Abu Dhabi Obsessions: A Partial List, to be continued…

1). Frank Sinatra. Margaret’s grandparents were fans, and Margaret has inherited a soft spot for old blue eyes from them….but Abu Dhabi’s passion for Sinatra is far in excess even of the Kolbs', who managed to play other artists on occasion. Store managers in Abu Dhabi, by contrast, love to play the same Frank Sinatra song on repeat. Coffee shops, hotel lobbies, you name it. For example, in Caribou Coffee, where Margaret spent the morning, Sinatra's version of “For Once in My Life” has played all morning. Sometimes a cover gets played, sometimes an Arabic translation. All that matters is that good old Frank once sang it. We’re pretty sure that an instrumentalized version of “My Way” once played for an hour in Emirates Palace. (We haven’t heard "Old Man River" yet – it might tap a bit too far into labor unrest.)

2). America. Yes, we miss it, too (where are the seasonal drinks in Starbucks? Where is the canned pumpkin? How can we possibly know it’s fall?!!!). But we wouldn’t choose to show our affection for the US in quite the way that’s on market here. Here are a few examples of the pastiche of American culture that manages to make it out here.

Facebook FLIP FLOPS in Oman.

Dubiously stitched-together thematics on dubiously stitched t-shirts and jackets. By far the best is the "pro-active" squad. 

 

But the "West-Coast College" is also delightfully vague. 

There are too many examples - but here are a couple more that made us laugh, for good measure:

3). And, to crown this growing list, we give you the weirdest trend of all: Patrick Dempsey. Why this moderately handsome, definitely middle-aged man has attained such prominence in a city so far away from his home base is far beyond our analytical abilities. But he has. He is everywhere. We know it’s hard to believe, so here is one of the many Dempseys we’ve encountered.