Happy New Year!! Oh wait . . . CANCELLED!

His Highness Shaikh Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, has ordered the cancellation of all forms of celebrations marking the New Year in Dubai emirate, as an act of solidarity with the Palestinian people.

http://www.gulfnews.com/nation/Government/10271287.html

Hotels are NOT going to be happy about this. They're already complaining that the financial crisis has brought a 25% reduction in their occupancy rates. Mind you - this means that occupancy has gone from 90% fill rate to 70% fill rate. Hotels in the US would give their eye teeth for 70% fill rate.

I only heard by accident as I was walking into the office. I'm sure there will be lots of people who show up tonight at the hotels all dolled up for the evening out only to find that their evening has been cancelled. I can't WAIT to read the letters section of our local paper. This is bound to stir up the debate.

Russell and I had nothing planned - so little impact on us. We'll quietly raise a glass in toast at the stroke of midnight. That is, if we're still awake.

Update:
Turns out that the "cancellations" applied to outdoor events. Hotels and other indoor venues were allowed to continue their parties, but we asked to hold a more subdued event. I don't know exactly what subdued means. I think that all live music was cancelled - but maybe DJs were allowed. We ended up going over to the neighbors and had a great time. Lyra stayed up until midnight and was thrilled to see in the new year.

Christmas in Dubai

I think that this was the first year EVER in my entire life that I didn't go anywhere for Christmas. Usually, I travel to my parents' or my grandmother's or last year we went on a trip. But this year, we stayed home. And boy, was it relaxing and nice. I slept a ton - trying to work off the jet lag and end-of-year exhaustion. Had lots of energy - as evidenced by the morning I got up, walked Basil for a long walkie, washed my car, mopped down the garage door (I think I've mentioned how dusty things get here), fiddled with the washing machine (which is not fixed, but at least we know how to use it so that the clothes aren't soaking wet when they come out), and futzed with the hosepipe (which due to the mystery shut-off valve we cannot find is still not fixed). And then it was 1pm.

What with the vacation to Africa and my unexpected trip to the US for my grandmother's funeral, we forgot to pick up an Advent calendar. Without that, Lyra was pretty unaware of the impending arrival of Father Christmas when I got back from the US on the 23rd. As I put her to bed, she asked me, "When will Santa come?"

"Tomorrow night," I said.


"Are you joking?" she asked.


"Nope, I'm serious. He's coming tomorrow night."


"But I haven't told him what I want, yet." (see previous post about missing Santa).


"Well, we can write him a letter."



So, on Christmas Eve, to hype it up a bit we had a very nice dinner. Surf & Turf for the adults. Russell made steak en croute (ribeye covered with pate in a puff pastry shell) and broiled lobster tails. Yummy! Lyra had a veggie cutlet with Gruyere cheese. Neither surf nor turf are on her list of favorites. After dinner, we all got into our jammies to watch the Grinch that Stole Christmas. I forgot that I now have Charlie Brown Christmas on DVD - it will be on next year's movie list. Then we read Twas the Night Before Christmas (a year-round favorite for Lyra).

Christmas morning - Lyra slept until 9. At her age, I could never have slept that long. She discovered her Plasma Car hidden by Santa behind the Christmas tree. "I didn't tell him what I wanted. How did he know I wanted a Plasma Car?" "Well, Santa knows. He knows if you've been bad or good and he knows what you want for Chirstmas." She worried a bit that maybe it was someone else's Plasma Car. Soon, she was demonstrating her expertise by driving the car around the living room and weaving in and out of the furniture.

After our morning gift openings, we got ready for Christmas lunch with the next door neighbors. We had reservations at a local hotel for their buffet. When we arrived, we were seated in the Tepanyaki area of the Bennihana's. Turned out to be a perfect location for us. For most of the time, it was just us in the back area. Nice and quiet. All of the hotel restaurants were participating in the buffet. So, we had Japanese, Thai, Lebanese, traditional English, Arabic, cold seafood buffet, Italian (and a smattering of Mexican). There was a special kids buffet with fish and chicken fingers, fries, cookies, etc. And everywhere were dessert tables with chocolate fountains, Christmas puddings, Um Ali, Ice Cream buffet (like Cold Stone Creamy). WOW - a real feast. At first I thought it was amusing to see so many locals at the buffet. But then I thought - well hey, we go to their Iftar buffets - so, I'm sure they enjoy experiencing our holiday traditions, too.

The next day, we went to the new mall that opened. Aptly named The Dubai Mall. They have an ice skating rink and an aquarium. I still can't get used to going to the malls for entertainment. But that's what you do here - especially in the summer. Lyra has wanted to try ice skating for ages and I even tried to take her during Ramadan - only to find that the rink we went to was closed. We paid for 2 hours, but I knew after putting on those horrible skates there would be no way I'd make it that long. But, we did skate for over an hour - and she improved tremendously during that time. In the first 15 minutes, she was ready to quit. But she kept with it and was doing pretty well by the end. Now she wants lessons, but I'm not sure if we can fit that into her busy schedule without giving up either theatre or ballet.

