Christmas in Dubai

You might wonder how the Christian holidays are handled in a Muslim country where about 80% of the population is foreign. Christmas in Dubai is all about the shopping. The malls are veritable shrines to the Christmas (shopping) spirit. This year the season coincides with the Dubai Shopping Festival (DSF) - the emirate's answer to it's dwindling oil reserves. The pic is one of the Christmas tree at the Wafi City shopping mall. At this mall there was a Santa grotto where you could take a photo with the big guy and follow a treasure hunt for a chance to win a sleigh full of presents (sleigh not included). This was pretty savvy on their part. In looking for the clues, I discovered some shops that I had never seen before.

Christmas day is not a national holiday, so if you want to spend it at home with the family, you have to take the day off. Same goes for boxing day - that British holiday for which noone can explain the name. All of the hotels and restaurants have special Christmas buffets which seem to be a pretty popular alternative to home cooking.

We opted for the home cooking. After the excessive lunch, we walked it off along the beach near the Burj Al Arab. We watched the barges peacefully blowing sand onto the "World" island project ...

and the sun setting behind the world's most expensive hotel.


Now that Christmas is done, we can go out and take advantage of the DSF sales and do the shopping thing all over again. Come to think of it, Christmas in Dubai is a lot like it is in other, Christian parts of the world.

Wanted: Western Woman Looking for Ramadan Revelation

Ramadan is the holy month of the Muslim calendar. I thought it was the name of the holiday, but in fact it's the name of the MONTH. The name of the holiday is Eid Al Fitr (end of Ramadan). You think you know something and then you find out you had it all wrong.

So, curious and not wanting to remain ignorant about this most holy times of the Muslim year, I started reading up on it. OK - by reading up on it, I mean typing search words into Google and hitting "I feel lucky." It turns out to be one of thoses situations where the more you know, the more you're confused. The big mystery is when Ramadan (the month) actually starts. I knew that it had to do with the sighting of the moon. This is actually how the beginning (and end) of every Muslim month is determined. And there is controversy surrounding these exact dates within the Muslim world. So looking for a straight answer on the web turned out to be an exercise in futility.

So, finally giving into the "Inchalla" attitude, I waited to find out when the first day of Ramadan was in the paper. Turns out, it was (in Dubai, in any case) Sept. 23. Now the question is, when is the LAST day of Ramadan - marking the big holiday Eid Al Fitr? I'm asking because we want to go out of town and we need to book a hotel.

Out of the Frying Pan...

...and into the fire. That's what leaving Louisiana in August to come to Dubai in September felt like. Have you ever walked in heat so extreme that you thought your shoes would melt into the pavement? Here, you switch off your hot water heater. Your hot water heater fills up with hot water from outside and cools off in the air conditioned house. Then, when you take a shower, you mix the hot water that comes out of the cold water tap (because it's been sitting outside in the water tank) with a little of the cold water from the hot water tap to get the right temperature. That's how hot it is.

And, sadly, that's the coolest part of the whole "hot as hades" thing we got going here.

When we got back to Dubai after the vacation trip of a lifetime (I don't know about you guys, but I've NEVER had a summer like the one I had this year when I was growing up) - the boys asked "Why can't we live in Dubai forever." That's how much they love it here - despite the heat.

For me, however, after telling everyone I saw this summer, "Yeah, I like living in Dubai," I really had to wonder if that was true. First of all, traffic is horrendous. All the heat escapees are back and on the roads. Then - to my extreme horror and indignation, THEY CUT OFF SKYPE. Not only did it irk me because I use Skype everyday for keeping in touch with friends and family AND for work, but it drove me into despair that I (choose to) live in a place where this can be done LEGALLY and only to help the state-run telephone monopoly to make money. That's how free the Internet is here.

After a jet lagged feuled search until 3 am on the web, I found a secret weapon that will help me skype on. I can't divulge the secret because, I'm afraid that it will be sabotaged by the authorities. Actually, I shouldn't even be talking about this in the web. If you don't hear any more from me on this blog, you'll know that they came for me. That's how scary it is to be an Internet outlaw.

