Off to the Races!!

After talking about it for months, we finally decided to check out a camel race. The main obstacle was how early the races occur – typically starting at 7am on Friday mornings. So despite some expletives uttered when the alarm went off, we got up early and headed to the track. When we arrived, it…

National Day

On December 2nd, the UAE celebrated its 39th birthday! In observance, the government and businesses closed down and thousands took to the streets to show their pride. It is a big event for the country, as evidenced by the thousands of lights, signs and displays that began appearing in the week leading up to National…

Celebrating Eid!

Pronounced “eed” (like “lead” and “feed”), Eid refers to a Muslim holiday. Eid Al-Adha, which we celebrated the week of November 14th, marked the Feast of the Sacrifice following the Hajj, or the annual pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia by Muslims worldwide. This differs from Eid Al-Fitr, which comes at the end of Ramadan….

Radio

Radio stations in Abu Dhabi and Dubai are pretty similar to those found back home – fairly obnoxious DJs, cash contests, dumb sound effects and lots of commercials. Many of the stations are strictly in Arabic, while several are in English and Arabic….meaning you could have a commercial in English, followed by a different commercial…

Holy Sheikh!

Sheikh Saqr bin Mohammed al Qasimi, the Ruler of one of the seven emirates Ras al Khaimah, died today. As such, official mourning has been declared with effect from today for a week through, which the flags will be flown at half mast in Abu Dhabi, and even longer in some other emirates. Right now,…

Paper, forms and fees, oh my!

The last few days have been all about paperwork. Yesterday, I went to a government office to have copies of our marriage license certified by the UAE. This is very important because the certified license extends Meg’s health insurance coverage to me and allows us to live together (seriously). The UAE takes marriage quite seriously….

Mall Mania!!

Malls are a big part of the culture of the U.A.E.  Since temperatures in the summer can reach 130 degrees, you can understand why. You don’t just go for an hour to two like you do back home, but rather you go for the day.  As a result, the malls have EVERYTHING!  From the basics…