Our apartment building on Jumeirah Beach

Friday, December 3, 2010

Kullunna Khalifa

National Day rolled around again on December 2, celebrating the formation of the UAE 39 years ago. Since it fell on a Thursday the powers that be declared Sunday a holiday to make it a four-day weekend, which called for an even bigger celebration than last year. The theme was the cryptic "Kullunna Khalifa", translating as "we are all Khalifa", but the meaning was clear with pictures of Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the ruler of the UAE, appearing throughout the city. This seemed a logical development since the Burj Dubai was renamed Burj Khalifa in honor of the ruler (and his large bailout of Dubai) almost a year ago now.

The Emiratis love their cars and many go all out to decorate them in honor of National Day with pictures of the ruling sheiks, the national flag colors of red, green and white, and various accoutrements, including feather boas in those colors. The authorities tried to crack down on decorations obstructing the rear view mirror and said feather boas, without much success.

With temperatures hovering in the 70's and perfect clear blue skies, many locals headed to Mushrif Park, Dubai's largest, for picnics, at the same time as Neal and I were scheduled to have our latest horseback riding lesson. We went on a desert ride where the horses can let loose a bit and we find out if we can stay in the saddle. It got a bit hairy when we passed large groups with children trying to spur our horses on with whistles and giddyap sounds, but we held our reins tight and made it back to the stables in one piece, enjoying a beautiful sunset on the way.

Hakuna matata, kullunna Khalifa!


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