Sharjah rocks! It is so weird. It's just down the road from Dub but is like being in a totally different country. I feel like my feet actually connect to solid ground in Sharjah. In Dubai I always felt like I was walking on ice somehow and was never quite sure how thick it was. Even the taxi drivers are different. They have all the same problems but seem less stressed out than Dubai taxi drivers despite the nightmare of central Sharjah traffic.
Also Sharjah has got off to a very positive start in a way Dubai didn't for me. Completely out of the blue and starting the week I actually moved here, was a gift of a job working with the Sharjah Biennale and Bidoun Magazine. I have absolutely no doubt whatsoever that this is the coolest job in the universe and I can hardly believe its mine! As a consequence I have been allah kareeming and ulhumdulillahing all over the place which goes down very well in Sharjah. What;s more the job is based right in the middle of Sharjah's arts and heritage area which is just ... well.. ..ulhumdulillah.... see what I mean?!
Another positive is of course the weather... numerous thunderstorms last week and lots of lovely rain! I know it didn't rain much in Dubai last winter (apart from the three days that George Bush came), but the only time I heard thunder in Dubai was that weird day they seeded the clouds!
So .. I don't actually miss anything about Dubai yet although next week is the Dubai International Film Festival and I'm sure that taxi-ing in and out of Dubai most days is going to be a complete pain in the proverbial. But I sneaked a press pass again which means I get free tickets so I ain't complaining!
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