For Hoor Al Nuaimi, celebrating the UAE’s 49th National Day next week will be particularly poignant, as it falls just before she embarks on a prestigious overseas adventure.
Just two weeks ago, the Abu Dhabi resident found out she was one of two Emirati students heading to Oxford University in the UK, and she still can't believe it.
As a recipient of the renowned Rhodes scholarship, the NYU Abu Dhabi senior will undertake a two-year programme at the world-famous university, where she will study the complexities of international law and governance.
"Time has already moved so fast and I am getting even more excited," she tells The National. " Inshallah in September 2021 I will be there."
Al Nuaimi's time ensconced within Oxford's Hogwarts-like 11th-century grounds and the surrounding idyllic town should also provide ample inspiration for continuing her literary pursuits – part of which will be on display on Wednesday, November 25, as part of NYU Abu Dhabi's Hekayah concert.
Forming part of the university's The Arts Centre events season, the annual National Day celebration hosts a number of local and international talents, who will perform poetry that touches upon the multiculturalism, dynamism and tolerance that defines the UAE.
While the pandemic forced the event to move online this year, Al Nuaimi, 21, finds the format a blessing in disguise.
Describing herself as primarily a writer, this will be her first time sharing her work with an audience, even if it is pre-recorded.
“I have never performed or shared my work with anyone before, so this is a good opportunity to finally step out of the bubble and raise my voice,” she says. “I don’t know if I would have done it if the event was physically held live.”
Style and form
The performed work, Turmeric, is a neat distillation of Al Nuaimi's interests and creative process.
A piece that reflects on Emirati women’s relationships with tradition and modernity, it is an English poem that underwent redrafts in Arabic.
Like her short stories, Al Nuaimi initially wrote the piece in English and then translated it into Arabic, before retranslating it to English for the final draft.
Al Nuaimi admits it can be an arduous and rigorous process, but the creative rewards are rich.
“With every single translation, I find a new metaphor and motif that I expand on when reworking the poem,” she says. “I really love this constant cycle of creating and recreating.”
The method also gave her a deeper appreciation of the nuances and literary possibilities that come with both English and Arabic.
“Arabic is amazing when it comes to the variety of metaphors, because a lot of the words are so loaded with various meanings,” she says. “And while the English language doesn’t have as many metaphors, it provides a sense of structure and form that is very useful.”
Her upcoming debut work
Al Nuaimi is using the same approach for her debut collection of short stories.
Hoping to release it next year, she says the yet-to-be-titled book features stories set in the UAE with a cast of strong local women.
“The story follows the different objects in the lives of these Emirati women,” she says. “I explore these relationships, with the writing less focused on a plot but more on language and characters. It is very allegorical.”
Hekayah will stream on Wednesday, November 25, at 7pm from NYU Abu Dhabi The Arts Centre's Facebook page. More details are at nyuad-artscenter.org
Joker: Folie a Deux
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson
Director: Todd Phillips
Rating: 2/5
French business
France has organised a delegation of leading businesses to travel to Syria. The group was led by French shipping giant CMA CGM, which struck a 30-year contract in May with the Syrian government to develop and run Latakia port. Also present were water and waste management company Suez, defence multinational Thales, and Ellipse Group, which is currently looking into rehabilitating Syrian hospitals.
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Tips for entertaining with ease
· Set the table the night before. It’s a small job but it will make you feel more organised once done.
· As the host, your mood sets the tone. If people arrive to find you red-faced and harried, they’re not going to relax until you do. Take a deep breath and try to exude calm energy.
· Guests tend to turn up thirsty. Fill a big jug with iced water and lemon or lime slices and encourage people to help themselves.
· Have some background music on to help create a bit of ambience and fill any initial lulls in conversations.
· The meal certainly doesn’t need to be ready the moment your guests step through the door, but if there’s a nibble or two that can be passed around it will ward off hunger pangs and buy you a bit more time in the kitchen.
· You absolutely don’t have to make every element of the brunch from scratch. Take inspiration from our ideas for ready-made extras and by all means pick up a store-bought dessert.
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Closing the loophole on sugary drinks
As The National reported last year, non-fizzy sugared drinks were not covered when the original tax was introduced in 2017. Sports drinks sold in supermarkets were found to contain, on average, 20 grams of sugar per 500ml bottle.
The non-fizzy drink AriZona Iced Tea contains 65 grams of sugar – about 16 teaspoons – per 680ml can. The average can costs about Dh6, which would rise to Dh9.
Drinks such as Starbucks Bottled Mocha Frappuccino contain 31g of sugar in 270ml, while Nescafe Mocha in a can contains 15.6g of sugar in a 240ml can.
Flavoured water, long-life fruit juice concentrates, pre-packaged sweetened coffee drinks fall under the ‘sweetened drink’ category
Not taxed:
Freshly squeezed fruit juices, ground coffee beans, tea leaves and pre-prepared flavoured milkshakes do not come under the ‘sweetened drink’ band.
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Transmission Six-speed gearbox
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Dubai Bling season three
Cast: Loujain Adada, Zeina Khoury, Farhana Bodi, Ebraheem Al Samadi, Mona Kattan, and couples Safa & Fahad Siddiqui and DJ Bliss & Danya Mohammed
Rating: 1/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
PROFILE BOX
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Founder: Ayman Alashkar
Started: Established in 2020
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Sector: PropTech
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
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Investment raised: $4 million
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