Do you hear what I hear?

While it is simply too early for Christmas:

Here in Dubai lots of people go home, to whichever of over 200 countries is home, for the winter holidays. Therefore they held the SNC company holiday party early. Food, wine and dancing, the works at the Jumeirah Hotel. Very swank.

Best of all, though, was Santa Claus. We'd been told "Father Christmas", but the jolly old elf who showed up was definitely Santa. Every child had a gift, and there were a lot of children, and it was late. Poor Thomas was so excited, and tired, that he didn't make it.

I put him on Santa's lap when his turn came, completely zonked out. Many "awwwwws" ensued throughout the ballroom.

Bethy received a Disney Princess Belle doll, a perfect, perfect gift. Thomas got a pirate ship, which he opened the next day.

Though the party was still going strong we had an early date with the desert the next day, (as you can see from the previous post,) so we ended our evening with that traditional Middle Eastern dance: the YMCA.

Then yesterday I went to a hypermarket at Ibn Batuta and was overwhelmed...Christmas trees! Ornaments! Christmas hymns on loudspeakers throughout the store! What the...

And I felt a rush of emotion I hadn't expected. Not at a mall. Here we are, in the Middle East, away from our families, and it's the holidays. Here we are in an Islamic country and yet, we and our holidays are welcome. Even bigger, that we are here where it all happened.

Something to think about.