EID MUBARAK!*"!

The lights are on; the doors are open; the curtains are no longer drawn! RAMADAN is officially OVER!*!

Today is the first day of Eid al-Fitr, the UAE Ministry of Justice announced! The UAE moon sighting committee sighted the Shawwal moon. So it is official!

Eid al-Fitr is a Muslim holiday that marks the end of Ramadan, the holy month of fasting (sawm). Eid is an Arabic word meaning "festivity", while Fitr means "breaking (the fast)". The holiday celebrates the conclusion of the thirty days of dawn-to-sunset fasting that takes place the entire month of Ramadan. Muslims throughout the world observe a joyous three-day celebration.

Eid al-Fitr is a time to give in charity to those in need, and celebrate with family and friends the completion of a month of blessings and joy. Before the day of Eid, during the last days of Ramadan, each Muslim family gives a determined amount as a donation to the poor. This donation is of actual food -- rice, dates, rice, etc. -- to ensure that the needy can have a holiday meal and participate in the celebration. This donation is known as Sadaqah al-fitr (charity of fast-breaking).

 

On the day of Eid (this morning), Muslims gather early in the morning in outdoor locations or mosques to perform the Eid prayer. This consists of a sermon followed by a short congregational prayer. After the Eid prayer, Muslims usually scatter to visit various family and friends, give gifts (especially to children), and make phone calls to distant relatives to give well-wishes for the holiday. These activities traditionally continue for three days. In most Muslim countries, the entire

3-day period is an official government/school holiday.

 

Sounds a bit like Christmas, doesn't it? Well, John will be working while the rest of the UAE takes time off to celebrate Eid. He's building up some vacation days so that when you all come to visit he'll be able to share in the fun!

 

Although I didn't fast, I did think about it a lot. A LOT. As in every time I wanted a cup of coffee and walked by a coffee shop that was CLOSED. And every time I wanted to go out to lunch to one of my favorite restaurants that was CLOSED!  But today I am celebrating as all the Muslims are celebrating!

 

The lights are back on; the doors are open; I am quite joyful!*!

 

 

EID MUBARAK EVERYONE!
EID MUBARAK!*!

CELEBRATE GOOD TIMES COME ON!!

Restaurants and cafes and coffee shops opening again during the day would have been enough.....CELEBRATE GOOD TIMES COME ON!! But the festive atmosphere couldn't be beat here in Dubai this past Eid weekend...CELEBRATE GOOD TIMES COME ON!! The fireworks at the Atlantis Hotel were magnificent....CELEBRATE GOOD TIMES COME ON!! And the music was even back on poolside....CELEBRATE GOOD TIMES COME ON!!

Thursday night we headed out to the Festival City Mall to see the Eid fireworks display over the water.  Well, it didn't happen.  It wasn't scheduled until Friday night.  (OOOPS!)  Oh well, we saw an awesome area of the mall that we had never seen before, so all was not lost....

But the best part of the evening?  A quick trip into Ikea for another look at what could possibly help make our bed a bit more comfortable!  And guess what -- SUCCESS!!  We purchased two twin sized foam mattress thingys and those coupled with the thermapedic topper has made our bed quite comfy.  Not our Select Comfort Bed that we left in the states, but it is doable!!  Here's a picture of Ikea at 10:30 that night!!  It was and always is a MAD HOUSE!!!

After surviving our first Ramadan, it didn't take much for John and I to be thrilled!! We enjoyed our first brunch at Long's Bar with a couple we met at the pool.

Would you believe the woman (blond on the left) works for Procter & Gamble?  Their good friends from Russia joined us for a wonderful array of foods and drinks!  Although the Russian lady didn't speak a word of English, we got along famously!  Would you believe she retired when she and her husband moved here a year ago and she is loving every minute of being retired!  We high-fived each other after the translation was made!!

We had to pay for our brunch before we could go through the line.  Then we got green wrist bands showing that we had paid for the brunch!  Then we got the green light to go and partake in all the glorious food and beverages!  It was delicious and the company was delightful!

Oh yea, and I found this very interesting:

Let's just say we enjoyed it for all the Muslims there that day!  We left full, happy, and wishing the waistbands of our pants were elastic!!  CELEBRATE GOOD TIMES COME ON!

The next night we drove to the Atlantis on The Palm to have dinner with a gentleman John knows from work, his wife and their daughter.  We've been out with them before and they are a delightful couple!  The drive out on The Palm is incredible!  I need to start carrying my good camera and just forget that it is large and heavy and bulky and remember that it takes fabulous pictures!  Needless to say, I didn't get any good shots of the Atlantis as you are driving up to it.  But here are a couple of photos from brochures that will give you an idea of its magnitude:

We were in awe as we walked the grounds of the Atlantis in search of the restaurant, Rhonda Locatelli.  Finally we found it, joined our dinner guests, and enjoyed a wonderful Italian feast fit for a king.  Afterwards we joined the swarms of people walking around the Atlantis.  It was absolutely beautiful.

Oh, don't tell John but I even picked out my next diamond ring...

I totally forget how many carats it is, but I do remember the price tag: $30 million dollars!!  Okay, so a girl can dream, eh?  And there was one that wasn't displayed....they showed us a picture of it....that was priced at a mere $75 million dollars!!!  OMG who buys these things????

The night ended perfectly with an awesome display of fireworks.  Okay, so I've seen fireworks before but never on a beautiful patio with people in long robes sitting on cushions smoking shisha!!  It was, to say the least, memorable!

Our long weekend ended last night with a magnificent sunset over the Arabian Sea.  We watched the sun go down over the water from one of our balconies...

All in all it was a great Eid holiday!  Good food.  Good drink.  Good new friends.  Wish you all could have been here! Then it would have been a PERFECT Eid holiday!  CELEBRATE GOOD TIMES COME ON!!