School Festivals

In every school around the world, there are always special events. I think of the Athletisme (Track and Field day) in La Pocatiere, or the myriad of random festivals that happened in Korea. The UAE is no different.

Last Sunday was the opening ceremony of a week-long Heritage Festival at my school. Ty got his own special laminated invitation from my principal, and arrived with his camera in hand. Given the relative lack of exposure to the outside world that my students get, Ty always causes a bit of a stir whenever he comes to my school (the girls just love him -- and a few have decided that he needs another wife *ahem!*).

On this morning, there was a huge group of Emirati men, greeting each other with the traditional nose-rub.... which is, yeah, a bit weird the first time you see it.

We all headed to the gym, where big comfy chairs and couches had been set out for the men, while the women sat on normal folding chairs behind them, their faces veiled. The national anthem was played, there were a few speeches, and students circulated with coffee and chocolates for those of us who were seated.

A few elementary and middle schools were on hand to sing songs about how great the flag was...

...and a local kindergarten group did a skit about a wise old teacher surrounded by his students who was suddenly attacked by Batman and then pink birdies came out and danced. I'm assuming that the last part may have been lost in translation....

We all headed outside, where a huge display about Emirati life had been set up. It was made to resemble a traditional house, with palm-frond walls, and women doing handicrafts and henna inside. There were some great museum-like displays of photos, and a few old coins and jewellery that had been dug up in the desert. We tasted camel milk (which is a bit salty) and Ty snuck a few photos of the burqa ladies (mothers of my students).

The coolest thing, though, was the loud, complaining camel that I was unceremoniously tossed onto. The only thing to hold onto was a metal bar, and I'll admit that I screamed a bit as it stood up. I wasn't the only one to ride (and squeal a bit) on the camel, though.

Nahla, our office translator, showed us that it is possible to look gorgeous while mounted on a rather uncooperative beast.

Wee update:

The past few weeks have been a bit eventful.

- We attended the gala dinner/awards ceremony of the Desert Challenge, which was quite the splashy affair.

- Jakob, our beastie, fell very ill and had to be rushed to a vet's in Abu Dhabi where he spent 4 days on IV because he was so dehydrated. He's now at Paul's again and almost back to full health.

- Ty and I had to gather about 50 million different bits of paperwork and go to the Canadian Embassy in Abu Dhabi to get him a tourist visa for Canada for our visit in July/August. We've got the visa now. Yay.

- Work is busy busy busy... but once May/June comes around, it's going to (probably) be a lot calmer, as it will be the exam session/end of term.

- Ty has an Emirati driver's license now... After 3 months, we seem to finally have come to the end of the constant paperwork and red tape. Oh, except for our liquor license, which we'll have to get at some point.

- It seems like we'll be in the hotel for a few more months (!!!!!). We've actually started furnishing the place (coffee maker, computer, shelves) as if it's our home. It's fine and all, just wish we could have the cats here, and I really do hate waking up so early to go to work.

- It's HOT and getting HOTTER, and yes, we had a few freak storms out here - big winds, lots of rain, hail, floods up in Dubai.