No Walmart has not opened here in Abu Dhabi, I’m actually in our version of a Super Walmart – Carrefour. It is only Nov 20th and yes those are christmas trees and decorations! I couldn’t believe it myself! Now, real trees are not readily available here but artificial ones are for sure!
The girls were quite disappointed in the tree I bought last year and I have been told that I must purchase a bigger one for this year. Keep in mind that we will not be here for 10 days during the holiday season! (That’s for another blog entry!!) That doesn’t seem to matter to them! They want a tree!
I remember back to the Christmas of 2009 when we were here for our first visit. We were amazed at the holiday decorations and playing of CHristmas carols in the stores! But then we are reminded that 80% of the population here are ex-pats and a good portion of those are Christian!! I do find it nice though that the the public display of the Christian holiday is allowed! There are many arabic countries where this would not happen. It is still hard to get into the real feel of CHristmas because of the weather. Not unlike when we were in FLorida. It took us a few years to get used to seeing holiday lights on palm trees!
Below is the Christmas tree that was in the lobby of The Emirates Palace Hotel last year. You may have read or heard about this one – the most expensive tree in the world! It was covered in jewelry! Ours won’t be quite like that this year!
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