Cowboy Up

We finished up the Summer Tour 2006 at my folks' house in Louisiana. Around the One Bridal Ranch, the expression "Cowboy Up" is taken very seriously by my boys and my godchild, Tyler.

Cowboy 1 loves to ride and his buddy is Vinny, the 15 year old that apparenly never tires of hearing "giddya up".

Cowboy 2 got his first riding lesson this summer and proved that he could keep up with big brother any day.

Cowboy 3 is still not aware that Clarisse the hen got 'et up by "something" in the barn. He thinks she's on vacation... in Chicago.

The girl cousins in Louisiana were thrilled with the belly dancing gear I brought from Dubai - so much so, that our backyard game of baseball was accompanied with the jingle of silver coins.




If you happen to be in the market for a Peruvian Paso - Mom and Dad will set you up. These horses have the smoothest gait of any horse. In fact, it's so smooth, ladies, you can even ride without a bra! Here's an aerial photo of the ranch. Ya'll come on down and cowboy up.

Next Stop - DC and the Pleistocene

Granny and Grandpaw wanted to take them to the Capital of the US and the Smithsonian. Antoine says that his career as a geologist started here. When Grandpaw bought Antoine and Maxime Amethyst specimens from the natural history museum gift shop - this sparked Antoine's budding interest in rocks. He'll have lots to look at in the desert mountains of the UAE.


We spent a day touring the museum and the monuments. I discovered that this statue of Andrew Jackson in Washington Square behind the White House is the same as the one in Jackson Square in New Orleans - whaddya know!

100 Miles Down, 2100 Miles to Go

My parents came up from Louisiana in their new minivan to spend a week with us on the Big Rideau. After the R and R in Ottawa, it was time to hit the road back to Maringouin. Equipped with a built in DVD player, maps and 3 bags full of chocolate from the Hershey factory, we started out on the minimum 3 day journey by stopping in Niagara Falls after only 3 hours of driving. It was well worth it. We opted for the full tour - 4 hours of guided visits of all the very well organized and highly frequented tourist facilities.


Yes it's kitch, yes it's full of tourists, but this is part of what makes it cool. In our group we had an Italian honeymoon couple and an Indian family. Over the roaring falls people were speaking Japanese, Arabic, any number of recognizable or not European languages. There were Muslim women wearing veils, Amish women in 19th century dress, Indian in saris and others in various forms of jeans, shorts, skirts - all donning the blue plastic panchos to try and keep dry on the Angel of the Mist tour boat.

The boys favorite part was the Hurricane Deck. Granny and Grandpaw stayed behind on the walkway while the boys and I walked into the storm. Unfortunately there was so much water, I didn't dare take my camera out beyond this point.

If you think Niagara Falls is too touristy and corny to be worth the visit - GET OVER IT!! It's amazing and lots of fun.

Wet and Wild Canada

Crossing the Atlantic means exchanging the brisk sea air in Brittany for the cool, green tranquility of the Big Rideau lake in Canada. Visiting my sister, Laura in Ottawa means relaxing at the cottage on the lake. But the boys manage to liven things up - within minutes of arriving on the dock, the fish were jumping onto Antoine and Maxime's hooks.

And not long after, the tubing that petrified them last year, became a fast-paced thrill ride with Uncle Perry adding his antics.

A trip to the Hershey factory in nearby Smiths Falls was the highlight of a rainy day - especially for cousin Ava who apparently LOVES chocolate.

The garden swing was a hit as well, where Ava had lots of volonteers for pushing.

St. Cast - Sea, Sand and Fun

The great thing about France and what makes it the number one tourist destination in the world is it's variety of scenery and amount of coastline - offering many seaside vacation spots. The family tradition is to go to St. Cast in Britanny. Usually a place where you need a sweater to stay on the windy beach - even in August - this year it was the place to be in heat wave stricken France.

In St. Cast the principal activity is building sand castles ...

then destroying them.








We also manage to do other things like like sailing...

