Christmas in Sharjah

This Christmas Eve and Christmas Day was unlike any other Christmas I've ever had before. On Christmas Even, Julie and I spent two hours at the Tasjeel Station, changing the registration and exporting the car from Dubai to Sharjah.  Our new car is a 2002 Renault Scenic.  It looks like the lovechild of a minivan and a sedan.  It is our car and we decided it fits us perfectly.  We will no longer be bound to Industrial Area 15 where we live.  When we got back from Tasjeel we came home and had internet installed into our flat.  After four months of "simplified" living, our newly acquired residence visas are providing some much-anticipated and appreciated luxuries.  We finished our night sleeping on our mattress in the living room sleeping under the lights of our Christmas tree.  

On Christmas morning, Julie and I woke up early and opened presents and she made green eggs and red milk.  Ironically, my morning at school consisted of proctoring the Islamic midterm exam for my class.  Definitely not the same as opening presents with a foot and a half of snow outside and a nice warm fire inside.  After a hectic day at school, Julie and I got ready to have a couple of friends over for dinner.  We had a nice meal of roasted chickens from Emirates Flower restaurant and a zucchini-egg-parmesan cheese dish that Julie made.  Lastly, I got to talk to my family (and the Hendersons) on my parents new webcam.  Unfortunately, their microphone didn't work.  It was still nice seeing the snow outside, the Christmas tree, and Junior (oh, and my family too...).  Being here it has been weird even thinking that it is Christmas-time.  Even with Christmas trees in the malls and lights out on some buildings, with the lack of Christmas spirit and atmosphere it hardly felt like an actual Christmas.  Nevertheless, we had some nice Christmas miracles.