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Another day in the office….

19th January 2010 by Helena 5 Comments  

Sometimes you have a day at work that sets it apart from any others. Yesterday was such a day for me. I ventured into the western region with Delores the photographer and a guide; the lovely Leila from the Khalifa Fund for Enterprise Development. I was covering a story about the fund’s efforts to revive heritage through self-employment opportunities for women.

When they were bedouins, the women in the UAE used to weave tents and camel bags. But since the discovery of oil they have all had houses built for them so this ancient skill was set to become a thing of the past.

I was really impressed with the women I met. We went to the town of Sila, which is eight kilometres from the Saudi border. We were welcomed like long-lost relatives and as we stood up to leave the oldest one (and mother of two others) said: “You can’t go yet, we’ve slaughtered a sheep for you.”

In Bedouin tradition you slaughter an animal for visitors and leave it whole to show you have not skimped. So off we trundled to her tent in the middle of the desert to enjoy lunch.

Obviously as a vegetarian I was at a slight disadvantage, but despite the dead sheep I have to say I can see what old Wilf (as in Wilfred Thesiger) was on. These people are very easy to fall in love with; they are kind, warm, simple, affectionate and generous. As well as funny. Leila told me the story of one of the ladies when a film crew paid a visit to film the weaving. There was much discussion over what should be worn.

“A man has landed on the moon,” shrieked Fatima. “And we’re still debating which part of our body we can show. And anyway we’re completely covered up!”

I can also see the attraction of the desert. I took off my shoes and walked around on the warm sand looking at the infinite views all around while the ladies chatted. There is a real sense of peace there. They told me they miss the old life and I can see why.

Copyright: Helena Frith Powell 2010


Filed Under: blog --> Tagged With: another, office

5 thoughts on Another day in the office....

  • Arthur says:
    19th January 2010 at 1:21 pm

    I am surprised you, as the honoured guest, weren’t offered the eyes of the sheep, which I am told, can be sucked rather like a bullseye getting smaller and smaller.
    Totally agree about the desert Arabs – a wonderful, generous people and totally to be admired. Arthur.

  • Katariina says:
    20th January 2010 at 1:01 pm

    You’re a vegetarian?!? WHY would you want to do that to yourself? x

  • Amber Lee says:
    22nd January 2010 at 12:39 am

    Were you able to eat it without making much of a face? 🙂

  • Andreas says:
    22nd January 2010 at 10:10 am

    I’m Swedish myself and I do agree with some things in your article while others only make me angry. If you were constantly drunk while you were in Sweden then maybe you would’ve seen snow for seven months a year. If you weren’t drunk I would like to know which part of Sweden you lived in because I don’t know any place in the world where it snows seven months a year. Are you going to tell us about polar bears in supermarkets next? If you’re going to write an article about Sweden, stop exaggerating or don’t write at all. I think your brain has been damaged from eating raw fish and elk your whole childhood. You should’ve cooked the fish instead.

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    6th April 2010 at 5:08 am

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Helena Frith Powell was born in Sweden to a Swedish mother and Italian father, but grew up mainly in England. She is the author of eleven books, translated into several languages including Chinese and Russian. She wrote the French Mistress column The Sunday Times about life in France for several years. She is a regular contributor to the Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday, The Times, Daily Telegraph, Tatler Magazine and Harper’s Bazaar.

Helena has been the editor of four magazines, including M Magazine, a supplement for the Abu Dhabi based National Newspaper and FIVE, a high-end fashion glossy, also published in Abu Dhabi. Helena was also editor in chief of 360 Life, a quarterly glossy magazine published with the Sports 360 Newspaper in Dubai, part of the Chalhoub Group.

Helena contributes regularly to UK-based newspapers and magazines and holds a Masters in Creative Writing from the University of Cambridge. Helena is working on a thriller called Thin Ice that will be published in 2021 as well as a novel about the relationship between Virginia Woolf and Katherine Mansfield called Sense of an Echo.

Her latest non-fiction work Smart Women Don’t Get Wrinkles came out in hardback in 2016 and in paperback in April 2018.

Helena, who was educated at Durham University, lives in the Languedoc region of France with her husband Rupert and their three children.

Bibliography

More France Please, we’re British; Gibson Square 2004

Two Lipsticks and a Lover 2005; Gibson Square (hardback)

All You Need to be Impossibly French; (US version of above) Penguin 2006

Two Lipsticks and a Lover; Arrow Books (paperback) 2007

Ciao Bella Gibson Square; (hardback) 2006

Ciao Bella Gibson Square; (paperback) 2007

So Chic! (French version of Two Lipsticks) Leduc Editions 2008 (also translated into Chinese, Russian and Thai)

More, More France; Gibson Square 2009

To Hell in High Heels; Arrow Books 2009 (also translated into Polish)

The Viva Mayr Diet; Harper Collins 2009

Love in a Warm Climate; Gibson Square 2011

The Ex-Factor; Gibson Square 2013

Smart Women Don’t Get Wrinkles; Gibson Square 2016

The Arnolfini Marriage; Amazon Kindle December 2016

Smart Women Don’t Get Wrinkles (paperback); Gibson Square spring 2018

The Longest Night; Gibson Square spring 2019

 

 

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