Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine I would be moving to a foreign country to live, let alone a country in the Middle East. Over the 2009 Christmas and New Year’s holidays, my husband Roger and I discussed what we wanted the next part of our life to be like. He thought that before retiring, he would like to do one more airport project but only if he could find something very interesting. I half-jokingly agreed that would be fine but could he try for an exotic location? As usual, Roger came through and soon we were headed to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates. This blog is a recap of our "leap-of- faith" wanderings around the Middle East and beyond. We joyfully share these expat experiences.

Wednesday, December 4, 2013

UAE National Day Celebration

Countries around the world relish celebrating their founding days and in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) they take their National Day seriously. 

His Highness Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Nayhan
Celebrated on December 2, National Day commemorates the day in 1971 that His Highness Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan banded together the seven emirates of the Trucial States to form a new country - United Arab Emirates. National Day is an exuberant celebration of the greatness of this young country’s heritage.

One thing Emiratis love is their cars. Just stand on any street corner and watch the show. Glitzy, glamorous, bejeweled and audacious are words that describe the cars you can see. For National Day, all restraints are unleashed in the fervorous activity to decorate one’s car for the big celebration and show one’s love for their country . . . and proudly parading them all over town.