Seeking Santa in the Sand: Holiday Adventures in Dubai

Since I arrived in Dubai, my progress on my research topic has been progressing in fits and starts because of what seems like an endless stream of holidays. In an attempt to familiarize you all with some of the customs and holidays here in the UAE and relate my attempts to celebrate my own American pastimes, this post is dedicated all to holidays in Dubai that I had the good fortune to experience during my stay.

Eid al Adha
Within three weeks of landing in Dubai I encountered my first holiday and learned the extent to which this country shuts down for religious observances. Now if you’re like me and probably many Americans, you may never have heard of Eid al Adha and would be just as mystified by the abundance of “Eid Mubarak” signs in every store at the beginning of November in Dubai. Well, considering that I was now in an Islamic nation where the observance of this holiday is important, I figured I should learn something about it. Thanks to a combination of conversations with a Pakistani friend, a Jordanian friend, and some searching on Wikipedia, I learned that it is a religious holiday to celebrate the willingness of Abraham to sacrifice his only son Ishmael to God as proof of his faith. The celebration itself is only one day, but it is extended by the fact that the period for the Hajj, the ceremonial pilgrimage to Mecca, takes place immediately preceding the Eid holy day. For those who don’t know, the hajj is one of the five pillars of Islam—every able bodied man, woman, and child must make a trip to Mecca at least once in their lives.

The combination of these two important events means that there is a period of at least 3 days, often 5, when businesses are shut, government agencies are closed, and Muslims are involved in religious celebrations and festivities while the rest of Dubai is at leisure. Well, almost—out of respect for the holiday and its symbolism, even hotels tend not to serve alcohol on Eid al Adha or even the evening preceding it. I didn’t participate in any of the religious festivities, but my understanding is that the day is taken up with certain prayers and rituals followed by a ceremonial slaughtering of a goat or other animal to symbolize the ram Abraham ultimately sacrificed in Ishmael’s place. The meat is then divided among the relatives, friends, and poor.

For those in Dubai who are not Muslim, Eid al Adha provides a few days off from work in the middle of the week when even if you tried to work, since everything else is closed, you will have trouble. Malls have sales and thus are quite crowded with bargain-seekers of all nationalities. For me, this was a chance to both explore a bit of Dubai around my new apartment but also to bargain hunt for a new camera, mine having sadly meant an untimely end. (This hunt was a success as I wound up with a new camera by the end of the holiday break and a spare camera for free!) Though because of the loss of the camera I have no pictures to show for the break, I can say that the relaxing strolls I took along the Jumeirah Beach area were filled with the sights of shoppers and families out enjoying the respite from work. There was not too much exciting for this holiday—as it was a religious observance more than a day of celebration, there was just a general relaxed atmosphere rather than the merriment and fun to come in some of my later holiday experiences in Dubai.

Thanksgiving
As one might expect, the decidedly American holiday of Thanksgiving has little relevance here in Dubai. Not only is this not America (I know, big surprise) but its major expat communities are British, Irish, and Australian. The American population in Dubai is actually rather small relative to these others and so it was difficult to find Thanksgiving. Unsurprisingly there no turkeys in stores or strings of multi-colored leaves—the latter would be out of place anyway as the only indigenous trees here don’t change color in winter. And certainly there were no pilgrims or Native Americans offering their bounty at discounted prices to passersby. Furthermore, as it falls on a Thursday, it is just another work day and with the Big 5 Conference in town, for me it was another day of networking and collecting countless magazines and pamphlets to wade through later to understand the building materials market in Dubai and the UAE.

I had expected that restaurants in the hotels would at least indulge in the holiday as a way to make a buck off of the nostalgic Americans here on business or now living in the country, but was surprised to find that even this was minimal. The offerings I found were either expensive or not truly American. My final choice was a buffet proudly featuring carved turkey and Budweiser—the consummate seasonal American drink in their opinion—but lacking the supporting cast of stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, and pumpkin pie. Perhaps it was an intentional sleight as the restaurant was a British pub. Maybe they were trying to subtly stick it to the rebels after all these years by hitting the Americans where it hurts the most—the stomach. Whether or not this was the motivation, it left me satisfied in some way and wanting in others as my mind and stomach were trying to drift across the ocean to the traditional family meals they’ve enjoyed every other Thanksgiving. To try and assuage this craving and the lack of pumpkin pie in dessert, I composed a Thanksgiving blog post over a pumpkin spice latte during my Black Friday shopping at the Dubai Mall that can give you a bit more insight into the holiday here.

