There is no Grey in the UAE

The decision was made a few days ago to not screen Fifty Shades of Grey in the UAE. It is officially banned. I also read it was banned in Kenya, Malaysia and a few other countries.

I scanned social media and responses to local articles about this. And you know what? Not a single comment was negative about this decision. I think for the first time in social media in the UAE, the consensus was unanimous. Now that may not be a true representation of some of the population, but maybe no one who disagreed dared to respond to this one as many book and movie reviews have been quite harsh.

No one took to protesting about rights, or if you don't want to see it, don't go to the cinema attitude. It was all a very positive "way to go".

I have not read the books, although they were sold here. I realize I write this with a lot of hearsay. However, that hearsay all points in the same direction. This movie is not romantic. The characters have serious issues and it paints a very misleading picture about what love is and about how it is okay for an uber wealthy guy to use his power to control and manipulate a young girl.

As the story unfolds, the amount of grey seems to grow according to the articles I've read. In seeking an objective opinion I read conservative and liberal publications. It was interesting to see my Facebook friends of both sides come together with a common opinion in my feed for a change.

Stalking, breaking into your apartment, threatening you, physically harming you... all major red flags in any relationship that say you should run like mad and consider calling the police.

So, now what.

Go see the movie or download it if you are curious. Decide for yourself. I should, but I won't.

If you look up the statistics on how many women are raped and abused by the minute, by the 1,000, its not good. And it doesn't seem to be getting better. From what I read, this film is not going to help improve this by any means.

So, while some things may be controlled here in the UAE, it may not be such a bad thing. Perhaps the film is just all hype and really not abusive. In that case, then the UAE governing body that reviews and controls what is released here has done us a favor and saved us from 125 minutes of bad film.

Either way, we thank you.

Happy New Year

My New Year thoughts are on my photography site blog.

If you do not wish to click there, here are the images.  The LED show that was seen from the front is running until January 9th at 6:45pm and 11:45pm.  I can't wait to see it!

Burj Khalifa New Year Eve 2015

Burj Khalifa New Year Eve 2015

Burj Khalifa New Year Eve 2015

Why No Blogging? Perhaps it's the Homeroom Mom Gig?

Yes, I copied this idea from Pinterest.  Its supposed to be a reindeer, but
kind of looks like a muppet?

I have not blogged anything here, or at my photography site since completing it in October.  That is a long time for all the randomness that floats around in my head.  I'm surprised I didn't burst in some kind of rage.. Or maybe I did.

For everyone, this time of year is really busy. Work is busy, the holidays are busy, trying to advocate for diabetes is busy, being a mom is busy, taking your kid to school is busy, keeping your diabetic cat from attacking your pumpkin cheesecake is busy.. and then some.

One other thing that has kept me busy was the gracious "nomination" to be my son's homeroom mom this year.  Nomination may not be the right word, but about one month into school I received a phone call one day. "So you've volunteered to be the homeroom mom."  Me - "No, I did not volunteer".

For those not familiar with the Home Room Mom, or Class Mom concept, it is basically someone that helps the teacher out with activities and recruits parent volunteers and such.  I have no idea how this tradition got started, and I am baffled it exists here because all teachers have full time assistants.  I appreciate everything they do, and it is not like they are not busy.  I just wonder when the need for a third person to do all this extra fancy stuff became necessary.

Something tells me the internet could have helped it along. Forums and such for moms to share their super mom abilities could feed this phenomenon. And now we have Pinterest with all those amazing ideas that people add to their boards but have no time for.

The woman on the phone was the pack leader of the homeroom moms and went into this long detailed explanation of what the job required and how rewarding it is.  Yes, rewarding it is.  I was one of three last year and this worked out great. However, I was not planning to single handedly take on this task with a full time job and everything else on my plate.  I am very involved in my son's life and activities, and I am not sure I am the right profile to do this for a whole class.

Every year a form goes out asking for volunteers.  I politely completed it telling the teacher I could not fulfill this position, but I am happy to help when I can.  What resulted was basically a call for volunteers to step forward and everyone took one step back but me.

Somehow my message was misconstrued.  In the same way people thought Milli Vanilli could sing their own songs back in the 1980s, someone thought I was crafty and available.

While I enjoy doing things for my son and being involved in his life while he still thinks it is cool, I would be lying if I said I did not wonder why more moms who do not work do not volunteer for this position.

