National Day: Celebrating 40 years!!



LOVE this picture
(Not mine, obviously, but I thought it represented the UAE turning 40 perfecctly!)

Last week the UAE celebrated its 40th National Day.  I thought last year was wild, but it doesn't hold a candle to this year's celebration!!  Cars and buildings were extravagantly decorated in red, green, white, and black:  the colors of the UAE flag.  There are red and green lights up all over town--just in time for Christmas!  Ha-ha!

Pimp my Truck:  A Southern boy couldn't be prouder!
(This was riding home from school last week)

All lit up!

There were articles in all the papers about the fines that would be assessed for people hanging out of cars...hmmmmm....guess they missed this one!

Buildings were also decorated! 

Our school held its celebration on Wednesday, and then we had Thursday off for a 3-day holiday. 

Posing in our finery!  :)

Flag Waving 101

Fatima and the pom-pom crew

Girls doing the traditional "hair dance."

Sulaiman, Faisal, Hamdan, and Mohammed dressed in style.

Amna, Aysha, Mahra, and Shamsa--beautiful girls!

Dani's class put on a "fashion" show.

Boys doing the "gun dance."

One mother didn't like her view, so she and her children decided the best place to stand was right in front of where my class was sitting:  CLUELESS!!

Traditional Cane Dance:  The Al Ain Boys School came and demonstrated

Mock Wedding


It was a LOOOOONNNNNGGGGG morning for the children!

Hamdan decides playing in the sand is SO much more fun than watching the performances!

Amna just plain wants to go home!!

There was a lot of hoopla over here about Puma issuing shoes with the UAE colors:  very disrespectful to have the flag colors on your feet!

As soon as the kids loaded on the buses, I headed home where Kim already had the car packed to head to Fujairah. 

Mountain view on the way there:  the Hajar Mountains
Lots of the mountains had flags waving from the top!

We stayed at the Rotana, and had a great ground floor room that looked straight out to the beach.  Nice pool, but we didn't spend much time there--the waves at the beach were too enticing! 

Beach with mountains in the backdrop

Big Waves!

Cory tries relentlessly to catch a big one!  The rest of us got in the water, but we were trying to AVOID getting caught up in the waves.  We stayed just far enough out that they didn't break over our heads.....until we tried to walk out of the water.....and then....well, let's just say that Heather gave some people a nice show!!  LOL!!!

One night the buffet was Tex-Mex:  this was a small section of the desserts

3 on a beach

A heart painted on the side of one of the cliffs near Snoopy Rock

Snoopy Rock:  supposed to be some of the best diving/snorkeling in the UAE

Trying to save the oceans...one starfish at a time.

Cory got to SCUBA.  Kim and I are working on our certification:  YEA!!!

Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al Nahyan had a HUGE tent set up on the beach.  He came to visit with the people of Fujairah so they could talk with him about what their needs are.  I'm sorry to say you cannot fathom how large this tent is from the picture---truly sorry!

On the last day, we woke up in the morning to find our view blocked by a flag draped from the balcony above us.....Did I mention CLUELESS????!!!!  Gotta love the lack of worry about the consequences of your actions here.....Mafi Mushkila (no problem!)

Meanwhile....back in Al Ain....

How'd you like to be driving along the road and see this??!  Yes.....I'm driving and taking a picture with my camera at the same time....and I'm STILL driving more safely than most of the people on the road!

Now it's back to school for 2 weeks and then....we're off for Christmas (really, here, it's mid-term break....DUH!)  We're planning to go to Cyprus and Jordan.