Sunday 3 December 2017

My Sunday Photo Week 153 X is for ... Getting ready for Christmas in Dubai

This weekend is a Bank Holiday in Dubai. Martyr's Day on Thursday, National Day and the Prophets Birthday. As a result the City is celebrating and decorated with the Country's flag and is coloured red, green, white and black. This extends to decorating vehicles, houses and public places.

Once this event is over, Christmas will hit Dubai full force. There will be trees, Santa's grottos, Christmas music blasting out in all the malls, only interrupted for the call to prayer. The coffee shops already have their Christmas cups and festive drinks in their stores and I'm happy to partake in as many as possible.


The only thing Dubai doesn't do is religion when it comes to Christmas, so you won't see Jesus as a baby in the manger or hear religious hymns or carols being played or sung. But you'll have traditional carol singers belting out 'jingle bells' coming door to door. Believe it or not you can go to midnight mass here in one of the many Christian churches and all faiths are recognised, you just can't publicly advertise or display your faith.

The supermarkets and stores are already stocked with Christmas items, exactly as you'd find in the UK. Tins of chocolates, advent calendars, mince pies and enough tinsel and lights to decorate the Burj Khalifa. I heard 'I wish it could be Christmas every day' being played in Hallmark cards in early November before I left for the UK.



We moved house this week, so our decorations are sitting here in a box in the lounge waiting to go up  by next weekend. All cards were written and posted when I was in the UK, it will be interesting to see how many arrive here in time.

There is a pile of presents brought back from the UK from 3 of the kids, including child 3 and 3a who sent something over from Australia. Friends organised gifts and there are presents to be bought with the money my mum gave us both.

The cat and dog have their advent calendars, as do I.

Over the next 2 weeks I have another X for Xmas and a Y for Yule to show you more of Christmas in Dubai, followed by a N for the New Year Celebrations, just leaving me a Q for Quiz night in our local pub, so yes, there are pubs in Dubai and we can buy and drink alcohol here also.

Christmas is also in full swing for child 4 in the Middle East where he's deployed. I sent him over a box full of decorations to brighten up the barracks.


16 comments:

  1. Love the decorations in the barracks! I never would have imagined Christmas would be quite such a big thing in Dubai. I look forward to seeing more of it over the next couple of weeks!

    ReplyDelete
  2. The dog looks like it is wondering why it can’t have all the advent calendar. Right now. Much the same in our house,

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. he'd eat it all if he had the chance, mind you i would with mine also

      Delete
  3. I don't think I'd ever get used to Christmas in a hot country.

    You wouldn't think that Dubai would make a big deal of it

    Thank you for linking up

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. i was surprised when we first moved here, just how big it is here

      Delete
  4. I have to say, when you first said Christmas in Dubai I had never thought it would be something they celebrated. Then you went on to tell us it was Christmas without religion and that makes sense. I know there are lots of non religious people in the Uk that celebrate Christmas, so why wouldn't they in other countries. I guess it's just not something that you normally think about, especially for someone like me who doesn't travel a lot. Anyway, that said, I think Dubai Christmas is looking really great and I will certainly look forward to hearing more. The decorated barracks look fab!
    #mysundayphoto

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. you'd never know you were in an Arabic country when you go to the malls, although it's a bit odd when Jingle Bells is interrupted for the call to prayer

      Delete
  5. I grew up in Thailand and they did Christmas, and still do, not the religious but certainly the festive side. It looks like a lot of fun! The dog wants his treats! #mysundayphoto

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. there's little difference in the advertising and whats in the stores than there is in the uk

      Delete
  6. It sounds like Christmas is so much fun in Dubai...I didn't think it was a big thing over there with you. How interesting.
    The decorations in your son's barracks are just fab! x

    ReplyDelete
  7. Some things look much the same, except as you say clearly no Baby Jesus in the manger.

    ReplyDelete
  8. I didn't know this, thanks for sharing, plenty for you to enjoy!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Love all the Christmas decorations. I didn’t realise the Christmas would be such a big thing. Love the advent calendars for the pets too :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. the cat and dog love their advent calendars also, they sit outside the bathroom door and wait for them, had to hide them in there to stop them eating them all

      Delete

ShareThis