Miriam moved to Dubai five years ago and is the co-founder of the website www.femique.com
Tell us a little bit of yourself
My name is Miriam and I am the co-founder of www.femique.com, wife, mother to three daughters and sister to four brothers. I was born and raised in Sweden and have lived a bit everywhere and I have now been in Dubai for five years and loving it!
How and when did you move here, and what inspired the move?
Curious fact – I had never been here before I moved here. (and yes, I am a bit adventurous as you can tell from that). I moved here with my two kids (we’ve had another one since then) and husband back in 2019.
We had lived in a few places before Dubai, but we knew that we always wanted to live in the sun. Dubai made sense as my husband was travelling a lot at the time to nearby countries and the airport here has such good connections. So instead of him being away for two weeks it has allowed him to come home during the weekends.
How has living in Dubai shaped your sense of belonging and community?
So much! There is a community for everyone which I really appreciate, both with work but also through the friendships it has created for me. I for example work alone a lot and it allows me to connect with other people, so it feels less lonely. It’s strange but in the beginning when I talked to people I was surprised by their kindness and wondered what they wanted from me. I realised after a while that’s just how people are here most of the time.
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Can you tell us about a particular person in Dubai who has had a significant impact on your life and why?
It’s hard to talk about one specific person. For me, it has been about the community that we’re part of and the close friendships that I have made through community groups. Everyone is so friendly and always lets you know they can help if there’s anything you need.
I was surprised about this as I didn’t know it was the case when I first moved here. Even though life can be hectic with work and having a family, people make time to see each other here and that means the world. Even more so, as our family do not live here but are back home in Sweden.
What is your favourite thing about the emirate and why?
The variation and how open people are to meeting up. It feels like a big city inside a small one if you know what I mean! There is such a big variation of what to do. I can pretend I’m on holiday by going to spend the day at a hotel and imagine I’m on holiday, or I can go out into the desert and enjoy the nature. it’s magical.
A myth about Dubai that you would like to bust
That it’s all sand. I mean yes, we live in the desert, but I didn’t know how cool the desert actually is and how much I would love it. It is one of my favourite things to do with the kids, to go out camping or enjoy a sundowner. Going dune bashing was also an unexpected activity that I absolutely loved!
Could you share a memorable moment when you felt the genuine warmth and hospitality of the Dubai community in your own life?
One example I can think of is from when I had just moved here. We were moving into our house, and I was buying a lot of second-hand furniture. At the time, our kids were two months and one and a half years old, and it wasn’t the easiest to go by myself to collect furniture and I would need to take them with me. When I told this to people, they didn’t hesitate to offer to drop the furniture off for me. This blew my mind as I had never experienced that kindness before.
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