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.