Where are you from?
Hey hey, how are you doing it’s Kai here.
A British born and raised girl with a West Indian upbringing, a genuine love for music, an entrepreneurial spirit and a huge heart for helping people and a big lover of life! I’ve been in Dubai for just over two years now and one of the first questions I’m asked when meeting someone new is ‘Where are you from?‘ I’m pretty sure it’s safe to say that goes for all of us as one of, if not thee most popular question when meeting someone new in the UAE.
If I say ‘London’, I’m further probed with the question, ‘“No, where are you REALLY from?” which in turn opens so many doors for the direction of the conversation because I can see they’ve heard me speak but can’t match my face to a location they can familiarize themselves with or matches the ideal in their head. I’ve had people guess all kinds of places from Rwanda, Kenya and Ghana to the USA and even more. When I say “I’m British born but my heritage is West Indian/Caribbean“, I’m often met with amazement or confusion depending on whether or not the person knows where that is. No matter how many times or what order I say “Grenada, Trinidad and Jamaica” most of the time, all they respond with is ‘“Aaahh, Jamaaaacica‘. The ‘ah-ha’ moment when they have ‘figured me out’ or even surprised there are black, British Jamaicans now in the UAE.
Surprisingly, this happens with Westerners just as much as it does with those from Asia, Africa or Australia. What I admire and find fascinating is, coming from London which I consider to be such a diverse, major city, and having friends from all backgrounds and religions, Dubai for me has allowed me to meet people from places that I had only ever heard of on TV or in a movie. I’ve played with a musician from Madagascar and spoken with many strangers who turned into acquaintances or even friends from Hawaii, , Mozambique, Saudi Arabia, Polynesia, Tanzania and more. Some have traveled lots and some never before arriving in Dubai or the Middle East.
A few Americans think we only drink tea and must hang out with the young, hip Royals as we live so close to the Queen whilst others nationalities have never heard of Usain Bolt but can definitely sing a Bob Marley song if we talk about Jamaica.
All in all, as many times as I have been asked the same question over and over, the conversations never grow old as we all learn, laugh and cry from unique stories and the beautiful tales of what brought them to this desert turned built up cities that make up the UAE.
In any case, I’d like to encourage you, if you rarely ask the age old question, or applaud you if you still do, as we share and keep trying to figure out this thing we called life. You never know where this great question could end.
So, tell me my friend, where are YOU from? Drop a line below and introduce yourself. Let’s get acquainted. :-). Why not even start a chat in our forum?
