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American Darcy Harris and her British husband Paul Hudson, who teaches at the American University of Sharjah, are in their 60s and have lived in the UAE for 26 years.
Having previously called three other emirates home, they currently rent a townhouse in Hay Barashi, a Sharjah area they have seen evolve from an isolated spot to popular residential area.
Ms Harris, who is known as The Camel Lady for her popular papier-mache creations, showed The National around their house.
Please tell us about your home
Having lived in Al Ain, Fujairah and Ras Al Khaimah, we now live in Hay Barashi, a suburb of Sharjah located off the Sharjah Airport road and the 611 freeway.
We have lived in our four-bedroom, four-bathroom, semi-detached townhouse for over 12 years.
It also includes an en suite maid’s room. But, since we do not have live-in help, the maid’s room has been taken over by our four cats, PG, Tips, Jingie, and Lord Marmaduke of Floofington.
Our rent has fluctuated greatly. Today we pay Dh95,000 ($25,900) a year, which is good value.
What made you choose this community?
Paul teaches at AUS in the Academic Bridge Programme, helping students who have been accepted at AUS, but do not quite have the level of English/study skills needed to enter their majors.
Normally, faculty and staff live in campus housing, but when Paul started working there, there was a housing shortage.
Given the option, we chose to live off campus. We chose to live in Hay Barashi because it was quiet and, at the time, in the middle of nowhere.
What are the advantages?
It was a safe place to live and easy for Paul to travel to AUS because he goes against the traffic. In the morning, everyone is heading to Dubai while he goes into Sharjah.
In the afternoon, when everyone is heading back into Sharjah, he heads out towards the E611.
How much has the community around you changed?
When we moved to Hay Barashi, there was nothing here.
The house was on a street with five houses. Behind was another row of five, and across from those five houses were five houses, and that was it; no shops, no petrol stations, no other houses. There was one mosque in the far distance, and desert as far as the eye could see.
Across the street from the house was a farm. The bedroom window still overlooks sheep, goats and an occasional cow.
Further up the street were horses and a huge herd of camels. I would park my car in the desert up the street from the house a few mornings a week and wait for the camels to come visit me.
Occasionally, I would be working on my camels when I would hear this clomping sound outside the upstairs window. The farmer in his little Toyota truck would be herding the camels down the street for their daily exercise.
What amenities do you have?
We have enjoyed living here, although it is not to everyone’s taste. There are no amenities like swimming pools or tracks for cycling or walking. It’s not a gated community.
However, Hay Barashi is no longer an isolated community. Since moving here, hundreds of homes have been built. Mosques, petrol stations, small restaurants and a small Co-op with a pharmacy, phone shop, as well as men’s and women’s hair salons have been built.
There is a huge Emirati government housing area down the street from our home. The desert where I used to wait for the camels is now being turned into Sharjah’s largest lagoon housing complex.
On the other side of the airport road is Rahmania. Sharjah is building all the new ministries there; this makes it easy to renew your visa and Emirates ID easily.
Five to 10 minutes away is the new Rahmania Mall. That has a large Co-op, restaurants, food court, shops, and a cinema.
Have you personalised the house?
We have made it our home, but we never know when we will have to move, so it is very much a nomad’s home.
We still haven’t hung our art on the walls. The house always looks like a bomb has gone off due to my art … there is not a corner or room that does not have some art or craft item in it.
It definitely looks lived in rather than a showpiece home.
Because we never spend time outside, the garden is a mad collection of weeds and wild growth that have taken over.
Are you planning to stay there?
Unless the rent becomes too expensive or the landlord asks us to move out, we have no intention of leaving.
We know one day we will have to leave the UAE, but until that time comes, we are perfectly happy in Hay Barashi. Although, it is no longer isolated, it is still a very nice place to live.
Would you consider buying property?
We prefer renting because of the freedom it gives us.
Also, we are not responsible for the big repairs and AC maintenance. Our landlord is wonderful and we have a rental company that we deal with. They manage all of our requests in a timely manner.
