Xmas in the US
As has become tradition after Mom died, I spent Christmas enveloped in the warmth and love of my Montgomery, Alabama relatives. Here is the Levy family with 2 new additions – Russell’s new wife, Sherry and Laura and Sam’s new puppy.
New Year 2000!!!
I saw in the New Year in the middle of the desert of Dubai. My friends Mariam and Jono moved to Dubai in the Fall and invited friends to a banquet under the stars.
About 18 of us met in the middle of nowhere. Mariam and Jono had found a perfect spot and drew maps to describe the dune where they had set up the campsite. Needless to say, there were no roads. Have you ever tried following a map which says “at this twig turn right” and “at this camel track, turn left?”. Most of us went in a convoy of 4-wheel drives. Once we got to the dunes, we had to let out about 25% of the air in the tires, so they could grip the sand more easily. We still got stuck in the sand. Dune driving requires courage and guts. You have to drive as fast as possible – especially when going up the side of a dune. It is exhilarating and petrifying. You feel like you’re on a rollercoaster without knowing that you’ll be safe. And to make it more exciting, you are driving with only moonlight and the focused beam from the car which cannot see much as the dunes are so high. Each car got stuck at least once. A Bedouin who appeared out of nowhere rescued our car. No, he wasn’t on a camel – he had a Land Rover! He had seen the campsite being set up during the day and had come back, guided by our headlights to find out what we were doing. In the passenger seat was a falcon, which he later brought out for us admire.
When we arrived, you could see torches burning at the top of a high dune next to a Bedouin tent. A long table had been laid and there were dozens of little candles burning. It was a magical sight.
The New Year’s Eve Banquet
Jono and Howard went sailing while Maya and Mariam shopped.
Dubai was a fascinating mixture of old Muslim culture and the latest high-tech modernity. The country was very proud of its newest hotel, Burj Al Arab, which was built into the water and had the shape of a Dow boat. We went for dinner in the hotel. I have never seen anything so over-the-top in my life. The d