Long Read: The comfort of ‘social traditions’
Abigail Mathias/Dubai
Filed on May 28, 2021 | Last updated on May 28, 2021 at 07.03 am
For expats, there’s nothing like forming a habit that instills a sense of camaraderie and is rooted in familiarity. With Covid, these rituals have become more important than ever to preserve our sanity.
Then the regular routine of humdrum life consumes you, we take solace in small comforts: memories, habits, voices in a distance, friendships, community and so on. We often take them for granted but when things stand at statis — or, more contextually, when a crisis overwhelms us — these act as a beacon to guide us through the morass. In the UAE, where, for long, its substantial expat community have secured a home away from home, a lot of residents have been facing the brunt of a yearlong pandemic that seems to be offering no respite around the world. Strict travel restrictions are in place, thousands (if not millions) have no idea as to when they can visit loved ones back home… or even get back to the daily ‘normalcy’ that one assumed was theirs for the asking till Covid hit more than a year ago.