Eid Mubarak!!

Hello beloveds! The above photo was taken during the celebrations for National Day, commemorating 36 years of nationhood for the United Arab Emirates. Yay! A day or two off work, lots of firecrackers, people decorating their cars, gunning their engines and generally making a lot of hooha and clogging the streets. We were on our way home from dinner and got stuck in traffic so I popped out of the sunroof and tried to snap a couple of shots for you all. I haven't really mastered nighttime photography as you can see but the funky light effects are kind of cool. The building is called the Emirates Palace which isn't really a palace at all but a sort of super-posh hotel and restaurant complex for visiting dignitaries and such.

The other nice thing about National Day is that they put decorative lights up all over town and they thoughtfully leave them up throughout December which allows us to pretend they are Christmas lights. It makes things a bit more festive.

Also coming up is the Eid al Adha. We are currently in the holy month of Hajj which is when devout Muslims make their pilgrimage to Mecca. At the end of the month there is a "feast" (fete, festival, holiday) to celebrate the first pilgrimage made by Mohammad. Again, a couple of days off work, fireworks and honking, visiting friends and exchanging gifts. It is also a time honored tradition to, um, sacrifice a goat or lamb or two. One of our neighbors down the street has a few goats in a pen outside his house and his neighbor across the way has a rather large sheep tethered in the front yard. I declined to photograph them for you in light of their sure to be nearly immediate demises. Sorry. At least it's supposedly done humanely. Just in case, I will stay inside for the next day or two and then it will be time to fly home. Oh, and "Eid Mubarak" is the holiday greeting.


Speaking of Christmas, I'd completely forgotten what it's like to put up tree with kittens in the house. All the bottom limbs are broken off. Someone (DAISY!?) has chewed through a strand of lights. I awake in the night to the sounds of an ornament being batted around like a ping pong ball and the whole tree smells like cat pee. I'm thinking pine tree air fresheners for ornaments next year. It doesn't look too awful in the photo but the effect is generally pathetic.


Sorry. I tried to rotate it but it didn't work. Look at it sideways. Now that's pathetic.


Honeywell recently treated its employees to a family day of fun at the Officers Club in Abu Dhabi. There was a lovely buffet, ATV riding on the beach, shooting at the firing range (for those 16 and above) and bouncy castles and a video arcade for the kids. The Officers Club, aside from being a very swanky facility with health club, restaurants, olympic size pool, travel and banking services, as well as the above mentioned amenities, also has a couple of interesting exhibits on the history of the military and police in Abu Dhabi as well as popular firearms. You may just be able to spot the Menehune in some of these photos.


I salute you soldier dude of the desert!




Tres swanky, non??


And it just wouldn't be right to go without a picture of my cute but troublesome kittens. It is all about them after all.


No, we did NOT just peepee on the tree. Or eat that stuffed penguin ornament.


Have a merry holiday season and I will write again soon. Love!