Playing soccer with cousins Emma and Mathieu...

and hiking to see the sites such as the beautiful Fort Lalatte - kind of reminds us of the forts in the UAE...

Happy Birthday Philippe

After la France Profonde, we went even deeper into the French countryside to visit Philippe's friend... Philippe. The 2 old friends shown here on the occasion of the 1st Philippe's birthday.

As usual, we celebrated with fireworks, not because he's a pyro fan, but because his birthday falls on the famous French national holiday - Bastille Day.

Philippe 1 was thrilled with the show and the invitation to be the godfather of Philippe 2's latest addition to the world's population, Paul.

La France Profonde

After a week in the northern part of France (Amiens and Paris), we took a train to the center, Auvergne. Amid the dormant volcanoes, we explored ruins of Chateaux and Antoine discovered the weight of a midevil head armour.

France ended up losing the World cup to the Italians, but we consoled ourselves with the beauty of the scenery. In Auvergne there is a chateau or the ruins of one on every hill top.
We even trekked through some of these hills with the help of Seb, our friend and trusty guide. We're not quite lost here, but just making sure we're on the right path. The kids were very proud of their 3 hour hike and we're hoping that they are willing to renew the experience. Philippe finally met up with us in Auvergne and we are very happy to start our family vacation. Next stop, le Creusot to see old friends of Philippe's and another one of France's many different regions.
 

On the Road Again

I've taken to a nomadic lifestyle this summer with the kids. For 2 months, we will be wandering the roads, visiting friends and family. First stop, Paris. A brief reunion with classmates from the beginning of the year - an afternoon in the square next to the primary school for after school play.
Antoine and Maxime loved visiting their parisian haunts, such as the Jardin de Luxembourg and the little News Café next door where we often had lunch. I didn't manage to see the new museum at Quai Branly, maybe next time.

The following week was dominated by Soccer, or "le foot." France won against Brazil, then Portugal for a shot at the title - "Allez les bleus!" The euphoria in the cities is palpable and the kids are learning new tricks with their cousins in Amiens.

Vive les Vacances

Summer is here. In France, there is a tradition of celebrating the first day of summer with a music festival, the "Fete de la Musique". The French (and this is what I love about them) are so attached to partying and summer and vacation, that anywhere that you have more than 2 French people on June 21 - someone is bound to organize a Fete de la Musique. However, the idea is to have music in the streets. With 100+ degree weather (40+ for Celcius fans), staying in the street for longer than 1 minute here is rather uncomfortable. So, the Alliance Française organized the Fete in the airconditioned, reconstituted traditional arab souk/shopping mall, Madinat Jumeirah. We meandered among the Ties 'r Us, henna tatoo salons and souvenir shops listening to the arabic band and catching a belly dance. There was western music, too, with flute duets, a classical guitar orchestra and broadway tunes. Hopefully, next year I'll be participating with some choir members.

Growing up in Louisiana, I'm used to the extreme heat - as long as I have ample air conditioning. However, the weird thing here is the water. As of a few weeks ago, the cold water taps give hot water because it heats up in the water tank outside. So we turned off the water heaters and use the hot water taps for cold water. This water sits in the hot water tank in the air conditioned house and cools off.

Summer is Coming!

It's like a mantra, and a little like the famous line "The Martians are coming!" So it's a mixture of hyptonic repetition and horror. So to go along with this duality, they (who are "they"?) have invented a little symbol and have put it all over Dubai. These little yellow statues can now be seen all over Dubai. So you have the mantra-like repetition - and for the horror, well, just look at the picture...
You may have read about Camel Dan - the nice, artified statue that the boys and I pass everyday on the way to school. Well, Camel Dan was just hangin', minding his own business, and one day, we see he has a new "friend." The kids and I named him Sunshine Man. Then I found out his REAL name is "Modesh" which is Arabic for "Amazing". Thanks to Wikipedia for the pic. I also found another blogspot blog on Dubai with a little snippet on old Modo.

Besides the temperatures, those of you who are mildly interested in my daily life are probably wondering, was'up?