On Saturday, a trip out into the desert to build a campfire. There are sand dunes about 2 miles from our place that are fun for a bit of dune bashing. And then we set up a fire - one match is all it takes for the wood that has been drying in our garage. Basil becomes obsessed with trying to dig the tennis ball out of the sand and will dig a cavern the entire time we're there. We were once again accompanied by the neighbors. The kids had a blast! Next time, we'll bring the fixin's for s'mores.

A Year Without Santa Claus

What's up with Dubai this year? No Santas anywhere. Last year, there were Santa's a-plenty. But this year, the pickin's are few.

While I was in the US, Russell took Lyra to two separate malls to find Santa. The first was the mall where we went last year. Last year, they had a fantastic Christmas set up following the theme of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. You even entered Santa's grotto by opening up the wardrobe doors and going in past a set of hanging coats. Very magical! But this year - no sign of Santa there.

They did find a Santa at a nearby mall, but you had to pay entrance fee to the cheezy indoor amusement area in order to gain access to Santa. Now, that's taking Christmas commercialization a bit too far.

So, today I called a couple of the malls focusing on those in the "expat" areas - no luck. No Santa. Hmmmm. How grinch-ey is that?!? I guess she'll have to write Santa a letter. Russell says that's not even necessary - "Santa knows". Yes, he does know. So, perhaps we'll explain it that way. Lyra doesn't seem too concerned about it.

At least she saw Santa last week at school. He came by to say hello to the children on the last day before winter break. Lyra told me, "Mr. Dolesch (her principal) came by our classroom dressed like Santa Claus. I knew he wasn't the real Santa." I asked her, "How did you know?" "Well, the only real Santa is the one that comes to your house. The others aren't the real Santa." OK - well I'm glad we got that sticky question out of the way.

And I know it's a bit late, but if you don't know about the NORAD website - this is great fun for tracking Santa's arrival tonight.

Lenoir June Ragland

I'm back in the US for a short visit. My grandmother died and the funeral was yesterday.


She lived a long full life. She was 95 and there were several times over the past 5 years when we thought she wasn't going to make it. I'm looking forward to the times with family over the next couple of days to remember her. She was a strong woman and it was a lot of fun to be her granddaughter.

When I was about 8 (I was the oldest grandchild), my grandparents started taking all us grandchildren to a family church camp for a week. The first year there were 5 of us: me, Amy, Ron, and my cousins Tom and Mike. A couple years later, my younger cousins Brad and Sam also came. We stayed at a lake in Missouri. The bullfrogs were voluminous! The boys did tons of fishing and frog hunting. We all got lots of chiggers, poison ivy, and mosquito bites and spent as much time as possible swimming. Every year until I was 16 or 17, my grandparents took us. Afer a couple of the first years, they built a lodge and we were able to stay in air conditioned rooms. So, it was 7 grandkids for a week at summer camp with my grandparents. These are some great memories.


My grandma was always a baker. Each holiday visit we'd arrive to find tubs and tubs of our favorite cookies filling the house. Then for the meal, there'd be at least a couple of varieties of pie. Ron's favorite was pumpkin, so there were always at least a couple pumpkin pies and then maybe a pecan pie to go with it. For a few years, she was making cinnamon rolls for everyone. Her rolls were always rolled out so that the layers of bread between gooey cinnamon sugar were nice and thin. She'd buy some special sweetened flour from the donut shop to make her bread and rolls. I don't know what was in that flour, but it made the bread extra sweet and soft.


One of my favorite memories of Lyra with my grandma was of preparing pie crusts for Christmas pies. She worked with grandma to help get the crusts into the tins and crimp the edges. For us adults, it was great to see them working together. But I asked her, and its not something she remembers. It's funny how the memories for kids and adults are significant in different ways. Grandma always had lots of patience with her and enjoyed when Lyra would climb into her lap for a ride in the wheel chair from the car into the restaurant.

Grandma loved to have the house full, there was no such thing as too many people in the house. At family gatherings you'd find people in the living room, dining room, kitchen, breezeway, basement and spilling out into the back yard where there was a trampoline to entertain us kids. She had 4 spare beds in the old house that were often full with visiting family or friends. For her, life was meant to be shared with as many people as possible.

Let's Throw a Shoe at Him

Kudos to the Iraqi journalist who threw a shoe at President Bush. I can't tell you how much his recent words and the tone of his visit made me wince - as if I'd just taken a swig of pure lemon juice. Does the man have no sense of the reality that has been created under his leadership?!?!
Mr. Bush - couldn't you just go quietly instead of stirring up again all the anti-American sentiment in this region. Gee!