National Day
Not two full weeks after the Eid holiday all of Dubai again was on a break to celebrate the UAE National Day on December 2. This year marked the 39^th anniversary of the nation’s founding and thanks to all of the posters and storefronts reminding you of that fact, not even the most forgetful would be able to avoid remembering the day and its significance. Again, the holiday signified a respite from work for all across the nation but this time, rather than a religious overtone the day was full of cheer and merriment. Though the official celebration was on the night of December 1, the 2^nd was full of revelry and celebrations as well. Every mall had some sort of activities and parades as well as activities planned in other public spaces.

After sleeping in following a visa run to Muscat the previous day (look for that in a future blog!) which, coincidentally happened to be their National Day, I headed out to Dubai Creek to try and catch a parade that supposedly happens annually there on both land and water. I found no traces of the parade at least where I was along the river but did find plenty of people celebrating with green, red, black, and white streamers adorning restauarants and the abras (water taxis) that were ferrying the masses from bank to bank.

From here, I headed off to Mirdif City Centre, the newest mall in town (well, just barely in town—it’s in a very barren and still developing corner of the city), to take in the National Day celebration they were advertising all over in an attempt to craw people to the mall. I arrived a bit early and so wandered around while waiting for the celebration to begin. As I wandered, I was handed a small UAE flag that adorned my messenger bag for the remainder of the day as a show of my support for my current nation. Passing displays of Sheikh Khalifa and Sheikh Zayed, the current and past ruler of Dubai, respectively, I arrived at the kickoff of the celebration where dozens of children were lined up in different colored smocks in the shape of the UAE flag.

The children were of all nationalities, showing the truly global nature of this city. Soon the flag dispersed and, led by stiltwalkers and a unicyclist, began a parade through the mall. In tow as well were two groups of UAE nationals dancing and singing in traditional styles, providing an excellent introduction to the cultural activities of the UAE.

The dancing was fantastic and continued even after the parade, much to my delight. The traditional styles for men involve twirling sticks above the head, grouping together and bobbing heads up and down while individuals dance more freely, and other coordinated moves. I found them very interesting and it was really the first time that I had the experience of taking in a traditional dance in that style.

From Mirdif City Centre I decided to go check out the jewel of the Dubai malls, the aptly named Dubai Mall (aka the largest mall in the world by floor space) to see what the sprawling complex at the foot of Burj Khalifa had in store. Not to be outdone by its newer and smaller cousin, the Dubai Mall was packed with three floors of onlookers watching various dance and musical acts performing in the traditional style on the bottom floor. I watched as dancers bobbed, weaved, and twirled while flashing daggers, sticks, and their bellies to the enchanting melodies of stringed instruments, drums, voices, and other traditional instruments.

The aquarium in the Dubai Mall on National Day

As hard as it was to do, when after several performances the dancers took a break, I tore myself away and headed out to the Dubai fountain to take in the special fountain show choreographed to the UAE National Anthem at the foot of Burj Khalifa. For a military march, the anthem was quite romanticized by the dancing water, much to the delight of the throngs gathered around the pool. The show over, I headed inside once more to view an art display with amazing photos of Dubai, paused just once more to listen to the new band that had taken up playing in the multi-storey atrium, and then took my leave of the Dubai Mall.

Not satisfied with this conclusion to my National Day celebration, I had one more stop to make close to home at the Walk at Jumeirah Beach Residence. I arrived just in time to catch the last three or so dances by yet another group of Emiratis eager to show off their traditional practices. Here again, I saw the heads bobbing in encouragement of young and old dancers skillfully twirling rifles, sabres, and sticks.

When these dancers finished, I wandered the Walk and found a collection of model Bedouin and traditional homes with Emirati men and women out front offering traditional coffee and dates and explaining the arts of henna painting, weaving, and falconry to interested passersby. After listening to the falconers for a few minutes and admiring the birds they had brought out, it was time for these living displays to end so the participants could engage in revelry as well.

Now I suppose it should be unsurprising that in a nation so reliant on cars for life as the UAE the National Day celebrations also center on the car. Here at JBR, a favorite relaxation spot for locals, as the night wore on, more and more cars emerged bearing crazy decorations for the holiday ranging from simple flags on the windows to screened on effigies of Sheikh Khalifa and Sheikh Mohammed to painted on signs, feathers, and sparkles. Cars moved at a crawl along the Walk allowing the passengers to stand with their heads out the roofs, wave flags, blow horns, and announce their celebration of National Day. In all of this what may surprise you, and certainly surprised me, is that the other way of celebrating was to arm yourself with silly string and spray it at the passing cars, as long as you were willing to take the return barrage from those popped out the top. In fact, it was almost a game to see how much you could get in the windows of the car to “decorate” the interior.

