Chronicles of a Trailing Spouse...

There's a joke that goes around:  'What's the difference between a racist and non-racist?'  Answer: ' Two weeks in the UAE'. When I first heard this joke I didn’t understand it but after over two and a half years in the place this makes total sense to me.   It's hard not to generalise about different nationalities when you're surrounded by such a wide variety of them - you begin to form an impression of them as a whole - often unfairly; notice shared character traits that tickle or annoy; identify idiosyncrasies: -like the inability of many Indians here in the UAE to drive properly for example.  Or be logical: -'Excuse me, can I use a credit card? ' I asked the Indian gentleman behind the counter in the mall.  -...

The French model Isabelle Caro (28) died from anorexia related complications in November last year after suffering with the condition for 15 years. Luisel Ramos, a model from Uruguay, died at the age of 22 in 2006 from the same disease. A few months later her 18 year old sister, also a model, died of a heart attack believed to be related to an eating disorder. In that same year Brazilian model Ana Carolina Reston (21) also died from the disease.  In 2007 Hila Elmalich, an Israeli model also died from complications associated with anorexia. The size zero debate seems to have fallen off the radar in recent times, but the issues remain. I suffered with anorexia during my teens and bulimia for most of my twenties, so I know something of what it was like for these women – although growing up in a country town in the West of Ireland doesn’t come close to working in an industry where being painfully underweight is a pre-requisite, and where starving is endemic. Having an eating diso...