I’ve been living here for the last 8 years now, and I can say that Public holidays here are primarily “Emirati affairs” - with the expatriates rarely participating in it like the way they do in developed countries. Instead, their celebrations are restricted to enjoying it just as a holiday. Recently however, I saw some interesting developments that could change this attitude, and could perhaps also bridge the Local-Expatriate culture gap... (Read On)
Follow the link and see my point...
ReplyDeletehttp://my-pillow-book.blogspot.com/2006/09/cultural-similarities-or-human.html
Cheers!
The "Holidays" here should not be called such, because instead of celebrating, everything shuts down and people become extra religious. Not to mention that you can't plan ahead, because you have to wait for a "moon committee" to tell you a day or two before what days are going to be off.
ReplyDeleteAs for the cards to the leaders, if I wrote the suggestions which I have to make this place better, the last thing I would want to do is leave my name and number, let alone a thumbprint (wtf?!).
Hey everybody! It's a long weekend in the UAE! woohoo!!! Close the bars! No loud music! Stop dancing!! Party time!!!!
Thank you but no thank you. We expats will party behind closed doors and let the Emiratis have their "Holidays"