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Where we live

21st February 2009 by Helena 5 Comments  

This morning at half past seven when I went for a walk it occurred to me that I have not written about where we live. We live on a street called Little 8 Street, away from the centre of Abu Dhabi but still close enough to feel part of it. In fact as you come over the hill on Salam Street to reach us, the traffic suddenly eases, things seem less chaotic and greener.

I say the traffic eases but even this morning when I was out walking along what is called the New Corniche it was constantly flowing. You have to wonder where all these hundreds of people are going so early on a Saturday morning. But the view of the sea was lovely, as well as the high-rise buildings that looked almost suspended in the sky because of low fog.

new-corniche-pic.jpg
After my walk I went to our local shopping area, which is a little like walking into an Indian village. There are about 40 small shops; dry cleaners, hair dressers, take-away places, a baker’s, a fruit and veg shop, countless material shops and little grocers that sell everything you could possibly need. If it’s not on display then just ask and they will nip upstairs to get it.

The baker’s this morning was full of men. It suddenly struck me that the shops there are always full of men. I’m not sure I have ever seen a woman over there. But this doesn’t make it feel unsafe or anything. In fact Olivia and Bea often go shopping alone and have made friends with all the shopkeepers. I bought some pain au chocolat, sesame bread and then picked up fresh mango and orange juice on the way home, as well as the newspaper, obviously.

This morning we will do very little and then we’re invited to a BBQ. There is something very exotic about the thought of a BBQ in February, but the fact is we should be outside as much as we possibly can now. In a month or so it will be too hot to go for a walk, even at 7 o’clock in the morning. Which is one of the disadvantages about where we live.

With thanks for picture to Michael Gunnison who writes a blog caller Flowers in the Sand.

Copyright: Helena Frith Powell 2009


Filed Under: Abu Dhabi, blog --> Tagged With: where

5 thoughts on Where we live

  • JL Braz says:
    21st February 2009 at 5:54 pm

    OOOOOh, that sesame bread! We bought it fresh from the baker in the souk when we lived in Khartoum, SO many years ago. My sisters and I can still conjure up the smell. Enjoy one bite for us, please.

  • mimi says:
    21st February 2009 at 6:20 pm

    Helena, it looks and sounds divine! The thoughts of being able to go out in February without a coat! And no need for central heating! I get what you say about the heat in a month’s time, but faraway hills look quite green right now. Enjoy! and hope you had a good BBQ, mimi

  • sharyn g says:
    23rd February 2009 at 4:27 am

    Helena

    It looks wonderful! It is cold and snowing here in PA. Again!!! I am ready for spring to come.

  • ruth says:
    24th February 2009 at 9:25 am

    After our lovely bit of snow, we now have a bright spring here in Ireland, with crocuses popping out all over. It’s been the best example of seasonal change we have had in years.
    Of course, the economic climate leaves something to be desired…

  • Josephine says:
    25th February 2009 at 2:36 am

    It sounds lovely and I admire you for not fretting over your children walking around the shops alone. I’m sadly one of those cotton wool Mummies (although she is only three!) How one earth do you eat pain au chocolat and sesame bread and stay so slim?

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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 also working on a thriller called Thin Ice that will be published in spring 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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