Thanksgiving in Dubai

Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined spending Thanksgiving in Dubai, but there I was. Given this peculiar situation one must ask oneself: "What do I do to celebrate Thanksgiving in Dubai?" Why, go on a desert safari of course. So, booked myself on a one day desert safari tour. And, that proved just as I had imagined; lots of sand and camels. I did learn a few things on this tour that none of us will ever need to remember, but will share with you anyway.

The Bedouins (historically desert nomadic tribes found throughtout this part of the world) no longer wander but live in government subsidized housing out in the desert, at least in Dubai. They live in walled compounds, with what appear very nice single family homes all with satellite dishes. Everything appeared most clean and the houses/walls are all whitewashed. There were sheep and camels in corales outside the compound. The tour guide told me the Bedouins do not wish to live in the cities but prefer the more secluded lifestyle as did their ancestors; however, they do prefer this new less harsh lifestyle. He also told me to earn a living they tend to drill a community water well (very difficult/expensive to do here because of the sand) which they use for their subsistence but also as a valuable commodity to sell. They transport water to local communities by water trucks.

Camel farms. We did stop to visit a couple of these. Camels were roving all over the area which led me to ask our guide the obvious question: "What makes them come home?" Well, the camel ranchers(?) keep the males and many of the babies in corals which keeps the female camels coming back... I've got to go back and talk to those ladies : -}. "Where's the profit in camels these days now that they are not used as a primary mode of transportation?" Camel milk is very good for making chocolate and has a very low fat content; as it turns out camel meat is quite edible although I never saw it on any menu in Dubai; and camel hide is used for making all kinds of clothing and blankets. Observe the way the camel is looking at me in picture #3 when I'm "walking like an Egyptian." Right after one of my tour friends took that picture she reached over and gave me a kiss on the cheek. She was amazingly sweet and gentle, scared the heck out of me when she did it though.

The rest of the tour pretty much encompassed four wheel driving on the sands, stopping to observe various sand landscapes and then found some shade behind a rock for a most pleasant picnic. All in all a pretty interesting day.

Upon my return back to the hotel, I donned my bathing suit and got to the beach before sunset to get in a good swim and then back to the hotel. There, I opened up one of the bottles of wine I bought at the duty free shop in the Dubai airport and ordered room service... nice dinner salad with slices of perfectly seasoned duck breast. Sat on my glorious king sized bed after a long hot shower, ate a wonderful dinner with a most pleasant glass of good bordeaux, watched a movie on a flat screen TV and fell asleep early.

During the day, I gave thanks for all the wonderful friends and family I have in my life and for the many other bounties bestowed on me. I also thanked God I was not in Afghanistan for Thanksgiving.