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| The villa across the street from my apartment. |
Perhaps because the country is still so youthful, it likes to celebrate big time. I have been in various cities across America for fourth of July and none of those celebrations compares to the way they do patriotism here. Everybody gets these huge UAE flags and drapes them over the sides of their buildings. Cars get done up shamelessly with paint and stickers, with the best decorated cars winning chunks of cash. My school looks someone shredded a UAE flag all over it.
The colors of the flag are the Pan-Arab colors, which were chosen during the Arab Revolt, which was meant to bring the lands out of control of the Ottoman Empire and form one unified Arab country. That didn't happen, but as the countries eventually formed later on, they adopted the colors to symbolize their Arab loyalty. And those are the colors that are slowly taking over the city as we get closer and closer to December 2nd.
Perhaps I am less proud of being American than the Emirates are proud of being Emirati because throughout my entire life and throughout my parents' and grandparents' and great-grandparents' lives, America has existed. I cannot imagine a world where America is not a country and I cannot understand the effort it takes to form a new country and the pride it takes to keep a struggling country together.
ReplyDeleteBut let's hope that the UAE, and the rest of what I know as the Middle East, will exist in peace and stability, like America, soon, because stability is good.