United Arab Emirates
January 28, 2004 9:24 PM   Subscribe

A place where light rain makes the news. An Arab country where, according to the CIA World Factbook, 50% of the population is actually of South Asian descent. And a place that could really use a better flash intro.
posted by namespan (8 comments total)
 
Also, home to a city probably introduced to many americans only (and unfortunately) by interaction between Garfield and Nermal. Or maybe Odie.
posted by namespan at 9:26 PM on January 28, 2004


Pity the vast majority of the population can't vote...

But these are the scariest statistics (for me, anyway):

15-64 years: 1.65 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 2.56 male(s)/female

Suffrage: none
posted by meehawl at 9:37 PM on January 28, 2004


If you look closely, (it happens quickly) it says "photo gallary," instead of "gallery." This is The National Website? What were they thinking?
posted by wsg at 9:45 PM on January 28, 2004


I don't know if it's the actual national website. www.uae.gov.ae seems more likely, although it doesn't come up at the moment. This could be something official.
posted by namespan at 9:52 PM on January 28, 2004


namespan, of course you're right. Thank you.
posted by wsg at 11:00 PM on January 28, 2004


How can you not want to say "Abu Dhabi" as many times as you can?

And, on a personal, hijacking note, they can't compete with the Atacama desert in Chile (mentioned somewhere here on MeFi, but I'm too lazy to look). Short story: ship full of Northwest (in the USA!) oceanographers in Antofagasta, Chile waiting for parts for our broken research ship. Large (as in 20 - 30 feet high) piles of grain sitting on the pier next to where we were tied up - who needs silos when it never rains? So, we were playing hacky-sack with sacks we had made from the grain and scraps of cloth (I did mention we were from the Northwest?) when (we were told later, because we didn't notice) it got a little misty. The next morning's papers had enormous headlines, literally taking up half the front page, screaming "It Rains!" complete with pictures of people with umbrellas. The umbrellas must have been parasols, because it turned out that this was the first time there had been perceptible precipitation in 30 years.

If I knew what I was doing, there would be a close hijack tag here but I don't.
posted by skyscraper at 11:47 PM on January 28, 2004


The soundtrack to the flash intro is Darude - Sandstorm. That's just funny.
posted by yangwar at 6:00 AM on January 29, 2004


When I was in college one of my residents was from UAE. I think he was at least partially here to help spread info on his country. When I seemed interested in hearing more about where he was from, he gave me materials to read and watch. It was propaganda, of course, but really interesting all the same. It showed how women were better off there than in most Arab countries (working, education), and they did some amazing things with lush growth out of the desert (sea of green right next to sea of sand). He was never pushy about it, didn't lecture me or anything. He was very nice, pretty much kept to himself, and actually brought back a set of watches for my husband and I when he returned from a trip home. He was a good representative, if that's what he was, as it gave me a favorable impression of UAE.

Anyway, it looks like there's a large Filipino population as they have their own website.

And the picture on the Khaleej Times is really cool -- it's a picture of a female US medic giving her email address to a girl/young woman visiting one of our camps. Apparently they were there as part of a career day. How cool is that?

And this women's site is interesting to look at -- women there wonder how to pluck their eyebrows, just as we do! Now, if only more people could understand that we're all really much more alike than we are different :) I mean, who doesn't wonder how to tame those brows?
posted by evening at 6:00 AM on January 29, 2004


« Older It's a conspiracy, I tell ya!   |   xplanet Newer »


This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments