It's a Party Weekend in Dubai

Somehow the party commitments piled up this weekend in this multi-national, multi-cultural 'wonderland' that is Dubai.  First we'll be at a Filipino 18year old Debutante Party.  Next, it's a stop over at an Indonesian (late) Christmas party, and we'll cap it off with a Romanian Pig Roast.

All should be fun with friends from around the world... stay tuned for insights and pictures :)



First, pictures from the 18 year old Filipino Debutante Party... I was one of few people there over the age of 30. :)



18 young men (including myself) each brought a rose and danced briefly with the honored girl. I was asked while there... first time in a while I've danced with an 18 year old girl.



Guess what her favorite color is :)



Next on to the Indonesian Christmas party... hundreds were there.







Can't remember what the soup was called but it was fantastic!



And lastly, the Romanian pig roast. I only got a picture of the (poor) pig. But it was fun being with "frisbee" friends that evening.

Scary

New York Times is reporting... Surveillance of Skype Messages Found in China

Christians Not Allowed to refer to God as Allah in Malaysia?

This is a very interesting article I ran across today about the Malaysian government banning Christians (specifically Roman Catholics in this case) from using the word "Allah" to refer to God in their publications. It raises very interesting and ominous questions about religious freedom. The Malaysian Christians make the point that the word Allah is pre-Islamic and therefore cannot be protected as an Islamic word as such.

I don't have too much time to comment but here is what the de facto minister for Islamic affairs official said in defending the ban...

"The use of the word 'Allah' by non-Muslims may arouse sensitivity and create confusion among Muslims in the country."

What do you think?

Back to Blogging... And a Few Dubai Christmas Pictures

I've taken some time off work to be with the family during this Christmas season and that always means my blogging slows down. But there's much to post and discuss so it's time to jump back in!

Before I move on to other news and ideas I've given you a few pictures I took during the Christmas season here in Dubai. Dubai is a wonderful place in the Arabian peninsula in that they allow the celebration of Christmas. I'm thankful for that. But I think that much of the motivation for the demonstrably public nature of Christmas is for merchandising reasons. Dubai retailers have learned the "cash cow" that a commercialized Christmas can be. It's kind of a shame but again, I'm grateful for the allowances that are made for celebrating this Christian remembrance in an Islamic country.

"Santa-Hat" clad checkout workers and baggers at Spinney's Grocery Store

Arab musicians at Mall of the Emirates. I don't think there was any special Christmas connection here.

The Filipino Church, a partner with our church, came to do Christmas caroling at our home one night! They sounded great and even sang a Christmas song in Tagalog, the main language of the Philippines.



Here's a short (and low quality) video of the Tagalog song they sang for us.

Those Amazing Billboard "Walkers"

(click on the picture to see a hi-res/zoomed-in version)

I continue to be amazed by the workers who 'walk' the massive billboards and scale the towering scaffolding here in Dubai. Often I see on my way to or from work but the traffic is so bad it would be suicidal to snap a picture. The other day into work I saw these guys when the lanes were relatively clear next to me. So I signaled and eased over onto the shoulder, rolled down the window and snapped this picture.

How minute they seem compared with the baby's gigantic face is a bit of a metaphor for how the subcontinent workers are treated here in the Emirates.

Recent Trip to Vietnam: Photos

At the same time that my wife was in Thailand two weeks ago, my 13 year old daughter was in Vietnam on a similar school trip (yes, I know, quite the globe-trotting family). Who would have thought that my teenager would tour Vietnam given the presence of American troops fighting in that place a little more than 30 years ago. Amazing.

And here are a few of her best pictures from the trip. She seems to be a budding photographer. Click below for a view of a few more pictures.

Recent Trip to Thailand: Photos

My wife is a Registered Nurse and she went to Thailand as the school nurse on a Middle School trip last week. They were there for 9 days and were both in the cities and in rural settings. She said it was a great trip... particularly because no one got significantly sick. There's four below and four more after the "Read more" link if you'd like to see them.