A fascinating event was staged in Dubai this week, entitled the Emerging Host Cities Summit. The idea? A “how-to” for cities to bid for major sports events. Officials from recent and future World Cups and Olympics were in Dubai, giving talks about how to put together a bid and how to win it. That this […]

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Apparently, this is what the Brits did for a century or two. Go to a distant land, part of their empire (upon which the sun never set), looking for a better life or better weather or better opportunity or all of the above … And once a couple of hundred of them had assembled, in […]

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Just writing that headline invites disaster. Plumbing going bad a few floors above us, or a sudden breakdown of some of the appliances. But (so far) the new digs here in Abu Dhabi are so much better than the old that a certain person living here has suggested “It’s like I actually began living in […]

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December 2, National Day, in the UAE. On that date in 1971, six sheikhdoms (soon to be seven) on the tip of the Arabian peninsula decided to come together as a country. The Brits were pulling out of the Gulf, and it seemed like a good idea to team up. National Day. When the UAE […]

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The Galaxy won the Major League Soccer championship today, and the way this will play around 98 percent of the soccer world is this: David Beckham leaves MLS with another championship. That is how it will be looked at here in the UAE, certainly. I have two thoughts here. The first is something I’ve already […]

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Some crazy weather here. The high temperature in Abu Dhabi today was 77 Fahrenheit, making it the lowest daily high since April. A real bundle-up day. But here is the shocker. Rain. Quite a bit of it. The most in a day since 2006, some people said.

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More than most of the populated parts of the planet, the UAE sports season is quite condensed. Some of the indigenous sports — well, soccer, anyway, sometimes at barely a walking pace — compete for most of the year. But the heat is too brutal about seven months out of 12 for most anything else, […]

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  This has happened before. It’s tricky to celebrate a Thursday holiday, outside the U.S. — mainly, because it’s a work day outside the U.S. So, these five consecutive Thanksgiving Days overseas … well, actually, we’ve had a nice Thanksgiving meal before the actual day (2009), and three now (2010-12) after the actual day. This […]

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Our fifth consecutive Thanksgiving out of the U.S.  A tricky holiday, when you are overseas. As great as turkey is (low fat, lots of meat at a low price) and as great as the holiday is (a meal with family/friends with football) … it just doesn’t translate well anywhere that isn’t Canada. How have we […]

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When making a move, it’s prudent to study the outside of the new place as well as the inside. What shops are nearby? Where will the sun strike the windows? Is it easy to find a cab? How far is it to the nearest major grocery store? Two aspects of the new place, here in […]

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