Eid

Last week those of us in the Middle East celebrated the Muslim holiday called Eid. This is the second Eid of the year, where Muslims celebrate the willingness of Abraham to sacrifice his son. Many Muslims slaughter a sheep or a goat on the first day of this three day celebration. Most people spend the holiday with family and friends, dressing in new clothes, and collecting money from relatives. For the rest of us, we celebrate a week off school! :)

This Eid I traveled to the United Arab Emirates for a conference put on by Youth for Christ. The conference was a gathering of all youth leaders from the Gulf for a time of encouragement, brainstorming, and training. I went with my good friend and fellow youth leader, Nuku.

We arrived in UAE a day early, which gave me a chance to meet Rey's brother Melvin in Dubai.

Burj Dubai--the tallest building in the world

bottom of the Burj--Dubai reminds me of a city in outer space or in some alternate universe :)

The conference was held in Al Ain, which is on the border of Oman. While Dubai is a city of steel and glitz, Al Ain is a quiet place nestled in the mountains and surrounded by beautiful sand desert. We had some free time, which allowed us to have fun in the sand dunes.

quad bikes

Nuku, ready for her first ride!

bumming around on the bikes

beautiful sand dunes

some local Emeratis getting a kick out of watching us bike and sand board

SAND BOARDING!!! Basically snow boarding but the desert version

ready to take on the hill

practicing

It's pretty difficult to balance, but totally fun. I went down the huge hill twice; both times rather unsuccessfully as I totally wiped out half way down. We were pretty much covered in sand from head to toe and every random place in between. I could definitely get used to sand boarding! Can't wait to go again. :)

Cross that one off the bucket list.

Last week