Learning about National Day

On Friday, the UAE will celebrate 40 years as a country.  I'm not used to measuring a country's age in decades, and it is interesting to see how a younger nation celebrates its country's union.  The flag colors are everywhere, on clothing, jewelry, colored lights, and even on cars. Yes, cars are decorated to show the love people feel for their nation - and not like you're thinking... In the US, we decorate cars for sporting events, weddings, and yes, some holidays - including Independence Day, but I have never seen it to the extent I have over here.  I wonder if this is what my country looked like in its younger days, festooned with red, white and blue everywhere.

Because 40 years is a decade birthday, the number 40 is everywhere and there have been more celebrations leading up to the date than in other years.  Today, I took part in the final celebration for this occasion at school, where we boarded buses (after a special assembly), took a ride around to the far side of town, and then walked back to the school as part of a big procession. Flags were waved, cars were resplendent, noise makers were everywhere, and confetti floated in the wind. It was quite an experience, and then we were told that on Friday, the celebration in Abu Dhabi will take our breath away... Guess we'll need to make a trip to the capital city to take part in this celebration.

Because National Day falls immediately after the Islamic New Year, we are getting tomorrow off. I think we might go to Dubai to see the Da Vinci exhibit.