When I made a list of supplies needed for a request for a snowman pancake party and distributed it, the amount of volunteers for plastic cutlery was astounding.  These other moms are very nice, and really I get that we are all busy.  However, 80% of the moms volunteered for plastic cutlery.  I don't mind, but then this left me with the trouble of trying to lobby for the other "cool" items on the list that were not chosen.  Do I just assign the fruit salad? Ask? Beg?

The other moms are incredibly "impressed with the amount of bags" I bring to a class function.  And shocked when they learn I work too, and I did not buy the pancakes.  One mom even feared me because she forgot the strawberries for the snowman's nose!  While I paused internally, its nothing that can't be resolved with an extra blueberry and a smile, or raspberries that the teacher felt compelled to bring because she happened to have them!

Thanks to the internet and Pinterest I delivered AND found a craft.  I could never dream up these crazy things on my own, but copy one? You bet!  I was not the kid that cheated in school, but in adulthood, cheating on a craft for school.  No ethical dilemma there.

So happy busy holidays to you all.  We are having a few friends over tonight.  Seems I told a friend the gathering was last night.  I must now make sure that was not the case for everyone and someone shows up tonight to eat all this food!

Amazing I remembered the pancakes!

One of the masterpiece pancake snowman

I did it!

I have not posted for three weeks.  With much going on, and much to say, I have also been working on launching my photography website.  While I love sharing it here, I thought it would be nice to get more of those images off my hard drive and document them in a website.

For now, I will continue to keep my writing about Life here.  Or, possibly post it in both places for a while as I will blog there as well.

I have been pouring my thoughts out here since 2008!  It is not something I am not ready to drop just yet.  And, writing my rebuttal to all that media discussion in Dubai about how people with nannies or hired help are just lazy is really cooking in my head.

If you have a few minutes to click over to Pamela Durant Photography, I would be very pleased to hear your feedback.

Safa Park

Safa Park April 2014

My heart broke a bit today.  There is a large canal project that started in Dubai last year that will run right through the city.  There was a lot of discussion when it was presented to the public because the fate of the city's beloved Safa Park was at question.

I read several articles in the local papers, and I seem to recall reading on more than one occasion that the park would remain as is, and the water was going to run next to it.  As of today, I am not so sure.

Foggy Morning Safa Park Field Trip

Every morning as I take my six year old son to school or drive to work I pass the park and witness the progress.  The trees in the parking lot on the Sheikh Zayed Road side where cleared to make way for new roads.  This did not surprise me as I expected the parking lot to go.

Fast forward to today as I drove along the side of the park and there I saw the demolition happening inside the park. How can this be?  I was speechless.

My favorite tree in Safa Park

My son was with me and equally shocked.  He started to talk about how sad many of the trees looked, and began to label them.  "Happy, sad, happy, sad, sad, happy..." The number of sad trees quickly outnumbered the happy ones.  He then realized the fate of the trees along the perimeter and several meters into the park.  These will all be cut down.

I am not a typical tree hugger, but my heart aches a bit to write that sentence.

Safa park was a gathering place for many.  It was representative of Dubai with all the many walks of life and cultures enjoying the largest, urban green space in Dubai.  It has been around since at least the 1970s, maybe longer.  For a country that is only 42 years old, it is an important landmark.

Citizens and residents would go there to meet, enjoy time off with their family, play sports, do yoga, enjoy the new cafe that opened, visit the  market, read a book, take a school trip, and more.  Just a quick Google search for Safa Park and its significance is quickly understood.

Burj Khalifa Overlooking Safa Park

We had my son's birthday party there earlier this year.  He liked it so much he was considering it again for next year.

I see the other areas that Dubai has developed and they are beautiful once finished.  They landscape and care for them well, and there have been many new parks that have come up in the last several years I have lived here.

I appreciate them all, but Safa Park has this unexplainable soul.  As soon as you enter the park gates, there is an energetic calm given off from all the nature there.  Perhaps this is why so many of those trees look sad long before the construction has reached them.  The impact of demolishing one side is felt by the other.  It is very interesting how nature is in synch this way.

Watching my son & husband in Safa Park

Many of the pictures I have seen of the development look nice.  Some look green, which is good, but in the meantime it is heart breaking to watch. As the cooler months set in, and the seasonal birds migrate through they will find their beloved park in a different state.

I feel a little helpless and at a loss for words as I write about this.  I am a resident of Dubai and maybe it is not my place to share this opinion.  Perhaps, but I love that park, its nature and what it represents for Dubai.



So often, I really wish the way forward did not come with a price of something that seemed so perfect in the first place.