We've finally had a little bit of time to experience some of the culture of Abu Dhabi. Last night was a night that created memories that I will always treasure. The nation of the United Arab Emirates is a young nation. Yesterday they celebrated their 39th birthday as a nation. And these people do know how to celebrate and how to have some fun.
I've read articles and talked to people about the National Day celebration on the Corniche. The Corniche is a place along the gulf with beaches and places to visit with some little shops sometimes. It's much like a boardwalk or like the Strand in Hermosa Beach, CA. It's a place where the people gather for events. We were warned to not go anywhere near the Corniche on National Day. The traffic would be horrific and we could be stuck in a jam for hours. However, the fireworks display would be magnificent and memorable.
So, of course we decided that we must experience the adventure at least once. When else would we be able to see the largest fireworks display in the world? We've seen the tallest building in the world, we needed to add this to our bucket list. So, Doug and I planned and strategized and debated which would be the best way to go about our adventure.
We finally decided that worst case scenario we would park the car for a few hours until traffic cleared so we could go home. We entered the Corniche coming in from Yas Island which is more north of the city and at the outskirts. We armed ourselves with snacks and books and chairs then we entered the thick of things. It was like nothing I could have imagined.
The traffic once we entered was bumper to bumper and just inched along. We weren't entirely certain of our destination, we only knew we were caught up in the flow of traffic and there was no backing out. Teenage boys were driving trucks and SUV's. Apparently, the four-wheeled vehicles have an RPM regulator on them. I don't know much about the mechanical aspects, but I do know this, those boys rev those trucks and push in the clutch and the trucks make a big noise and backfire. At one point we had four trucks next to us revving and banging and boys were hanging out of sunroofs and piled in the truckbeds and they were having a good ol' time. Stereos were blasting and crowds were cheering encouraging them on.
And the cars and trucks were decorated. I don't mean with a little bit of poster paint. They went all out! There was one truck completely covered with red, silver and green garland. Many of the cars were actually covered in shrink wrap printed with flags and UAE slogans and images of the Sheikhs'. There were red, green and black hearts and the number 39 was everywhere. There were streamers and at one point I saw a small car with a flag rigged up like a sail with lights twinkling along the sides.
The cars and trucks were packed with families. Dads were driving with toddlers on their laps. Children were standing up and looking out of the sunroofs. Boys would hop out of cars and run alongside the stream of vehicles and then hop back in for a ride. It was wild, crazy fun and then there was the Silly String.
Entrepreneurs were hawking cans of Silly String for 10 dhirhams alongside the road. They carried plastic bags full of cans of Silly String. Of course we didn't escape the onslaught. We were fair game and so getting caught up in the moment Doug flagged down a Silly String hawker and we joined in. It was great fun to tease the kids in a neighboring car making silly faces at them and then returning fire when they aimed their cans at us. I think we caught them by surprise. I had to plan my strategy just right though by manually rolling down my window just a crack, aiming and shooting at just the right moment aiming for an opening in a window. I surprised myself by aiming quite accurately, I think! Score!
One dad was quite surprised when I shot a stream of foamy string through his window. His kids were yucking it up in the back seat. I was having so much fun laughing at him, I didn't see the teenage boys sneaking up behind us. Those crazy kids yanked open my door, sprayed me in the face and hair and ran away squealing with delight! And there I was with my face and mouth full of foam! What a hoot! I spluttered and laughed while Doug shot a photo before it could all disappear. Too much fun!
Of course, there was no real escape from the people we taunted and teased, as the flow of traffic basically remained the same. That dad in the car next to me had great fun the next time we passed him miming the opening of my car door and motioning for me to roll down my window. I kept my window rolled tight next to him and shook my finger from side to side the way they do here to say, "La, la, la!" No, no, no! However, I did learn from my mistake and locked my doors. The next time those boys came near, I was ready. They yanked on my door and seemed genuinely surprised when they couldn't get it open. Curses. Foiled. Tee hee.
And so, we inched along with strings of foam hanging from our windows clinging like globs of sphaghetti to our windows. At one point, I think we were connected to the car in front of us by a gooey string. I discovered that there are a few different types of the Silly String. One kind, like I remember from my childhood, is just a gooey string shot out and in a jet stream, but there were other types. Some come out of the can like big flakes of snow, so at one point it looked like it was snowing outside our car. Another kind I had the honor of experiencing right up close is more like the consistency of shaving cream. Not the most pleasant experience I've ever tasted!
For two hours we crept along, but eventually decided we had enough fun and didn't really want to continue having that much fun into the wee hours of the night. At one of our first opportunities we were able to turn off of the main road, also called the Corniche, and we wove our way between buildings and back alleys to land a primo parking spot pointed in the right direction to make a quick get-away after the fireworks.
The sidewalks and walkways were jam packed with people. Eventually we pushed our way through and claimed a spot on the beach. By this time it was close to 9:00 pm. Fireworks were scheduled to begin at 8:30 pm inshallah. And very true to desert time, they started at 9:37 pm. No problem.
Doug and I were all nestled comfortably in our lawn chairs feeling quite smug at our clever ploy of bringing along chairs. The people were all settled nicely on the sand, awaiting the first sparkle and crackle and when it happened, the first thing they all did was STAND UP! And, then, they all surged forward, towards the water like they were going to get a closer look. Doug and I being the fireworks veterans that we are, looked at each other in disbelief. What were they doing? First of all, they were obstructing our view. Second of all, they were obstructing our view. And then, the fireworks changed all the rules by shooting off a display close to the horizon so that we had to STAND UP in order to see.
As we stood and enjoyed the view, glorious displays lit up the sky. Doug enjoyed looking behind us to watch the brilliant reflections bounce off the glass on the building behind us. And of course, it was all over too soon. After twenty minutes and a spectacular finale, people immediately began to gather their children and head back to the road. I didn't believe it was over. Two hours of traffic and two cans of Silly String, couldn't equate only twenty minutes of fireworks in my mind. I told Doug it couldn't be over. I even sat back down in my chair to wait for round two. Always being the practical guy, he pointed out that it really was over, people really were leaving, and that five minutes sitting in my chair could equate to at least another hour stuck in traffic. Sigh. I had to give up my protest and return to reality.
We really did luck out and our parking space proved to be very advantageous. We were home forty-five minutes after the fireworks ended. Too cool. When we pulled into our complex we searched frantically for our left-over can of Silly String to shoot at our security guard, but alas it was to no avail, it was hidden in the murky depths of our Yaris. Curses. Foiled!.