Antoine turned 8. We tried to have a birthday party for him, but of the 12 invited only 1 showed up and NOONE RSVPd. He was a good sport about it, and we did do the b-day thing (for those of you who scour the pictures, that's carbonated apple juice for the kiddies - NOT champagne).

Cool thing about birthdays is that since the population is so international, they sing Happy Birthday in at least 3 different languages at every birthday party, French, English and Arabic. We added Tagalog, thanks to Helen, our nanny.

Another thing that happened during May is that we got over some moving hurdles that seem to be impossible to hurdle sometimes - like emptying out the 8 boxes of books we brought from France. The kids made a fort out of the empties and I was very impressed. Aren't you?

Happy Birthday to my MOM today. She looks a LOT younger than she is and is having a blast with her recent retirement - AREN'T you MOM???

On Forgetting the Camera

So you may start to notice a pattern whereas I forget to bring my camera at important moments. Or I don't think I will need my camera and then wish I had brought it. Like last Saturday when I shook the First Lady of France's hand. Of course, me not having the camera evokes mixed emotions. The first is "Damn, I wish I had my camera." Then, ever the optimist, I think - well - I don't look so hot today - so better that I'm not having my picture taken.

So to get back to Bernadette (Chirac, Jaques Chirac's wife), she came to Dubai to inaugurate the new French Lycée which was just opened up in January. Since this entire blog entry is about me forgetting my camera - there will be lots of links. Click here to see the school that my children will not go to (having left Dubai before attaining High School age.) The note sent home with the kids invited all the school population - kids, parents, teachers etc... to come see Bernadette and they closed the school down for the occasion (Elementary and HS). Antoine was phsyched to go and I'd never been to a political, PR type event with a big name figure - so I decided to take them... and NOT my camera - I know what Bernadette looks like, I'm not a huge fan and I didn't think I'd get an opportunity to get up close.

Well, whaddya know. There I was, standing around minding my own business, and she literally came up to me and said "Bonjour" and shook my hand. I was under the impression that this was not supposed to be happening - I was expecting a security guy to come and shove me away (they HAD tolds everyone to move away from the area - but it was shady, so I didn't). So I tried to be as discreet as possible and get it over with ASAP. SO, even if I DID have my camera, I wouldn't have asked her to pose with the kids for a snapshot. And thank God a picture of this did not make the Gulf News, because I was really not dressed for the occasion.

Moving on, but to a moment where I did have my camera - Maxime's school play. Tibili, the little boy who didn't want to go to school. It was set in Africa and Maxime played a spider. He had the longest line of anybody and the teacher said he knew all the kids' parts by heart. A future Thespian?

And, last but not least, our weekend getaway to Ras Al Khaimah, emirate on the west coast, where I indeed forgot my Camera. We stayed at the Hilton, went to the Dreamland Water Park, and visited the Dhayah Fort. Now, who needs a camera? Insert images of my family in all those pics and there you have it.

Happy Easter

It's funny how living in a Muslim country makes you want to celebrate Christian religious holidays more intensely than before. So, yesterday we colored eggs to get ready for the Easter Bunny.

I went to the grocery store to get the supplies and the Philippino cashier was oohing and awing (ok if anyone knows how to really spell that, tell me) over the cuteness of it all. She asked me, "why do they symbolize Easter with a rabbit over here." If anyone knows the David Sedaris sketch about the discussion of Easter tradition in a French for foreigners class in Paris, you'll know why I started giggling uncontrollably.

David never really answered the question and all I could think of was the symbolism of "spring, life, babies, doing it like rabbits" but somehow couldn't formulate it appropriately in the time it took Josephine to ring up my purchases. I settled for a shrug and left it at that.

The trick to hunting for Easter eggs here is to get the chocolate ones left in the yard before the sun melts them. My kids were up for the challenge and were outside at 6:30 in their PJs. Ming even got in on the action.

By the time I got downstairs - they had gathered up all the loot and bit into the ears of the chocolate bunnies. We just had enough time to snap a few pics and yell at the kids about eating SOMETHING for breakfast even though they were already full on Chocolate and jellybeans, before Philippe had to go to work.

