Happy Birthday UAE

The biggest holiday here is not Christmas, Easter, or even the Islamic holidays like Ramadan. It is December 2^nd.... National Day. Although it is similar to our 4^th of July, as in it is the day the UAE gained their independence, it is celebrated like nothing I have never seen before.

A week before the actual holiday is when the decorations start to come out. Huge 2 or 3 story flags are hung over houses and building, lights are put up on all roundabouts and streets, and my favorite... cars are decked out from hood to trunk (boot). The lights are nice because they make us expats feel like Christmas is here. The Emirati colors are red, green, black, and red. Since black lights wouldn't work out so well, the lights up on the streets are mostly red, green, and white.

A friend's mother took this picture

The cars are a sight to see. They are covered in stickers, glitter, flags, and of course all the Sheikh's faces. Some may even argue that it borders on idol-ism here. I haven't had my camera with me often enough, but here are some photos my friends have taken of cars around the area.

We get a nice long four day weekend off for National Day, so the week before we had a celebration at school. It was a very interesting cultural experience. We English teachers were not told much. All we knew was that Monday was a celebration day. The night before I picked out an outfit with the UAE colors. Samina, a co-worker, had an outfit made.

When I arrived at school I was greeted by beautiful dresses. The children normally wear uniforms, so this was their day to go all out. They mostly either wore UAE colors or fancy ballroom type dresses. Some of the older high-school girls took advantage of the day and wore jeans and t-shirts with belts and heels.

Don't forget the henna

The first hour or so nothing happened. The girls wandered around the courtyard and chatted with friends while we sat upstairs in our workroom. Finally, after 10am, we started to get settled in the courtyard. A lot of mothers came to watch and soon the dancing started.

Mothers waiting

The most traditional dance it seems that the girls do here is the hair dance. I could teach this to you in about 2 seconds (although the girls left class for the past two weeks to go practice). Basically, you whip your hair to the side, shake your head, and whip it to the other side. Although there were many “dances” with different girls and costumes, all basically consisted of the hair whip. There were a few cane twirls and hand movements mixed in. There were also girls dressed as boys with fake guns to do the boys part of the dance.

Some Arabic cartoon characters

After the party... they always leave a mess!

Although it was neat to see the girls dance, I am not surprised to tell you that it was very disorganized. There was no plan, program, or structure to the whole thing. Apparently even the Arabic teachers were annoyed with the disorganization. At one point, we were asked if we had programs ready. Of course we were not told anything beforehand, so no I had nothing prepared.

While the girls danced, the cleaners at the school handed out chocolate, tea, coffee, water, and more. The chocolate was very yummy!

Chocolate

A baby falcon also made an appearance 

After a free-for-all dance time at the end, things started to wrap up and students headed home. The English teachers headed up-stairs... and can you believe it... we actually tried to get some work done. After awhile we were called downstairs though for the teacher lunch-in. When we told the others we were upstairs working, they were a little shocked. We were told this was a day for no-working. Love it haha!

After Monday and the celebrations, the attendance dropped quickly. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday I only had 3 girls in my grade 2 classroom. I also lost grade 3 girls each day, going from 10, to 7, to 6. They let all the girls go home at noon on Wednesday and Thursday. I must say I am settling into the relaxed life here. I still do my best, but there is no use stressing about things I can't control.

On an end note, it rained here in Friday. It was a real rain, lasting all day. Someone said it is the first time it has rained since June. They are not prepared for rain here at all, so the roads flooded. Shawn went out to get his hair cut (side note: he got a haircut, nose trim, beard trim and shave, and a back rub for $13). I just enjoyed the rain from my flat. We were supposed to do maternity pictures that day... so of course it rained :) Oh well!!!

A friend's picture in Dubai

Outside our window

I will be spending the actual National Day hanging out at home. I heard it can pretty crazy and dangerous out there, so I am not in the mood to deal with that. We also don't have a car for a few days as a new one from the rental company is coming in. Hopefully we will buy our own by the end of the month.

So there you have it, happy 41^st birthday to the UAE!!!      

Dancing, singing, and incense 

Lights!!!