Holidays, or as Americans call them, vacations, were something I never quite figured out. Although, I don’t think there is anything to figure out since they change daily in the UAE. A “school calendar” is a “suggestion” of work days and holidays. More than once, the calendar would change just days before a scheduled holiday.
For example, if an Eid holiday was scheduled for a Wednesday, about a week before, the Muslims would start chattering that it might change depending on the moon cycle. How they could not figure out the full moon cycle, I do not know. I thought there was a calendar for that. But, alas, it was never quite clear.
Then about five days before scheduled holiday, there would be rumors of the Sheikh possibly declaring a holiday for the Tuesday before. And then that didn’t make sense to work Sunday, Monday, have Tuesday, Wednesday off, and return to work for Thursday, so then the rumor would start that we might have Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday off (our work weeks ran Sunday-Thursday). One time this happened, a 1-day scheduled holiday turned into a week-long holiday. The only problem with it was, we learned about it only two days before, so many flights and plans had to be changed at the last minute. We would learn of the changes via text from Sheikh Khalifa along with a Happy Eid message.
Many other unscheduled “holidays” would pop up at the last minute. One, not so much a holiday, was on the death of Sheikh Zayad when the whole country was given time off for mourning (this was before I got there). But another was when Dubai was awarded the 2020 World Fair bid. A text/email came out from the Sheikh telling of the WIN at about 10:30 pm one evening and declaring the whole country off the next day to celebrate! I was lucky to have checked my emails late that night or I would have shown up to a closed campus (as many teachers did).
For example, if an Eid holiday was scheduled for a Wednesday, about a week before, the Muslims would start chattering that it might change depending on the moon cycle. How they could not figure out the full moon cycle, I do not know. I thought there was a calendar for that. But, alas, it was never quite clear.
Then about five days before scheduled holiday, there would be rumors of the Sheikh possibly declaring a holiday for the Tuesday before. And then that didn’t make sense to work Sunday, Monday, have Tuesday, Wednesday off, and return to work for Thursday, so then the rumor would start that we might have Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday off (our work weeks ran Sunday-Thursday). One time this happened, a 1-day scheduled holiday turned into a week-long holiday. The only problem with it was, we learned about it only two days before, so many flights and plans had to be changed at the last minute. We would learn of the changes via text from Sheikh Khalifa along with a Happy Eid message.
Many other unscheduled “holidays” would pop up at the last minute. One, not so much a holiday, was on the death of Sheikh Zayad when the whole country was given time off for mourning (this was before I got there). But another was when Dubai was awarded the 2020 World Fair bid. A text/email came out from the Sheikh telling of the WIN at about 10:30 pm one evening and declaring the whole country off the next day to celebrate! I was lucky to have checked my emails late that night or I would have shown up to a closed campus (as many teachers did).
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