As part of the fourth VSR exercise, I made sketches of the vegetation around my childhood home. Even though I had lived all my life in the U.A.E., my mind was clouded by the notion that the only vegetation in my childhood home would have been date palms and cacti. That particular moment, I was unable to recall any of the other plants and trees I had seen. Following a conversation with my family, they told me the names of a few plants that grow in the U.A.E. I myself was surprised because when each name was being listed I was able to remember and visualise where I had seen them and what they looked like. Looking up reference images and studying the different parts was interesting. I made elevations and plans of the common date palm, of papaya trees which I’d seen growing in the gardens of the villas of the natives’, the bougainvilleas and hibiscus that grew over the walls of different public parks that I played in as a child. Reading more about the different vegetation in the U.A.E., I realised that I should not be quick to conform to stereotypes.