This relatively, well, silly practice made for a fun atmosphere that encouraged spontaneous singing, dancing, and flashy shows by teenagers having fun trying to hit the passing cars. For three hours I stood watching this celebration occasionally joining in the applause, yelling, and celebration. Not knowing, however, that I was supposed to bring silly string, I did not fire any volleys at passersby and in return left home just as clean as when I had started the night.

Now I understand this post is about fun times and holidays, but a quick diversion to sustainability for a moment. Though I was enjoying the merriment of the night, I couldn’t help but wonder how much energy and cleaning went into preparing these cars just for the night. With all of the decorating and screening on of decals, I know that some cars will have to be completely repainted or at least stripped of their décor and thoroughly washed. This is compounded by the silly string that will undoubtedly be in every nook and cranny of the interiors. In a nation already imperiled by a water shortage, is this really an environmentally-conscious way to celebrate? And with all of the fuel used to parade cars in circles at a snail’s pace, it’s clear that environmentalism is not a part of UAE National Day.

Alright, now back to the fun stuff. My night ended after most of the crowd at JBR had dissipated around 2 am, though there were still silly string battles to be finished in an attempt to empty the last cans of the night. However before my National Day festivities were complete, I had one more event to attend that Saturday night—the musical adaptation of Sheikh Zayed’s life: “Zayed and the Dream.” This musical is the chronicling of the founding of the UAE told in song and dance in Arabic and, fortunately, subtitled in English. Beginning with the seven emirates in a state of unrest, famine, and problems, the play shows the growth and development of Sheikh Zayed and his commanding ability to, through justice resolve, and a power presence, unite the emirates under a single flag. Though I’m sure it lost something in translation, the play was nonetheless poetic and the dancing was fantastic and all traditional choreography set to Arabic music. My one criticism of the play was that it seemed to deify Sheikh Zayed as a prophet or chosen one. The narrator, a character likened to Father Time, appeared omniscient as if a god, and seven warriors representing virtue appeared multiple times to Sheikh Zayed to lead him on the path to righteousness as if in fulfillment of a prophecy. This was a bit offputting to me as I expected more of a biopic than a litany of praise, but it was still enjoyable and the dancing and singing were truly incredible. (Sorry, no pictures or video on this one out of respect to the policies of the theatre.)

With the final bow of the cast, my National Day celebrations ended and I was back to work with the rest of the country, at least for a couple of weeks until…

Christmas
I suppose that I should be thankful that Christmas fell on a Saturday this year. Otherwise I’m not sure that I would have had a chance to enjoy Christmas Eve and Christmas day without giving a care to whether I had e-mails to check or practitioners to meet. As you might guess, in this Muslim nation Christmas does not hold the same significance as it does in the States or in Europe. In fact, as I found out through asking the expats I met, the only place really to find Christmas is in the malls and hotels. You might cynically say that is no different than America, but I really began to notice the lack of Christmas in the air here. In the States it is so ubiquitous (even if for commercial purposes) as to be inescapable. Think about it—you leave the house only to be bombarded on all sides by Christmas lights, billboards with Santa, decorations on lampposts, and in some cities public Christmas trees or (god, or rather ACLU, forbid) Nativity scenes. Flip on the airwaves, and you find that Christmas lives there too in the collection of seasonal favorites that we only indulge for a month out of every 12. Go to a mall, store, hotel, or even office building and you will surely find an indication of the holidays there too whether it be a lavish tree, garland, lights, or a coworker in a sweater that no matter how out of style it may be, it’s acceptable now because it’s festive. Return home and flip on the tube to find Frosty and Rudolph dancing the same dances they have since the ‘60s while Lifetime and the networks compete ‘round the clock to have their latest creation christened as the season’s next big movie (almost all of which you will probably never see again). Yes, even though much of this is commercially motivated, it still puts a smile on most faces and aside from a few incidents of mall parking lot road rage, a joyous feeling in the hearts of all.

Now to imagine a Dubai Christmas, subtract all of that except the lavish mall and hotel decorations. That’s a start. Now without the ubiquity of the season to gently mask the commercialism, it is exposed for all to see. Furthermore, since this is a Muslim nation and many customers care not that it is Christmas, it seems almost even more of a marketing ploy or lure for the large expat community looking to make merry in the middle of the desert. Some stores put up a decoration or two—my favorite is the one below. Most don’t even bother.

