Job Discussion Forums

[Anytime now]

So how do you guys still in the UAE celebrate Halloween?

[veiledsentiments]

You're kidding, right?

A pagan holiday adopted by Christians celebrated in a Muslim country? Personally it always passed without my ever knowing that it had been...

VS

[Gnocchiman]

Halloween is alive and well here, thank you very much. For instance, it has become a tradition for many of the women here to dress up as gothic demons for this joyous holiday. They usually wear these long black cloaks and cover their heads with black scarves and their faces with veils or gold masks. Believe me, it's really really REALLY creepy.
Then the guys, on the other hand, go more for the funny costumes, like drag. Usually they get all dressed up in white dresses and throw a towel over their heads for that "long, blond hair" effect. It is really cute.

So, you see, in a way, EVERY DAY is Halloween in the UAE!

[High Plains Drifter]

[DesertStar]

Things do change over time . I hear there are quite a few parties being planned in Al Ain. More celebrations I'd expect in bigger places like Dubai and AbuDhabi. I saw some teens the other day at the mall shopping for gothic accessories. I think it will be bigger next year since it won't be during Ramadan anymore.


Happy Halloween everyone!

[veiledsentiments]

Ugh... silly holiday that I never paid any attention to in the US and getting away from such silliness is one of the reasons that I went overseas in the first place.

VS

[peterpan13]

If you worked at MLI, it was Halloween every day.

[veiledsentiments]

yes Peter... both you and Gnocchi do have a point or two...

[younggeorge]

I suppose I'll get all kinds of abuse for inaccuracy, political incorrectness, etc for this, but here goes:

A couple of years ago, I sat in on a lesson by an American teacher married to an Emirati, which she based on an Arabic custom/event called something like Hagg Al-Laila, which has some similarities to halloween. I've heard other people say there's no similarity and the whole concept of ghosts etc is alien to Islam, but the students seemed to have no problem with it and talked quite freely. (Unfortunately, I can't remember what they actually said!)

This particular teacher had (past tense because she's not at ZU any more, but I dare say she still works the same way) had a knack of seemingly letting the girls take the discussion any way they wanted, just jotting down notes as they went along. At the end of the lesson, she'd say something like "And there's the outline for your essay on ..." - at which the students would groan and say "Oh, Miss! You did it again, didn't you!" as they realised they'd been led by the nose all along.

OK, that bit's irrelevant but it was a pleasant memory prompted by the topic - indulge me!

[Bindair Dundat]