Checking in with my new hometown bloggers in Dubai

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In preparation for moving to Dubai, I did a lot of research. I read guidebooks, I read websites, I logged on to a travel bulletin board and read postings, I emailed with someone from said bulletin board who was living in Dubai to find out the lowdown on life in the Sandpit.

And I read an lot of blogs, written by people living in Dubai. I've said before that one of the things I love about blogging is that you get a snapshot of someone's life, and get to see what it is like to live in different cities, countries and ways of life. I find that aspect of blogging fascinating.

So for today's post, I'd like to share with you some of the blogs I've been reading, written by Dubai-based bloggers.

Secret Dubai Diary is a fave Dubai blog of mine. This blog caused controversy a while back and was banned, only to pop back up online after protests to the authorities (certain websites are blocked in the UAE if they don't conform to the moral and spiritual guidelines of Islam, apparently, although this doesn't really explain why Skype is banned...). Sometimes snarky and sarcastic, but always with an interesting view on what is going on in Dubai, its a blog well worth checking out. She makes a fabulous post about the start of Ramadan:

The moon is sighted and the holy month begins.

With all the excitement and preparation over the past few weeks for Ramadan, with tents being put up in hotels and malls, and people starting to plan iftars and suhours, one gets a sense of what muslims living outside the Islamic world miss out on.

The best way to describe it is like a more spiritual Christmas season (since Lent, a closer equivalent, is not generally observed in the West). There's the same sense of festivity, family and peace on earth, with glittering decorations and delicious gifts on display, but with far less commercialism and general tackiness.

Dubai Sunshine has a post about celebrity spotting in Abu Dhabi:

It seems that Jeremy has been living it up in Abu Dhabi...he was spotted at Sax the night before (the jazz bar/lounge at the Royal Meridien hotel....and the only decent place left in Abu Dhabi).
I really wonder why any celebrity would come to Abu Dhabi? It's not your typical celebrity hotspot. Dubai is usually the city that attracts all the celebrities...Not that there's anything wrong with Abu Dhabi...on the contrary, anyone who reads this blog often enough knows that I prefer calmer, cosier, more charming Abu Dhabi to charmless Dubai.

Desert Idleness blogs about leaving Dubai, due to the high cost of living:

Sorry for not updating this blog in a while, I've been running around finalising our preparations to leave. So yes, after a few years out here in the desert we've had enough and decided to head for greener pastures (literally and metaphorically).
This might end up being a long post and I won't be editing it so excuse me if I ramble.

In the last two years, we have seen costs literally shoot through the roof. In 2005 we saw our rent soar, but we hoped this would be an isolated incident. In our minds we thought surely no landlord would hike the rent again on the back of a 35% rise? How f***king wrong we were!

And Sharjah Diva posts about the names of some of her students:

So, I have had several students with the name 'Shaikha' which translates to 'Princess'. We don't do this in English - why? Maybe because it seems a bit presumptuous. I don't know.

'Princess, dinner....' 'Princess, clean your room...' 'Princess, stop hitting your brother Prince.'

Contributing Editor Jules also blogs at Jetsetting Jules.