I've Learnt My Lesson: An Expat’s Reality Check of Living in UAE’s Moderate Muslim Society

by Maya Maquis

I’ve Learnt My Lesson is about events and my experiences of working as a teacher in the United Arab Emirates, and how my perception of life and my politically correct attitude towards Islam changed. It’s a book that deals mostly with small events; the things that make up our daily lives. But, it is in our daily lives that we exist and through which we experience happiness, pain and make decisions. It is a book about how, when every aspect of our daily lives is scrutinized, we start to live under a dark shadow that, at best, prevents us from participating fully in life. It is a book that zooms in on everyday life in the UAE, and implicitly reminds us how precious freedom is and that we must never take it for granted.

288 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 26, 2016

Reviews

[Deirdre Mc. Alister · Rating 1 out of 5]

Absolutely awful book. Definitely does not represent the realities of living and working in the UAE.

I understand that this is one person's experience of living and working here. However, I have worked for the same company she did and have loved here in Abu Dhabi for over four years. While I certainly relate to some of the bureaucracy, it is not to different from many EU countries. By far the most harmful of the authors narrative is the racist and intolerant portrayal of Emirati culture and Islam. She failed utterly to even get to know Emiraties, and did not bother to learn the language. I have very rarely read such an acrimonious book and I would argue that many of her difficulties came from her intolerance. She uses words like "their culture" but is referring to a number of different cultures. Similarly her constant reference to "muslims" instead of referring to them as Arabs- from many different places in the MENA region as one group of bullying, dominant, misogynistic people completely misrepresents the reality of this culture and society. I could day so much more. Don't bother reading this book, it's content is awful and irritatingly - the editing is horrendous.

[M.A. McRae · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the true story of a woman who travels to the Emirates to teach English. We see a progression from idealism and adventure to sadness and disillusionment. Maya started off thinking that she would find a working environment not too dissimilar to anywhere else. She thought that people were really much the same all over the world.

They are not. If anyone is thinking of working in a strongly Islamic country, they should most definitely read this book. An author who writes of what is real, rather than what should be real, is very, very valuable. I commend Maya for telling it like it really is.