Canadians of the UAE: Meet Nisreen Jardaneh

I am originally from Jordan but moved to Ottawa when I got married to my husband, Nawriz. He works in IT and has lived all over the US, but chose to settle in Canada after he fell in love with the country when visiting friends there. We studied and worked in the capital, Ottawa, from 2004, and I was able to pursue my first love of music there. Although I was already a business graduate, I went back to studying piano pedagogy at the University of Ottawa, completing my Masters. I am currently working on a PhD in music education via distance.

Canadians of the UAE: Meet Hala Khalaf

Hala, Alana and Mr T.

Meet Hala Khalaf, a writer who has lived in the UAE for seven years.

"I’ve never felt more Canadian than I do living right here in the UAE. I acquired Canadian citizenship as a teenager living in London, Ontario, after having grown up in three different Arab countries before that. Then, after university, I left Canada - more than 13 years ago - and I’ve only been back “home” to Ontario for short visits. When I’m asked where I’m from, I didn’t always identify as a Canadian immediately.