Abu Dhabi
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Osama’s Other Legacy: Conspiracy Buffs
Osama Bin Ladin is credited with being the mastermind behind 9/11. But he should also be given credit for giving birth to a world of conspiracy theory masterminds. Whether you believe Osama bin Ladin was indeed the brains of 9/11 or not (I live in the Middle East, remember), whether you are conservative or liberal, Continue reading
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Bahrain Again
Since the uprising in Egypt, I’ve been getting e-mails from people asking me if I’m okay, if I’m safe with everything going on the Middle East. Safety in the Middle East is just a question of where you are standing at a given moment. Sadly, I have never known the Middle East not to have Continue reading
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Cue the Camels and the Donkeys…and the Cool Cats
It’s time that we get our Middle East animals straight. The other day when I was watching men on camels and horseback charge through Tahrir Square in Cairo, whipping demonstrators, I felt like I was witnessing a bad Hollywood remake of Ben Hur or any other “cue the camels” movie depicting battle in the Holy Continue reading
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Zayed University Film Festival In San Francisco
There has been more than one time me in my life when the call to prayer has been a comfort to me, and that includes at 4:30 a.m. yesterday when I had to walk to my car in the dark to go get to school in time for “The Best the Zayed University Film Festival” Continue reading
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Horse Power and the Abu Dhabi Film Festival
Everyone says the UAE has only two seasons, hot and hotter. But there is a far better season, the film festival season. The Abu Dhabi Film Festival kicked off last week and is now going strong with 170 films from around the world. Tops on my list to see are Miral, Carlos, Kingdom of Women, Continue reading
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Nannies of New York vs.Nannies of Abu Dhabi
When I first arrived in New York City’s Upper Westside this summer, one of my first thoughts was, “Wow, it’s true what they’re saying about the US—interracial couples are on the rise.” A couple of days later when I saw women with strollers rolling into the “mommy and me classes” next door, I remember thinking, Continue reading
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Weather or not? Not Just Small Talk
I’ve been back in the US for a month now. And, just as it is for Fatima’s children in “The Night Counter,” weather seems the first thing people want to talk about, people who aren’t even estranged relatives who can’t think of anything else to say to me. Everyone–friend, foe and stranger–wants to talk about Continue reading
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The Abu Dhabi Zoo Effect VS. Sex and the City
They missed the real Abu Dhabi in Sex and the City II, and in the real Abu Dhabi, tourists and Arabs wouldn’t notice Carrie and her gang–there are plenty of scantily designer-dressed Western women seeking really rich men walking around here. The women that get the head turns are the women you can’t really see. Continue reading
Alia Yunis 