...The Sheik was at the mall when I went to go grocery shopping today!
I didn't see him...just the entourage of black cars with single and double digit licence plates accompanied by police. But, it's my first brush with royalty so I will milk it for all that it's worth ;)
So, the Christmas Pantomime is over and I can finally turn my attention to other seasonal preparations. The play literally seemed to come together at the last minute--we did not have a good run though with all props and costumes and lines remembered until the dress rehearsal 3 days before the performance! Missing cast members and some disorganization throughout rehersals all contributed to the last-minute crunch. But, we pulled through and the whole thing seemed to go pretty well. Only a couple of my friends saw this one. A fellow Edmontonian from the PI said that I was "disturbingly good at playing a lecherous man", so I guess I managed to pull my part off. I was worried a little, because I had never done a panto before--or even seen one!--and so I was unfamiliar with the stock characters, mannerisms, and conventions. I seem to have got enough thigh-slapping in there, though, and ultimately if the audience likes it then you can't complain.
The one thing I was really worried about was making it through all the shows and rehearsals wearing the Instruments of Torture: four inch stiletto boots. I thought they fit when I first tried them on, but something must have been off because while I have worn heels that height or almost that height before, I have NEVER had such pain from shoes. After some of the rehearsals my feet were still hurting two or three days later! And that's from just going on stage for my scene, going off, and sitting down until I have to go on again. Anyway, FORTUNATELY I finally got enough padding and "stuff" inside them to make them marginally wearable. It took cotton balls in the toes, three pairs of insoles, gel cushions, foam padding for the balls of my feet, and thick socks, but I got there. I was still uncomfortable when wearing them, but when I took them off the pain went away shortly. The only other explination I can think of is either nerves exacerbating the pain beforehand or adrenalin helping me ignore it during the show.
I have too many photos to post as a blog entry, so I posted the pictures I took in my Flickr gallery. You can see them by clicking here.
Since then, I've been busy with other Christmas activities. I baked gingerbread cookies, and made ginger almond biscotti. I think I have finally finished my Christmas shopping, and almost done wrapping. I have also been out getting things for Christmas dinner. I was originally going to roast just a turkey breast, but I couldn't find one (turkey is not a normal product here). So we are getting the whole stuffed bird again this year, which means shopping for dishes and other necessities as well as for food and drink. We've also got a few more party invitations this weekend. It's hard to believe that Christmas is only a few days away!
I can't believe that Christmas is less than two weeks away! Luckily the cooler weather and shorter days make the season feel a bit like the holidays. I went Christmas shopping today and a helpful clerk from Lebabon wished me a Merry Christmas. It probably doesn't sound like it's worth mentioning but it's the first time that I've heard the word Christmas spoken by a non Christian. I didn't expect to see as many signs here proclaiming Christmas and having photos of Santa. I saw one sign that had Happy Holidays in English and Arabic. A Marks & Spencer store has a three story Christmas tree! There's also a large model of Santa with his sleigh and reindeer.
We've had our Christmas tree decorated for a while and it looks nice. I haven't had a tree this big since 1993 while this is Darcy's first large fake tree. We're able to use diffusing pine scented oil in order to make our tree feel more natural. I need to wrap presents and put them under our tree. Darcy wants to do some Christmas baking next week. It's too bad that we both didn't bring our family recipe books!
Darcy's Old King Cole play finished its three day, four performances yesterday. It was interesting to be a backstage hand from my standpoint. However, my brief involvement in the play was a time committment whlile Darcy's was much bigger. I don't know how people can memorized lines and act at the same time. It was difficult enough for me to remember which props had to be moved around in between scene changes!
That's about all for now....
I see that Michael has not been posting on the blog...well...guess I will have to take on the burden of bringing everyone up to speed.
We spent the weekend of American Thanksgiving having a traditional turkey dinner with friends. Much good food was eaten, much wine was drunk, and much fun was had playing cards. I do have some incriminating video from the night in question, but I will be nice and not post it online for the world to see :)
Believe it or not, we have had MORE rain!!!! Last weekend it absolutely POURED all day Saturday. There have also been a few other scattered showers in the past week or 2. I think we have now had the equivalent of over a year's worth of rain...and all in about 10 days! Michael and I always seem to bring atypical weather with us wherever we go.
The rain put a bit of a damper on the National Day celebrations here, which took place from the 1st to the 3rd. National Day is the anniversary of the UAE becoming its own country independent from the British--previous to 1971 it was a protectorate. It's strange to think that the country is only about as old as I am, and that all this urban development has taken place in so short a time. Wind the clock back two decades and there was not much more than sand, small fishing villages, and beduin tribes living off dates and camel milk. It's amazing how much this area has accomplished in so little time.
Michael got a long weekend for National Day, which was nice. There were fireworks on Friday night...we could see them from our apartment building's front door, but sadly I forgot to bring my camera down with me when we went to investigate what "that loud banging noise" was. Both Friday night and Saturday night the Corniche road was packed to a standstill with people out celebrating. Cars full of people all hanging out the windows cheering; people standing up through the sunroofs and riding on the roofs and hoods of the vehicles; loud music playing, and lots of noise as people spun their tires or gunned their engines until they backfired. Some people were dressed up, and some people had decorated their cars with hearts in UAE colours, flags, and pictures of the late Sheik Zayed and his two oldest sons, the current ruler of the UAE and the crown prince and ruler of Dubai. There was dancing in the streets--even some women who uncovered their hair and tossed it around Khaleeji style!--and much fun. We captured some of the chaos with my camera, and posted a rough video of the night on our video site at darcyandmichael.blip.tv. Blip.tv does allow you to imbed your video on blogs or other sites now, but I haven't been able to get it to link up to this blog properly yet, so for now you will have to click off Inshallah to see it.
The rehearsals for the Christmas Pantomime continue, though I am starting to be afraid that we will NOT be ready for our opening on Wednesday! Michael has been recruited to work backstage, so he will be back there with me during the shows, which is nice even if it will impede our ability to get photos of video of the show in progress. I have all my costume bits finally, and with the waistcoat, ruffled shirt, four inch stilletto boots, and tricorn hat with feather I look more piratical than Lord Chamberlainish, but my costume is less embarassing than some so I am DEFINITELY not complaining. Just this week, we finally managed to find a song for me to sing...Woman in Love from the movie version of Guys and Dolls. Cutting it close much? whew! I am also a little worried about the fact that I have to spend much of the first act hopping in high heeled boots that don't seem to fit very well. BUT, the show goes up on the 13th, and three days later it will all be over, so I am trying not to worry about the incidentals too much.
Last night we attened a wine tasting hosted by one of the local liquor shops, which was fun. It was in the same hotel we were staying at when we first got here. They provided grazing food and desserts, which were quite lovely, and there were 10 tables of wines from different countries to be tasted and compared. Nice to be able to sample some expensive wines, chat with the experts, and compare all the different varieties. I know, what a decadent life we lead :)
Apart from that we are just trying to get ready for Christmas. We have finally mailed our cards, and we are putting up our tree this weekend. We do have a couple of parties to go to already, and after the play is over I will have to seriously start cookie baking and planning our Christmas dinner. Michael is being his usual UNHELPFUL self as far as Christmas wish lists goes...he always asks for boring things like socks or shirts or other things he "needs." I keep on trying to tell him that presents are not for things you NEED but things you would LIKE--fun rather than necessity--but he seems to remain unconvinced. Well, at least he can't ask for a cheque this year! Any money I gave him would be his already!
Enough for now...hopefully Michael will provide the update next time!