This afternoon we're going to mass with all the Philippinos (boy those are churchgoing people!!). I figure it's time for the kids to start learning about their Christian heritage, before they start to think they actually ARE Muslim and that "God" is just another way to say "Allah." Tonight we'll have the traditional French Easter meal - lamb, lima beans, more chocolate and of course, Champagne - sorry Allah!!

Discovering Karate

Antoine is taking Karate classes at school. He doesn't want to take Violin lessons anymore. This is a disappointment to me as I love music and it is a big part of my life. I always just assumed my kids would take up the interest as well.

BUT, we're into Karate now. First we had to search Dubai for a place to buy a uniform. After trying several sporting goods stores, I got a tip that we could find one in Karama (a neighborhood of cheap stores and fake designer goods). The search was tedious and just as I was about to give up, we spotted the Karate studio. Following the signs to the back alley stairway that would take me up to the studio, I was thinking "All this for a stupid Karate uniform" and trying to convince Antoine that he could take classes in a t-shirt and sweatpants. The studio looked like something out of a movie about a down and out Karate coach bringing a hopeless kid to glory. 60 Dirhams later, Antoine had his uniform and he wore it till it was time for bed.

Two months later, the school fair is to be the venue for the Karate demonstration. Of course, I forget my camera, but Antoine is ready for the 4:30 meeting at the basketball court. About 15 6-8 year olds line up - all in Karate uniforms in varying shades of white, one girl - and the teacher starts to bark out short, staccato commands. Miraculously, Antoine turns into some sort of little buddha warrior. His concentration is unfazed, his movements clean, precise while his round cheeks turn red under the desert sun. I swear he was the best one in the line up!! How proud was I? Just as proud as I was last year, when his violin teacher raved at how good Antoine was at the violin. Ok - so he enjoys beating up his classmates in a controlled environment while breathing deeply through his nose and yelling out chinese profanities. For now, at least. Maybe one day he'll reconsider the violin, but I'm sure that in any case - I'll be just as proud.

Partial Eclipse

A partial eclipse of the sun was visible today in our part of the world. 7Days, my favorite newspaper these days (they hooked me with the Divorced in Sleep story) warns to protect your eyes while trying to see the eclipse. Their advice - don't look at it through a beer bottle. Ahhhhh, beer bottles - it's been so long since I've actually SEEN one...

Tidbits

While reading the paper can be depressing (Palestinians starving, rate of road deaths in Dubai 1 per day, Bush still president) it can also be very interesting and quite funny. Here are some choice bits from today's 7days (a free daily that magically appears in my gate every morning):
- Syriana WILL be released in Dubai. Government censors have approved with only a few cuts that show labor strife in Dubai. Apparently, in addition to starring my beloved George - it has the appeal of having been shot largely in Dubai. And yes, they censor movies here.
- Protests in Afghanistan after man accused of converting to Christianity was let off for reasons of insanity...
- A list of average IQ scores in all European countries. Apparently if you have an IQ of 95, you're gifted in France, but in Germany - you need to have special tutoring just to stay in school, OUCH!
- And the one I love the most: "Divorced in Sleep" In India, where they practice Muslim family law, a man said "divorce" 3 times while he was sleeping and now he and his wife can't live together anymore. They claim to still love each other and don't want to live apart. What's more is that in order for them to remarry - the woman has to marry someone else, divorce him and THEN she can remarry the man who really loves her but who dreams about divorcing her OUT LOUD. Sounds like the plot of the next Bollywood hit.

What a crazy world we live in!!!

Weekend on the East Coast

We just got back from Fujairah where we spent a weekend with Philippe's folks. Fujairah is an Emirate in the UAE, but it is located on the East coast sandwiched in between parts of Oman.
We visited the Al Bidyah mosque - the oldest in the UAE.
Took a very cautious drive through the Hail Wadi (basically a dried out river bed) where we discovered lush terrassed gardens with Palm trees and lots of vegetables.
And we took advantage of the beach, clear waters and coral reef for snorkeling.

The kids are sleeping it off and I'm about to do the same.