Things had been quiet and slow here in the Emirates since Friday last week. The radio is playing all instrumentals, song after song after song. Think of endless piano rendition and no words. Can be nice if one is having a migraine but not too cool when it’s a weekend or when I’m dragging myself to work on a Saturday or Sunday!
The ruler of Umm Al Quwain, one of the seven Emirates of the uAE has died and in true UAE fashion, the radio suddenly halted all programs and played quiet music out of respect to the one who died. Government offices also get a delicious bonus of three days off. Private sector slaves like me do not get the same pleasure.
We had lovely blue skies on the first day of 2009
UAE had a very quiet New Year. As a sign of sympathy to what is happening in Gaza, as an Arab nation, the UAE ruler declared there would be no public celebration or noisy festivities on New Year’s eve. There were no fireworks in the sky, the highly expected and anticipated fireworks display at the Burj Al Arab was cancelled. Sheikh Mohammed (ruler of Dubai) even said New Year parties in hotels have to be cancelled too. Since I always just stay at home with my family on New Year’s eve, I don’t know if the parties were really cancelled. What a case of bad timing for tourists who came to Dubai for the New Year.
Now the quiet is gone and everything is back this Monday morning. School is back, the honkers on the road are back and Nickelback is on again in the radio.
Speaking of radio, I finally got Pristine’s voice recording to work on this blog. If you are interested to listen to what she had to say on air, here it is.
How was your New Year’s celebration?
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{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
That is pretty impressive that they stopped regular radio out of respect for his death. I think the US should adopt that custom, whenever an ex-President dies. And no public celebrations on New Years? Wow.
Jackis last blog post..Only 4 days into the new year…
I still can’t believe you don’t get days off like everyone else. Even if you’re not a citizen there, you work for a local company. Crazy.
BTW, love the plumeria picture. It looks like you’re in Hawaii.
Yeah, that sounds like a bummer. I don’t like to hear about people passing away but to put an entire area on lock and shutdown parties in the process seems extreme. Especially during tourist season.
My New Years was spent amongst friends. We hit a lounge and then left after midnight before the real crowds arrived.
Urban Thoughts last blog post..Last Day of The Year
Thank you for sharing these pieces with us. I find other cultures so fascinating.
Jennifers last blog post..Not Me Monday
I am form UAE Duabi. Thanks for sharing it with us