An Arabian Christmas

So far, the holiday season has been a lot of fun. I had off 3 days for Eid al Adha (I think it marks the new year and begins 70 days after Ramadan ends), and the office is pretty much empty from everyone else taking holiday. During the time off, I spent a good bit of time Christmas shopping and cleaning my constantly filthy apartment.

I spent Christmas Eve Evening at Hanno and Michelle's, they are a South African couple I know through work. We talked about bobotie and it made me think very fondly of Minnemie's cooking. That was 8 years ago now? Wow... We also broke out LIFE and Rummikub, which is a tradition of mine for playing with couples- Erin and Jeremy, Darren and Jen, Andres and Monica, etc. It works, and I find I prefer that sort of atmosphere.

For Christmas, I finally opened a large box sent by my family- it was a Wii with all the extra accessories I could think of. It definitely was a surprise (and expensive for shipping and duties). I will definitely have to keep my place cleaner so I can have people over to play with me! After the morning, I went to Ski Dubai to go snowboarding and pretend I was having a white Christmas. Dubai is the only place you can go skiing for part of the day, then work on your suntan on the beach 30 minutes after. I was tempted to go to the beach, but I opted out.

You would expect Christmas to be a time where no one is out but stays at home with family. But in Dubai, most of the expats don't ever have a reason to stay at home, and so Christmas is actually a busy shopping and socializing day. Restaurants were very busy, and you had to book just like it were a New Years Eve affair. The malls were decked out in garland and lights and fake snow- you would never think you were in a Muslim nation.

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas- this was my first away from my family, but it all went well. Just wish I could take off more time from work!! :)