National day and other celebrations (just don't mention the 'C' word)

I'm fascinated by the different things my ex CELTA colleagues are now doing.  Not since I left college back in the 1970s have I spent so much time with people and then when the course finishes, seen them disappear off to pursue their dreams.  The difference is that today we have Facebook and blogs to help us keep in touch so those that want to can easily keep in touch.  As far as I know, from our group of eleven we now have people working in Africa, Jakarta, Italy and the UAE with another travelling in North America.  It's fantastic when you have a conversation with someone in Chichester, then six months later they're living their dream.  The same thing goes for my eldest daughter Lily and her boyfriend Dan.  I remember her telling us about their plans to go travelling and watching their exploits on Facebook is very satisfying, as is the pleasure they are obviously getting from the experience.

We've just been a tiny part of the biggest annual celebration here, National Day.  It's a one day event that is planned for about three months, so a bit like Christmas really, but as it's not a religious festival everyone gets involved.  Along with the things that you'd expect, days off, fireworks etc., there are the twists that the Emirates put on their special day.  For a start there is an obsession with Silly String, you know, the stuff in an aerosol tin.  They go crazy with it along with spray snow, spray sparkles, anything in a tin with a propellent really.  There are also the massive banners they put up on the side of buildings, or the enormous flag pole they built to take a proportionately huge flag.  It's patriotism in the extreme.  And no, the building in this picture is not leaning backwards, but clearly I was..

For me the most interesting aspect is what they do to their cars.  Now you need to understand, Emirates love their vehicles, so when they want to show their support for their country decorating their cars is an obvious route for them to take.  However we are not talking about a sticker on the bumper or a flag stuck on the side, oh no, we're talking about a temporary new paint job which may include portraits of the founding fathers of the union or existing sheiks.  Take a look:

And these weren't unusual, these were taken over a ten minute period from our balcony!  On the nights around National Day these cars parade up and down the Corniche, making a road that normally takes five minutes to drive down a virtual car park where you could spend over an hour to get from one end to the other.

So we come to the 'C' word.  Christmas is not taboo over here, the local supermarkets have an aisle each (a small one though) with decorations, cards and other associated merchandise.  Some people call it the 'Winter Festival' and shops will have 'Seasons Greetings' banners rather than 'Merry Christmas', but it's not completely underground.  We are fortunate to live in a very liberal environment.  The Sheik recently invited a floating bookshop to visit the port even though it is operated by a Christian charity, however I don't think we'll be seeing dioramas of the stable in Bethlehem in our shopping centres!