#MySharjah - a city with a soul!

Sydney Atkins finds Sharjah firmly rooted in culture and deeply inspiring

It's Saturday afternoon and as I look out at the cafes stirring to life, the Mu'azzin's full throated voice fills the air as he calls his brothers and sisters to prayer. Soft music plays as a waiter begins to place tapered stands on patio tables in the Turkish restaurant across the bridge in the Qasba. I linger at my table, my fingers circling the rim of my paper-fiber coffee cup. There's so much to see here, so many things to learn, so much to experience.
After eight years of living in Sharjah, I've largely succumbed to the familiar cycle of work, coffee stop, dinner and the occasional outing with friends - but I have also spent many evenings exploring the city - usually alone. This emirate is clearly underrated. Here you can picnic in one of its lush green parks, lounge on clear beaches, explore one of many heritage sites or museums and even experience the natural beauty of the desert. In fact anyone who has lived here for a while can often be found to slip into casual chatter about the merits and pitfalls of the city's distinct halves: on the one hand the preserved beauty of sites that are historically and culturally significant and on the other, the sparkling skyline reflected in the inky waters of the Khalid Lagoon, looking like it developed out of a dose of steroids.
At times, getting to and from my apartment in Sharjah can be a daring adventure. There are days when I huff and puff out of desperation as my taxi inches towards the elusive sign in Al Nahda - 'Welcome to Sharjah' but at other times, I find myself acknowledging that being stuck in crazy traffic jams is a small price to pay for living in what often feels like the cultural core of the UAE.
Take a walk along the Buheira Corniche and your ears will be pleasantly surprised by myriad languages. French, Arabic, Urdu, Pashtun, English, Tagalog, Russian, Hindi, Malayalam, the works! I often smile at the mash-ups that have emerged. I consider my own speech, with its spattering of Arabic words that have become second nature to me and realise that slowly but surely the city has made me one of its own.
Sharjah is the perfect metaphor for what life in the UAE is like. Despite its pockets of uber Moderness, it is firmly rooted in culture and tradition, masterfully maneuvering the line between convention and contemporary culture. Sharjah offers its residents and visitors a cultural milieu that very few cities can match. It is a city for poets and artists, for connoisseurs of food and rich Arabic coffee. It is a city of book lovers and story tellers. In short, #MySharjah is a rich city, a simple city - a city with a soul.
City Times reader Sydney Atkins is a teacher and Ed-tech enthusiast based in the UAE.