Holidays.....

I have experienced my first National Day in the UAE.  This is the 39th anniversary of the day that the emirates were united under Sheikh Zayed (rather like our Fourth of July).  They definitely go all out!  Our school had a day-long celebration of Emirati song, dance, dress, and food.

Beginning ceremonies......

My class dancing 

Another of my students....isn't she beautiful?!

Three more students....Notice I am in an abaya with a UAE banner.   We all dressed up!

These are my Western co-workers.....one of the reasons I make it through my day.....They are a great group!!!

We also got a 4-day holiday, so Heather and Cory came over for a few days....and brought Kim along!  I finally got to see him after all this time!  We didn't do too much, but just spent good family time together.  We did take Kim to see the camel souk and Jebel Hefeet.  

The man at the souk came and gave Kim his headdress, so of course Kim was thrilled to have this photo op!

These camels were HUNGRY!!  They kept grabbing and munching on the hay!

Looks like Kim's getting a kiss!  :)

Heather and Cory on Jebel Hefeet 

After deciding that I was not going to put money into Christmas decorations (since we won't be here), I broke down and bought a small tree-top version.  It has a UAE flag tree-topper and tree skirt.  The colors fit quite well--ha-ha!!

Our Charlie Brown Christmas tree......

Heather decorates the tree.....with a little help from Blue!