What’s the best thing about living in Khalidiya?
Three things: My friend Joshua who is also my neighbour; the Corniche; and Jones the Grocer! It’s my favourite restaurant in the world!
Why is it your favourite restaurant?
Because of the sweets! And sandwiches! And there’s this nice lady who always wears black and I think she owns the place. She’s sweet and friendly. The guy who makes the coffee there, he’s nice, too. He showed me how to brew coffee from the Honduras. Cool! I love having breakfast there on Friday mornings!
Back to the Corniche – what do you do there? Do you go every day?
I play in the park and cycle on the Corniche. I love the beach, too – I play with my kite and I like to run in the sand with it, but sometimes it gets away and I have to chase it! My mum won’t let me spend too much time on the beach anymore because it’s getting really hot. Afterwards, we have lemonade at the Crêpe Hut. The crêpes are amazing! My favourite is Triple Chocolate. Yummy! But my mum won’t let me eat it every day [pretends to weep].
You sound like you spend a lot of time on the Corniche!
Only two hours every day – I have to hurry home by six for dinner and a shower. On Thursdays, when I don’t have to go to school the next day, I like to stay after sunset and watch the stars in the sky. I like astronomy and have a telescope in my room. You know, I’m going to be a scientist when I grow up.
Not an astronomer?
No. I want to invent stuff, like medicines for incurable diseases. I’ll also be a chef and write my own chocolate recipes! I’ll have two jobs!
You like chocolate, eh?
[Loud scream] Yes! I want chocolate for breakfast and lunch and dinner! I love reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory! I also like Esio Trot. They’re both written by Roald Dahl. He’s my favourite writer because he is funny! I don’t like Enid Blyton because she’s so goody-goody [makes gagging sound].
Which book are you reading now?
Bleak House, by Charles Dickens. It’s a sad story. I’m also reading a book about buildings. I like Sears Tower in Chicago, because you can see four states from its top: Michigan, Idaho, Wisconsin and Indiana.
That’s a lot of reading! When do you play?
After I get home from school. I go to Abu Dhabi International School. I do my homework really quickly. I like maths and science. Easy-peasy. Then I feed my goldfish – his name is Centavos. And I go to meet my friends, Joshua and Omnia and Ryan. We play ‘Bubblegum in a Dish’ and ‘Catch’ and ‘Red Poison’.
Red Poison? That sounds dangerous!
It’s not, really! We also play Blue Poison and White Poison. They’re only games! But I love spending my time drawing. I got this book on Islamic art at the book fair in school last week and it has geometric patterns in it. It’s going to take years to copy them out, but I’ve already started! I usually draw during the afternoon, when I’m supposed to be taking a nap. I hate naps. A waste of time! I also like swimming in the pool in the building next to ours, Pearl Plaza. The pool is on the roof and you can see all of Abu Dhabi from there.