Well, now the people in the Arab world have a hero. Someone who expressed their feelings exactly. If Arab courtesies allowed them to say "F*ck you" then that's what throwing a shoe would be accompanied by. Who knew that such a simple act would awaken a huge sentiment within the communities here. Support is springing up everywhere. At a recent march, protestors took off their shoes and marched with them on the end of poles. The network for this journalist has been showing his picture in the upper right corner as a support for his actions. Everywhere people are calling in to congratulate his action.

Now I hear this journalist is in custody. But of course thousands are protesting for his right to freedom of expression. Which I agree with. Anyway, he should be let go and hopefully he soon will be - otherwise a different type of sentiment may develop. A Lybian group has just awarded him with a medal of courage. His actions have come to symbolize what so many have wanted to say to Mr. Bush and his failed policies for so long.

Hopefully, with the exit of Bush and arrival of Obama the folks of this region will be willing to give us (the US) another chance to show that we're not as tone-deaf to the sentiments of the world as our actions the last 8 years have shown.

Back from our Trip

So, just arrived yesterday from our trip to Kenya and Zanzibar. Wow, definitely a place to go back to.

We spent the first night in Nairobi. Right away, as we left the airport, a few in our group saw some giraffes that were in a nearby field. A taste of what was to come. Our hotel was near a neighborhood where we walked to find a local supermarket. We stocked up on water and a few other nibbles for our upcoming trip to the parks. It was much cheaper to buy the water when in Nairobi than to purchase it in the parks where it's priced at tourist prices.

Our fisrt trip was to Mt. Kenya. Given the elevation, the place was quite cool. Actually, Nairobi was also pleasantly temperate for being so close to the equator. We arrived in time for lunch and then a forest nature walk through the rain. Fur us Dubai-ites, the rain was a pleasant change. The hotel we stayed at was on the rim of a hill that overlooked a watering hole. We were able to go up to the observation level to watch animals strolling in for a drink. A large herd of cape buffalo made themselves at home for much of the afternoon and evening. A couple of warthogs also nosed around a bit. And otherwise, it was mostly deer, antelope, birds, and monkeys. In the evening, some of our group saw a gennet (small cat) and mongoose. But I was having a massage so missed that. We were able to register at the front desk for a wake up call if any exciting animals (like leopards) approached the hole. But, we had an undisdurbed night of sleep cuddled up with the hot water bottles that were placed in our beds for added warmth - nice!

From Mt. Kenya, we drove to Samburu National Park. We spent two days here safari-ing through the park. The park we stayed in is right next to a second park, Buffalo Springs. The two of them are around 75,000 acres. We had 2 safari drives each day. One in the evening, from 4 to 6:30 and the second in the morning from 6:30 to 9. It's hard to identify the biggest thrills. Every moment driving through the parks was fun. We were able drive up to a large family of elephants. They seemed very comfortable with us being there. Almost on cue when Russell said, "I wish they would trumpet" one of them did. And a young bull gave a fake-charge to our car. It was great to just stand and watch them. Also, we spotted a lioness right by the side of the road on our last day leaving the park. She was probably 2 feet from us on the side of the road.

After Samburu, we travelled to Sweetwaters Tented Camp. This park is actually a private conservancy. The park is smaller and they have introduced rhinos. We were able to see huge herds of zebras, cape buffalo, and giraffes. The park also has a special chimpanzee park for rescue chimps that are found in homes and markets and other areas. This is another park where the camp overlooks a watering hole. It was a bit surreal to walk up to the check-in desk and see giraffes walking about behind the building. Russell and I decided to join the night safari while there. We saw many of the same animals as during the daytime, but also were able to see a hyena, jackals, and cheetah. It was cool to drive the park during the stillness of night and try to spot the glowing eyes of animals out in the night.

From Sweetwaters, we travelled to Zanzibar, an island off the coast of Tanzania. Our first stay was at a resort on the north end of the island. Russell was able to make a scuba dive - and I tagged along for snorkeling. Saw TONS of cool fish, sea snakes, eels, coral - and got a horrible sun burn on my back. WOW - finally I'm recovering. The sand on the north end of the island was so beautiful and white. It was nearly the consistency of talcum powder. Lyra spent many many hours digging nests and having fun in the sand. She loves sand! From there, we went down to Zanzibar Town and stayed at a hotel in the historic district. We were able to wander the streets and shop at a few places.

Then a quick trip back to Nairobi for one night before heading back home to Dubai.

And now, I'm sick. Bug, flu, something I ate? Who knows. But I'm glad to be home. Everone else made it fine, so not sure why me. Hoping to feel better tomorrow so that I can enjoy my sister's last day of her visit.