I'm running a bit behind on posts.I was in the Emirates in mid-February, when nobody was shooting there. I prefer not to travel to places where things are actively flying in. Peace to everyone.

When you think of the Emirates, you usually picture massive skyscrapers, golden bazaars, and all sorts of riches. But not the entire country is like that.

I stopped by Umm Al Quwain, the poorest emirate, and some of its neighborhoods look pretty run-down: shabby houses, broken roads, lacking infrastructure. The photo shows the old city, and while in Europe this is usually a well-maintained historic center, here it's half-abandoned with mostly migrants living there. The newer districts look a bit better, and they even found money for a huge cathedral mosque.

Umm Al Quwain wasn't lucky with oil. Unlike its wealthy neighbors, there's practically none here. And for tourists and businesses, Dubai and Abu Dhabi are much more attractive. So the emirate survives on federal budget subsidies.