What I learned about Christmas this year...

First off I love Midnight Mass on Christmas Eve.  So after hosting a Christmas Eve get together with friends B and I headed over - I even figured we'd get there early like 11 instead of 12.  OMG BIG MISTAKE!  There was standing room only in the courtyard of the church where mass was being held (come to find out) as well as standing room only in the church itself.  Fortunately the balcony has a children's room where we were able to sit and wait the hour until mass started.  At 1:30 we left church as they were just getting to the communion aspect and B had been asleep on and off since we left the house.  If that was an indication of what Easter mass will be like I may need to do some serious planning if I want to go to Easter Vigil!

The other important part I learned about Christmas in Al Ain this year was that it is impossible to find Peppermint flavoring as well as Chex cereal.  To me these two things are staples for Christmas but now that I am aware I will plan ahead for next year.  Not a big deal overall.

The biggest thing I learned was how wonderful it is to not be in a hurry.  In the US it's gotten to the point that there are a million holiday parties and shopping and cookie exchanges and people are working right up to the last minute.  Here that's not the case. The malls aren't any busier than normal - we've been out of school over a week so there was no rush.  There were a couple holiday parties but they organized themselves in a way that they didn't overlap so it wasn't a big deal.  To me this has been a great Christmas because it wasn't busy, we've been able to enjoy the time we have with everyone and not worry about the chaos that usually surrounds the holidays.

Oh the first experience in mailing a package...

It's a week before Christmas and of course some of the things I ordered here took 9 days instead of 3-4.  Which put me a bit behind in shipping my box.  Last night I wrapped as much as I could (take that as in what I should do but was also able to convince my sister to do for me LOL).  I then proceed to pack the box and wrap it in brown paper.  So it's all set to run to the post office in the morning - a week before Christmas.  I live in a Muslim country so this should be pretty simple from shipping here to the US...oh poor mistaken American that I am.

Come to find out you can only ship 2 kg to the US from the UAE.  So after repacking (aka having to buy their boxes and separate my stuff into 2 boxes to get it within weight).  And spending way more money than I was hoping it would be the packages are in the mail - with a 1-2 week time that they should be there....but we shall see.  So for my family reading this...it may or may not be there in time - sorry!

The good news is that B and I have been meeting new friends and enjoying the lovely weather here in the UAE (daily highs in high 70s and low 80s with nightly lows to 50s or 60s).  It has been amazing to see the Christmas spirit here as well.  Most of the hotels have tree lightings and caroling as well as finding Christmas stuff in all of the stores - there are 2 things I can't find when it comes to the Christmas season though - that would be peppermint flavoring and chocolate covered cherries.   Oh well, now I know what to add to my list this summer of things to bring back!

But speaking of Christmas Brennan was able to see Santa...after 2.5 hours.  I will honestly say that it was well worth the wait.  Santa Claus at the Wafi Mall in Dubai is amazing!  He's in a separate room from the line of children waiting and spends quality time with each child.  He got down on the floor with Brennan and talked to her and it was just an amazing experience.  Plus he gave her a doll and named her Jill so that she could take it with her!

Quick one

Ok so yesterday probably started out as my worst day here in the UAE.  I hadn't slept well and it was just a rough day at work - I think my co-teacher realized it as her husband brought us chocolate cake.  We were able to sit down and just talk - well as best as we are able to with the language barrier.  What an amazing experience.  I have found now that I am such an incredibly lucky individual to have this experience and to be able to share it with those around me.  Not only were we able to celebrate Thanksgiving with new friends and old but we continue to see the good around us and how fortunate we are to have the time and energy to stop, look and see what an amazing gift we're given by the people around us everyday.