What's your name and where are you from in New Zealand?
Sarah Wenn and I am from Christchurch, NZ.
Where are you currently living and how long have you been there?
I've been living in Dubai for 4 years.
What is your current profession and who are you working for?
Head of Grade 4 at Jumeirah Baccalureate School. It’s a Taaleem school which is one of the biggest education providers in the UAE.
Tell us what it is like where you are living?
Despite popular belief, Dubai is very liberal. Our weekends are spent sunning ourselves at the beach in bikinis or at brunch (the 4 hour, all inclusive drinking kind). The weather is amazing minus a couple of months of summer where the temperature reaches 45+. We just treat this as winter everywhere else in the world though and stay inside.
What do you do for fun/entertainment?
Brunch is a really big thing here in Dubai and most people would do one each weekend. Think 4 hours of all you can eat and drink while bands or DJs play in the background. We also get a lot of headline concerts here as most world tours have to fly through Dubai anyway. Pool and beach days are also a popular option for shaking off any cobwebs from brunch the day before.
Beer or wine?
Beer before wine and you’ll be fine.
What is the most useless talent you have?
I can make my tongue into a three leaf clover…
What is your favourite place in the world, and why?
NZ, can I pick that? If not I would have to say Colombia. We backpacked round there last summer and apart from an unfortunate incident involving some dodgy filtered water in the middle of the jungle, I loved every minute. It has a great ratio of beaches to cities and is not too touristy yet.
What is your funniest travel story?
We were staying in a backpackers in San Hil Colombia when I was woken up around 8am by gunshots. Fergal (my other half) was blissfully still sleeping and completely unaware of the gang war going on outside our window. I woke him up in a complete state, waited for the fighting to stop and then made him come with me to ask the hostel owner what to do. Old Sergio seemed very confused as to why I was so upset and after a long drawn out conversation, a.k.a my bad Spanish, we learnt there was in fact, a festival happening outside and we should go enjoy ourselves.
Lesson: Don’t watch Narcos whilst travelling through Colombia.
If there was one thing you could recommend to someone about to go on there OE, what would it be?
Drink whatever's local, it’s cheaper.
What is something that people don‘t know about you?
I spent 14 years dancing competitively, if you see me on the dance floor after brunch you will understand why people find this hard to believe.
Do you have plans on moving back to NZ?
As much as I’d love to, for us it just doesn’t make sense right now. The plan is to move to Australia in a couple of years time so at the very least we will be closer!
What home comfort do you miss the most?
Having a backyard! We live in an apartment and I constantly crave having a barbeque in the backyard. I miss having grass.