More American than America

I've never been a huge Thanksgiving fan, owing in part to the celebration of turkey, which I don't eat. However this year, we have attended/will attend at least 2 Thanksgiving parties--and bring the green bean casserole and cranberry sauce. And I've heard of 2 more, pending confirmation.

Here, such a holiday is an excuse to visit with friends and family--none of our parties here for Thanksgiving are exclusively American events. My first Thanksgiving out of the country was in England, where the Americans of Cambridge had a special meal. British cuisine being what it is, I remember being fairly unimpressed, especially when combined with Americans in Cambridge being as they are (that is, snotty...not to crudely stereotype--of course I did have some great friends among Americans).

In Peace Corps in South Africa we had one sanctioned Thanksgiving party our first year, which was nicer than I expected it to be. And last year, we had KFC (known locally as "Kentucky") with our host family, seeing the day as fantastic excuse to treat the people who looked after us and sheltered us.

Although Ramadan was a huge deal here, fortunately December is also a thorough holiday season in Abu Dhabi as well. National Day (which we think very appropriately named) is on December 2. The United Arab Emirates celebrates 40 years as a modern nation-state this December, and just as in the states, nationalistic junk is on sale everywhere, and it's great fun. The UAE flag colors are red, green, white, and black, which means that everything looks very Christmas-y around town, with neon red, green, and white lights decorating buildings all over. We're also looking forward to the day itself, which we expect to be celebrated with a parade along the beach front of fancy cars suitably bedazzled, horrendous traffic, silly string, and related mayhem.

Being an avid explorer of nationalism wherever I go, I can't help but pause in the grocery store at the cowboy hats striped in red, green, and white, and scarves and shawls embroidered with images of the ruler of the UAE today, and/or the founder/father of the country, the late Sheikh Zayed. However, recently the Christmas trees in the same aisle also caught my eye. Though we passed by the gold metallic reindeer statues and neon pink metallic pine trees, we couldn't help but pick up a 5-foot green tree, along with plenty of ornaments and lights. We decorated our first Christmas tree together this week, which was great fun.

While we will be celebrating the winter holidays in the Middle East this year, we still feel like we have some of the best parts of American culture available to us in Abu Dhabi, including friends, turkey, cranberries, and family (my sister is coming!)...but no miserable weather--only sunny skies and moderate temperatures! Also unlike in the past, we have proper mobile phone service and fast internet for fairly hassle-free birthday calls, chats, and Skypes. Have fun and be in touch over the break. We'll be thinking of you.