Dividing the Day into Two in Fujairah and Multiplying the Fun

If you’re a mad dog or an Englishman going out in the midday sun in Fujairah with the intention of doing some shopping, you may well be out of luck.

While some shops and Colleges keep their doors open from 9 to 5 or thereabouts, many government offices close finally for the day at 2pm or they close at 2 and open again at 4.40 and go until 7 or 7.30pm.

Every business is different in terms of their opening hours.

The Al Khaleej Bookshop in the Fujairah posts their opening hours on the shop window (pictured).

Why Divide the Day?

In bigger UAE cities like Dubai where commuting takes forever, many shoppers and workers resist the idea of dividing the day, going home and returning for the second half.

In Fujairah, a city that is growing and where the streets are slowing, it still is quite feasible to keep to the Emirati tradition of a day with two halves.

On a day like today when it is 45+ degrees at 1pm, it’s only the ‘Mad Dogs and Englishmen’ who enjoy walking around the hot pavements of the city.

While dividing the day into two has been a long tradition in hot countries like the Emirates, the Englishman, Winston Churchill, was a great exponent of this art. He reckoned he got more done by cutting the day into two and he worked late into the night.

Emirati Mathematics

Attending a conference the other day in a Fujairah hotel we broke for a sumptuous lunch. Nearing the end of it someone asked if a rest period was on the programme after lunch. Our hopes were dashed when we were told by one of the organizers that we had only 5 minutes before the next session.

I said, “What a pity. I like the practice of the Emirati siesta when you can have a hearty meal and a sleep.”

To which one of the Emirati delegates replied, “Not just a hearty meal but hearty sex too!”

Dividing the day to subtract the stress and multiply the fun and the family.

Emirati mathematics at its best.

Geoff Pound

This article is also posted on the Fujairah in Focus—Facebook Page.