Ho! Ho! Ho?

[from threesources.com]

Well, it's that time of year: the sun is shining, the pool is a clear, crystal blue, the weather has cooled off just enough that we have only one room requiring air conditioning at night, the flowers are in bloom, and our tans are a medium brown. Yep, it's Christmas in the Arabian peninsula.

Ah, how the old traditions warm our already warm hearts: hummus cakes on Christmas Eve, shawarma-on-a-stick for Christmas dinner, date pies, date jellies, date ice cream, the sounds of chanting and rousing anti-Western sermons drifting over from the mosque; it really is the most wonderful time of the year!


[by Brian McMorrow, goworldtravel.com]

What's fun is seeing how the Emiratis "get into" the Christmas spirit--in superficial ways, of course. The draping of lights corresponds with the National Day celebrated on Dec. 2 this year, and Eid al Adha, which is in full sway at present, so they'll just leave all the deco up through Christmas. Apparently some Emiratis buy Christmas trees and exchange gifts, but this is just another reason to party, not a chance to honor the birth of Christ: prophet he may be in the Muslim worldview, but not the prophet.

Every mall and most stores, however, do something to signal their business savvy and cash in on the expat appetite for things Christmasy. There are full-on displays, including a tree that straddles the escalator in a mall in Dubai, and is at least 50 ft. high. You hear Christmas music playing almost everywhere--but the secular stuff, not hymns, unless the stores are owned by non-muslims. Nativity scenes are available as well, but these aren't displayed prominently.


[from dubaithoughts.blogspot.com]

The upshot is that, while Jon still has to work on the 24th, 25th, and 26th (only for a couple of hours on Christmas, thank goodness), we are left unmolested in our celebrations. We've decorated modestly, and tried to connect with traditions from home. We have been reading Christmas stories in the evening, hosted a branch potluck yesterday where we compared cultural and family traditions, hope to find a service opportunity for next week, and plan a full-on Christmas dinner with the works (minus ham, which is available, but costs a tail and a snout) and two "bachelors" for company (J. Shewell, whose family is in Korea, and L, Ylanan, whose spouse works in Abu Dhabi). We'll even manage to get some skiing in: at Mall of the Emirates in Dubai, which has an indoor ski hill and snow park (environmentalists, avert your eyes).

So we'll miss you, and maybe even the snow (but not much), but look forward to our own little Christmas here in this strange place 3 hours by plane from where Christ was born. Alright, so it's a weak connection but hey, we take what we can get. We'll be thinking of all of you in your wind and snow-blasted homes, gathering around fireplaces, surrounded by loved ones, and up to your eyeballs in wassail and pumpkin pie. We hope you'll think of us over here in our sun-baked villa, gathered around the Wii, surrounded by tolerant indifference, and up to our eyeballs in mirinda and pistacchio ice cream.

Our collective love and best wishes to you all: Merry Christmas, and God bless you, every one!

And now individual greetings.

Riley: I miss the snow! Merry Christmas.
Christopher: I miss you, and Merry Christmas!
Jonah: Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Happy Christmas! Melikilukilake!
Wendy: Thinking of you brings you nearer to us. We have such happy memories of Christmas at home. Here's hoping we get to experience it again. (And now she's fighting back the tears.)
Jon: Auguri di Natale. Vi vogliamo tutti molto bene! Eid Mubarak!



And something fun to leave you with: a little SCT . . . P!