Perhaps it is that the typical imagery of Christmas is also so out of place here that the festivity doesn’t seem genuine. After all, there are not pine trees here and the only snow is indoors at Ski Dubai. Whatever the reason, it didn’t stop me from trying to find Christmas here in Dubai. In fact, my search began not long after Thanksgiving when with luck I happened to learn about a “Christmas Majilis” in Bur Dubai. A “majilis” is a gathering of friends but, in this case, referred to a market in one of the galleries in the old part of town. The market is a weekly event and here they were having a Chistmas edition as the service was run by expats who were probably singing the Babes in Toyland song with the rest of the European and American communities here. Though small, there were some nice holiday touches including personally made greetgin cards by a wonderful British lady. As we chatted, she informed me of another market the following weekend in, where else, a mall down Sheikh Zayed Road. Eager to grab as much of the Christmas spirit as I could, I headed down there the next weekend to find another community of local and international crafts men and women selling both their weekly wares and special holiday editions.

I followed this up with a special Christmas concert in the Mall of the Emirates by an Australian singer playing to a house only about a third full—really shows the importance of Christmas here. After performing some broadway and jazz standards, the singer moved on to the Christmas canon with the help of a local choir and closed with a visit from Santa himself and artificial snow on stage.

After these unexpected holiday discoveries, however, my Christmas experience quickly returned to the answer the expats had given—go to the malls. Up until Christmas Eve, the only Christmas spirit I found was in the malls. The pictures below tell the tale:

On Christmas Eve, I ventured out to make the best holiday I could beginning with lunch with two other Americans spending their first Christmas abroad as well. Though our conversation was mostly about sustainability in Dubai, we took some time to reminisce about what we missed about being home. When I took my leave of them, I caught a bus and then hiked a bit up to the Mall of the Emirates singing Christmas carols as I walked. With no one around to overhear or give me questioning looks (the sidewalks are usually pretty desolate in New Dubai), I was able emulate to the best of my limited ability the singers I knew would be emanating from the speakers at home were I there. When I arrived at the mall, I sought out the only place where you can actually feel winter in Dubai—Ski Dubai.

Now I know what you’re thinking—if I’m studying how to be “green” in Dubai, why seek out a place where the temperature is artificially kept below freezing when its halfway to boiling outside. Well, at the urging of several friends at home and here, I figured that to understand sustainable I had better carefully examine the most unsustainable place perhaps ever built. And what better way to examine it than from the slopes, right? (In actuality, I’m told the insulation on the building is really well done all things considering. They apparently have two thick layers of insulation separated by a large air gap which further insulates the environment.)

As I stood in line for my rental gear, I befriended a sailor on leave named Frank and he and I ended up spending the next two hours together chatting on the 8 minute ride up the chairlift and then racing each other down the 1 minute run on the only mountain. It was definitely fun and nice to get out into the snow, but I must say that I feel sorry for those who grow up with this as the only snow that they know. Or perhaps I’m just spoiled by having been on real mountains.

After my two hour slope session, I decided to recuperate just a bit back at my apartment. While Christmas Eve dinner is typically a big event back at my house, here I decided to follow the norm and tackle Christmas brunch instead. So my Christmas Eve dinner turned into a small feast of just what I could cook easily, vegetables, and two local dishes: dates and beans. The dates were a special selection as the believe here is that the Virgin Mary ate dates before she gave birth to Christ, so to mark this special occasion, I feasted on the same fruit. After all, this is the closest I’ve ever been to Bethlehem on Christmas so I had better have a traditional Christmas dinner, right? To top off the feast, I indulged in a Chocolate Log Cake—another tradition that seems ubiquitous in the expat community here but which has never been important in my family.

After dinner, it was back to the Dubai Mall for more artificial Christmas spirit before heading to McGettigan’s Pub in the nearby Bonnington Hotel for a little Irish Christmas cheer. Here I found a DJ spinning a mix of Christmas classics and today’s Top 40 and a room full of drunken expats ringing in Christmas. Sitting next to another single gentleman, I had an Irish Christmas with a pint of Guinness and struck up a conversation. The night was so enjoyable, I ended staying until 2 when I wandered home and sat down to the only Christmas tradition I could easily preserve: watching Frank Capra’s “It’s a Wonderful Life” on Christmas Even night. (Thanks to whoever posted the movie in parts on Youtube—you really brightened Christmas for me!).

