Cover Feature 14
I love this place...
Al Warqa, Mirdif Teacher Leigh MacDonald has made this up-and-coming community her home Words by Hazel Plush; images by Nasir Rauf
Chatting in Leigh MacDonald’s one-bedroom apartment, it’s hard not to feel at home. With freshly-cut blooms, heart-shaped pendants and candles galore, this chic abode is brimming with welcoming touches. “I wanted to create a friendly atmosphere,” she says. “I’d say my style is warm and welcoming – I don’t want to live somewhere that feels too precious, too modern. It’s a feminine, relaxed place, and I like to have lots of personal items and photos on display.” For Leigh, Mirdif offers the perfect balance of great location and spacious living. “It’s a very family-orientated area so you get to know people, and there’s a lovely atmosphere. Many different nationalities live around here, and it’s a very friendly neighbourhood. This is
June 2012
my third year in this apartment. I’m a teacher at Uptown Primary School, and I moved here because it’s handy for work and has fantastic transport links. Mirdif is a wonderful place for families: many of the children that we teach also live in this area, and there are lots of leafy places for the kids to play in. And because there’s so much space, many people have villas with their own gardens.” The outdoorsy lifestyle is popular in this part of Dubai: There are plenty of landscaped areas, and the 620-hectare Ras Al Khor Wildlife Sanctuary – where you’ll find lagoons, mangroves, and over 500 species of plants and animals – is just a short drive away. “I’m from a farming area of South Africa, where the landscape is very green, so I prefer living
somewhere that isn’t too built up,” says Leigh. “The best thing about living here is that it’s out of the city – you feel like you’ve got space. It’s a green area, with trees and flower beds. It feels much more homely than the high-rise parts of the city, and I like that the apartments are in low-rise blocks – it gives you much more of a community atmosphere.” Mirdif is an up-and-coming neighbourhood, with new developments being constructed to keep up with demand – but does this mean that quality is being compromised? “Not at all – this apartment has excellent finishings,” says Leigh. “Most of the blocks have very good leisure facilities too: this one has a brilliant gym and pool, and I often go swimming with my friends after work.”