So, Nagorno-Karabakh is in the news again. I am on Twitter… sorry, X every free minute reading all sorts of facts knowing half at least s not true.What I am realizing these days is we are all biased. Even those who pretend to be unbiased. So of course, I am biased too. I don’t have any hatred in my heart for the Armenian people, and that’s a fact. Yet, I cannot help it. Every time i read a biased ..read more

My husband has a very serious (and expensive, I suspect) hobby these days. He loves to mountain bike.In Qatar, where we live, there aren’t many mountains. In fact, there are none. He still manages to go out on his bike every weekend, but the only choice is a desert. Or another location with another desert. So, he and his friends started travelling abroad to explore other locations. So far, they ..read more

I was chatting to an old friend on WhatsApp recently when she suddenly said they were not getting vaccinated. Oh, I said. Are you an antivaxxer? I meant it as a light-hearted joke, and not really a serious question. But, as our conversation went further and deeper into the subject, I realized, with huge sadness, that yes, she was indeed, a conspiracy theorist and an antivaxxer. I am genuinely ..read more

As I get older, I started to realise that the scariest thing about aging is not even the fact that you are nearing the end of this journey, but to end up alone at the end. I used to think, when I was young and brazen, that having children was not really that necessary, and getting married was truly overrated. However, as I realize now, it is very different to be 25 and alone, or 75. Being alone ..read more

Got approached by these guys to tell them my favourite thing to do in Doha. Thought long and hard about that. The result was embarrassing, as exposed my shallow, hedonistic nature. But at least it was honest, and that should count for something. See a very short piece in the bottom of this link… under “Bloggers Thoughts about Qatar”https://www.twinkl.com.qa/blog ..read more

So, we have just returned from three weeks, yes whole three weeks, family vacation in Turkey.I know. You are probably jealous, and is okay, under the Covid induced circumstances, a certain degree of unhealthy jealousy is perfectly acceptable. We were very fortunate to have been able to go, and most importantly, return in one piece. I have not been in Turkey for many years. Even when my mother and ..read more

 This is a draft of my next piece for The Caspian Post that I want to share with you all here. My mother reckons I had been to Georgia before. When I was four years old. Of course, that just does not count, so I claim this visit now as my first ever experience of Georgia. It is surprising, in hindsight, that when I lived so close to it, I had not visited the neighboring country. I remember expat ..read more

I was discussing, as thousands of others at the time, that Meghan Markle interview with guys at work when one of them smirked at me. “Come on”, he said. “It was the International Women’s day only a few days ago, and you are being mean about another woman?” That logic always fascinated me. It is like when people also say “do you not like children?” Well, to me children, just like women, are people ..read more

Today is the first say of spring, guys! For us in Qatar it also means summer is coming.  I was going to work this morning wearing high boots and tights (there were days when you wouldn’t find a pair of tights in my wardrobe. Pantyhose for those of you who are in the US. I find them terribly unsexy! I mean even the word pantyhose?...Is plain awful. But these days, when I get to put them on like ..read more

Well… is Valentine’s day today, guys. In case you forgot. For some it is a romantic day, for others I know is just a commercial holiday which means nothing at all. I also read that it originated from some pretty naughty behavior of the Romans.For me, it means a lot. But in the Finnish way. One of my brightest memories of this holiday goes back to when I used to live in Baku still, young and ..read more