National Day in the UAE

Picture the 4th of July in the United States. Now add about 100 million dollars, more lenient traffic laws, and an intense sentiment of national pride and then maybe you can start to comprehend National Day in the UAE.

We got the entire week off from work/school. The entire city closed down on the actual day (December 2nd), but in actuality, this holiday lasts for much longer than that. Every street is decorated with lights...now, I'm not talking about streaming Christmas lights...I am talking about giant, fully-lit signs of the number 37, palm trees, faux fire works and so forth. Giant buildings are lit from top to bottom with images and colors of the flag and pictures of some Sheikhs. (Can you picture people in America posting larger than life-sized portraits of US presidents on their buildings/cars??) People get their cars professionally decorated with various images including giant pictures of flags and the Sheikh on all of their windows, and hearts and streamers on the sides of the cars. On the night of National Day, there was a massive fireworks show. It was more expensive than the fireworks show at the China Olympics. Following the show, people created their own mini-parade in the streets...children were hanging out of car windows, people were cheering and playing loud music. It was quite the celebration.

We of course celebrated the night in our own way with a trip to PJs followed by Heroes. Many exciting events took place: Toe gashed open...lots of blood. Karaoke butchered. Fanny pack discovered. Hat stolen. Voice lost.

Look at some pictures... http://picasaweb.google.com/crhinckley/NationalDay