Christmas Day itself was a mixture of Skype calls back home to “spend” Christmas Eve with my family, watching more Christmas movies on Youtube, and then heading out to Apres, the restaurant overlooking Ski Dubai for a little relaxation, reading, and Christmas brunch. There I found a nice collection of holiday favorites gracing the atmosphere and another unexpected touch of home—gluhwein. At my house around Christmas, gluhwein is a seasonal must (especially for my Dad) and though here the recipe was not the same (and more fortified), it was still a little taste of home for the holidays.

After wandering the mall a bit, I called it an early day to head home, watch more movies and call home again on Christmas morning to watch the family open stockings and gifts, including those I had, through the wonders of Amazon and the globalized economy, sent.

I suppose that the moral of this story is (because every Christmas tale must have a moral) that you can find Christmas anywhere, even in the desert sands of the Middle East. Thanks to the wonders of the internet and the company of other holiday homesick expats, even a lonely traveler can find a Merry Christmas in Dubai.

New Year’s Eve
Now if there is any holiday I figure would be best to be in Dubai for, it is New Year’s Eve. I figured that with all of the money, luxury, and care taken to make this city world class that New Year’s would be no exception. Well, that may well be true, but I found quickly that the other rule about New Year’s Eve in Dubai is that it is very expensive. Many clubs and parties were at least 300 AED (about 80 USD) and any that also included beverages were 500 AED or more, sometimes reaching 1000 AED (300 USD). Of all of these options, I settled on an evening at the Address Hotel in Downtown Dubai for a mere 125 AED where I also would have the chance to be spared the crowds around Burj Khalifa for the first fireworks show for New Year’s in the building’s history. What I head is that New York has Times Square, London has Trafalgar, Paris the Eiffel Tower, Sydney the harbor, and now Dubai will have the Burj as its big New Year’s celebration. With high hopes and an article about the 20 minute show they had planned, I headed by Metro to the site.

Well, the first thing I learned is that Dubai for all of its luxury still has yet to master the art of mass crowd movement. Getting out of the metro station took half an hour simply because they gates do not scan cards quickly enough to let people out at a significant rate. That should have been a warning to me for the return trip, but more on that later. When I finally did get out, I fought the throngs of people in and around the Dubai Mall jockeying for a spot around the fountains to watch the show which was still 3 hours away. Fighting through to the hotel, I arrived up at the bar and grabbed a drink to get the night started. Hanging around on the outdoor terrace, I made friends with a couple from Palestine and China by way of the US and two other gentlemen from Irvine, CA, of all places. As the midnight hour drew near, we all squeezed into the corner of the terrace with the best view and prepared for the show. The result was pretty spectacular as the pictures below hopefully demonstrate.

The show began (and mostly consisted of) a coordinated show of fire and water in the fountain area culminating in several minutes of fireworks shooting off from the side of Burj Khalifa and out of cannons lining the entire height of the building. The whole structure bathed in the trails of the fireworks was an awesome sight and well worth the crowds and wait. Afterwards, cheers of “Happy New Year” rang throughout the bar, but unfortunately there was no Auld Lang Syne. The party itself kept going though and the house music returned. The whole atmosphere was great—relaxed and friendly with some dancing, many talking, and plenty of people around my age hanging out and having a good time. So, after hanging around with my two new California buddies for a while longer, I left the bar to head home.

As I said, I should have learned from my experience entering the mall that it would be hectic to get out, but I figured that leaving an hour before the last Metro train would be enough. After fighting through the crowds of pedestrians still leaving and the gridlocked traffic, I arrived at the Metro station only to see the line extending out the door and around the corner. Hopping in with half an hour before the last train, I quickly sized up the line and figured it couldn’t be more than 4 trains long. That should be plenty, I thought. Well, 45 minutes later I had moved about 20 feet forward in line. The problem as nearly as I could tell was that there was as second line for “families” which meant if you were accompanied by any child of any age or any woman of any age, you qualified for the family line. Basically I was in the bachelor line which couldn’t move until the family line was empty. Finally at 3:30 in the morning, they let us all in at once saying we needed to hurry because the last train was leaving soon. Hustling inside, I found myself suddenly stopped again in another line that stretched across the bridge over Sheikh Zayed Road and back. I waited here again though it moved more quickly and finally by 3:45 was near the stand to swipe my card and board. When I finally got on the train, I realized a big flaw in the whole plan—the scanner did not allow people into the station quickly enough to even fill the trains—I’ve seen them busier in rush hour! Basically, waiting for the card to be read takes so long that the trains were not filled to standing capacity and thus they had to run them over two hours longer than planned just to clear the backlog from Burj Khalifa. At 4:20 I finally disembarked and headed home, thus ending my New Year’s Eve adventure.