Saturday, November 26, 2011

Gearing up for National Day

It’s the 4oth anniversary of the UAE and things are getting more and more interesting as the weeks go on.  Today at school, we had some young men come to perform sword dances.  Of course, the girls were very excited as they don’t often get to see men that they aren’t related to.  Plus, it was a beautiful day to sit outside for the show.

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You’ll notice that the photo of the girls is from a distance so that you can’t make out their faces.  They can get into a lot of trouble with their families if their faces are shown and it’s a big deal here to ask before taking the picture or make sure that you can’t make out who they are.

After the dancing, the level ones were asked to prepare some paintings for the upcoming festivities.  Chaos ensued as they coated their hands to make a giant hand printed flag.

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Here is Tim Smith, the Dean of the College lending a hand…literally.

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Here is Marion King, my supervisor, also getting down to work.

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Of course, it’s not just the college that’s getting involved.  The whole city is mad with lights and as the flag is white, red, green and black there is a Christmassy feeling to it all.  Every roundabout, every bridge, most large buildings and a lot of homes are covered in flags and lights.

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and we’re still a week away from the big day.

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