Since the discovery of oil in the Middle East, life has changed dramatically for 60-year-old Farah Abdullah al Matari of the United Arab Emirates. Raised in poverty in the desert, she now lives with her daughter in a spacious Abu Dhabi villa with a domestic staff. But the independent woman wants more out of life than sitting around and being waited on. Spurred on by her granddaughters, Farah begins to move away from her at-home existence and into a more active lifestyle. Along the way, she gains a number of friends, including Americans.