So, we escaped the hazy streets of Dubai one week before Ramadan was called.
This is the first year since our arrival that we have been away for the whole of this religious festival.
Because of the timing this is the first year when Daughter will return to school after Ramadan - no shortened school days or road chaos for me. Ha!
As we left at the beginning of August - so early it messed with our heads - it was 42 degrees C with 90% humidity; a continuation of one of the hottest Summers on record.
So we're in Cyprus; a mere three hour (-ish) hop from The Gulf but a world away in so many ways.
Daughter has, until recently, embraced every aspect of life in Dubai positively; a staunch advocate of the benefits whilst living with the downsides. But developing maturity and an expensive education has encouraged her to question some aspects and she is not buying into many of the answers. I'm interested to watch her develop if only because I see some return on investment...
Top of the list of things she was looking forward to prior to our departure was being able to wear without restriction the teenage clothes of the western world which are freely available in all the malls. The old adage 'You're not going out dressed like that' takes on a whole new meaning when we're at home.
This is the first year since our arrival that we have been away for the whole of this religious festival.
Because of the timing this is the first year when Daughter will return to school after Ramadan - no shortened school days or road chaos for me. Ha!
As we left at the beginning of August - so early it messed with our heads - it was 42 degrees C with 90% humidity; a continuation of one of the hottest Summers on record.
So we're in Cyprus; a mere three hour (-ish) hop from The Gulf but a world away in so many ways.
Daughter has, until recently, embraced every aspect of life in Dubai positively; a staunch advocate of the benefits whilst living with the downsides. But developing maturity and an expensive education has encouraged her to question some aspects and she is not buying into many of the answers. I'm interested to watch her develop if only because I see some return on investment...
Top of the list of things she was looking forward to prior to our departure was being able to wear without restriction the teenage clothes of the western world which are freely available in all the malls. The old adage 'You're not going out dressed like that' takes on a whole new meaning when we're at home.
However - pause for sharp intake of breath and an OMG - Daughter has been horrified at the sartorial mistakes which freedom of dress encourages. Acres of exposed flesh oozing out of lycra - and that's the more conservative approach - is unappealing in any culture, and that's just the men! Individual dignity and personal respect appear to have been thrown to the four winds in the stampede to discard clothing the more to reveal body art and piercings and third degree sunburn.
So we've had this discussion about freedom, both personal and societal; about responsibilities; about manners and mores.
The contrast between the culture we have come from and the one we have come to could not be more stark. The fight for women's rights in the western world should be remembered, applauded, admired and enjoyed. But the fight is not over and if we take it for granted as complete will not progress.
Meanwhile the fight for women's rights in the undeveloped world has hardly begun in terms of achievement. The raison d'etre for the majority of women is merely to produce male offspring. The men are encouraged to enjoy all western 'freedoms' both at home and abroad whilst prohibiting similar behaviour in their wives, sisters and cousins.
Whilst being able to dress as you want is a consequence of a freer society rather than freedom itself perhaps the careless way the west exhibits its freedom illustrates how little freedom is valued and the price paid to get it has been long forgotten.
