Eid's a wonderful life

The third day of Eid already, and a two day weekend ahead. So let's stay in an up-beat festive mood with the video below to put smiles on faces.

It's had to date 833,905 views on YouTube and may possibly be the first viral to come out of Dubai. The videographers are Vincent Fichard and Matthew Jones (who probably had some local help with the Arabic signage...)




Smiles must be, I think, on the faces of many workers here in the Emirates. For a third day in a row the massive building site surrounding the tower in which I live is silent but for the watchmen. Okay, they poured concrete noisily all through the night of Monday although Eid had commenced at sundown and my dinner was without the usual bottle of wine (which meant tossing and turning instead of sweet slumber and the noise of the ReadMix... no, we're upbeat today!).

So I rejoice for the labourers for whom this pause must be like heaven.

Tomorrow the date is one which has always served as a boost to my optimism; it is the day of the winter solstice, subsequent to which the days once again lengthen. A winter solstice in Abu Dhabi means a high of 27 and a low of 17, the weather I would expect in the event of going to heaven!

But in ten days I shall be going not to heaven but to wintry Europe. This will surprise some who know me and my predilection for clothing optional beach resort vacations where the maximum worn is a pareo and perhaps a shirt. But I have an 'accrued leave entitlement' (so quaintly put) of fifty-one days and a major status change - from being full-time employee with residence permit to that of a free-lance Sandlands-visiting consultant - ahead of me.

And the cold winds in Strasbourg and Munich will allow me to look amazing in a shiny brown and very long puffa coat with a fur-trimmed hood (Giordano, amazingly AED 130) and wrapped up warmly with a Kashmir print ($15) faux-pashmina. I shall try to persuade my daughter to take a photo if she ever stops laughing at the spectacle I present!