Jackie Gasper-Moore
‘I moved to Abu Dhabi a year-and-a-half ago because my husband, who is a lawyer, opened up an American office here. Before, I was teaching in Miami, Florida, but we move around a lot, so I’m not getting a permanent job. Recently I have been volunteering at a local charity and have done some fundraising work at The Future Centre For Special Needs, which helps children with disabilities. They are doing a beautiful job there.
‘Being a housewife, I am very social. I‘ve been helping some friends with their language skills and now I am taking Arabic classes. I love languages. Arabic has some words from Portuguese and some from Spanish; it’s not easy, but I like it.
‘In Brazil, for our national holiday, we usually go to the beach. We tend to have family gatherings – there is also usually a carnival too. It’s football, samba and a lot of black beans.
‘When I first moved here I was staying in a hotel while my husband was working. Then I heard people speaking Portuguese and I practically jumped on them; they said, “Let’s have lunch” and introduced me to some other Brazilians. We now meet up once a month to have lunch, talk about things and help one other out. We have a group of around 30 or 40 of us now. We’re all Brazilian but we’re married to different nationalities: British, Australian, German, French.
‘Abu Dhabi is a melting pot; that’s what I like about it. I love the Corniche, the parks, the outdoors. Actually, when you go to the desert it’s very similar to my hometown, except that instead of camels we have donkeys. However, I don’t like the traffic and I wish I could have more Emirati friends. I had a party here in my house and invited my Emirati neighbour. She sent an Arabic dessert, but I never met her. I’d like to find out more about the culture and maybe take classes. I’m not sure what would be the next step, but it would be interesting.’
Karla Grunewald-Hollamby
‘I’ve been in the UAE for two years, and I love it. I’m very happy here. I’m a mother of two – a teenager and a pre-teenager – and I like the safety of the place and the quality of the schools. My daughter attends the special needs school (The Future Centre For Special Needs) and it is marvellous. It has everything we need: every kind of therapy – occupational therapy, art therapies and so on. So, as a mother, I just love this place.
‘There is a big number of Brazilians. I came with my husband, who is an engineer. We have a good community. For example, there is a Brazilian ladies’ group that goes out for lunch and coffee. It’s not official, but they meet quite often. Then there is Chamas restaurant, which does Brazilian cooking – lots of meat – you’d love it!
‘The national holiday in Brazil has parades with bands on the street, especially in the small towns. Of course, the big cities celebrate, but mainly it’s just people looking for the day off. In the small towns, the schools get involved, so the local community is busy. I don’t think we celebrate it much here in Abu Dhabi. I won’t be celebrating it privately, but we celebrate our culture on a daily basis anyway, keeping it alive in our house in music, language and food.
‘Of course I miss Brazil a lot. I’m from a place called Minas Gerais, which is in the same region as Rio and Sao Paolo. We don’t have a beach, but we have lots of mountains. We used to say that we have a sea of mountains. It’s so beautiful.’
