can be on either side of that discussion. But the U.S. most certainly is exceptional in […]

[Read more →]

We were going to Italy, from Abu Dhabi, to celebrate a significant birthday, and it seemed a perfect occasion to invite some of those near and dear to us to a sort of moveable feast. In Italy. It began in Florence, moved to Siena for Il Palio and since Saturday night has continued at Villa […]

[Read more →]

Modern travel is fairly astounding. When it works, of course, and it generally does.  Far more than it did in the past. Wake up in Abu Dhabi, and two cab rides, one six-hour flight and an 80-minute train ride later … you can be checking into your friend’s hotel in Florence, Italy, in plenty of […]

[Read more →]

So, a young man who works in sports at The National … On Wednesday last he got his UAE drivers license. It’s not a difficult process, for an American to get a UAE drivers license. A little cash, you display your U.S. license, you produce a “no objection” letter from your employer, and you can […]

[Read more →]

Apparently, I am a goldfish in the bowl of life. For weeks now I have been thinking about how this summer in Abu Dhabi (our fifth) has to be the hottest yet. Day after hot and sweaty day. With some days seeming to push the bounds of “this could kill someone out in it too […]

[Read more →]

We have reached a point in sports history … and perhaps it is a compliment, although of a back-handed sort … that any time an aging or semi-flaky player is thought to be on the move … he invariably is linked to a club in the UAE. Earlier, it was Jorge Valdivia, Chilean midfielder. Now, […]

[Read more →]

Americans travel around Europe or Asia, and they soon discover that U.S. history — and California history, in particular — is nothing, compared to most of Eurasia. Egypt has recorded history going back more than 5,000 years. China can account for 4,000 years. Nearly any country in Europe, even in the north, has history going […]

[Read more →]

Turns out this is a specialty of the UAE government. The nine-day holiday. For the third time in our five years here, all government workers have off nine consecutive days. Well, actually, one of those previous episodes, in 2009, was 10 consecutive paid days off. And another was six days. Which is mind-boggling, really. In […]

[Read more →]

We hired someone from the San Francisco area to work here in the sports department of The National. Yes. Even though a certain someone in the newsroom is a Southern California guy. We haven’t come to blows yet, but it could happen. The NorCal kid turned around this morning and announced: “Who would have guessed […]

[Read more →]

I was in the gym of our apartment building in Abu Dhabi, doing puny exercise, and the TV up in the corner of the room was stuck on MTV. Not my first choice but my only choice — someone had stripped the batteries out of the remote. And then came a blast from the past. […]

[Read more →]