Meisjes Rademaker Calendar 2010

It is definitely a tradition now!  Every year 4 copies of the 'Meisjes Rademaker' calendar are printed.  Below the months in order.  

Happy 2010!

Happy Holidays!!!

Funny Elf Movie

Diana made this funny Elf movie for us (you can only watch it until 15 Jan), click on the link.

The Rademaker Elfs!

Floortje in yearbook and brochure

These pictures of Floortje were printed in last years yearbook and also in the brochure for the Raffles Nurseries.  Quite funny!

Onze Sint foto op internet!

Gisteren kregen we van de Nederlandse school een email over de website www.wereldsint.nl.  Op de website was ook een wedstrijd waar je je eigen foto van Sint in het buitenland naar toe kon mailen.  Ik heb toen de onderstaande foto gestuurd uit naam van Famke.

Vandaag kregen we een mail of de foto gebruikt mocht worden op de website van de wereldomroep.

http://www.rnw.nl/nl/nederlands/radioshow/zie-ginds-komt-de-stoomboot

En daar staat hij nu dus!

Verder de vraag of ze Famke mochten interviewen voor het programma op 5 december.  Ze heeft gezegd dat ze het wel wil doen dus dit verhaal wordt hopelijk vervolgd....

Sinterklaas in Dubai

Een week na de aankomst in Nederland had Sinterklaas wel even tijd om naar Dubai te varen met wat Pieten.  De hele week hadden de meisjes al het Sinterklaas journaal via internet gevolgd dus wisten van alle problemen met Zielepiet en de natte pakjes.

Afgelopen vrijdag was het dus zo ver en om 11 uur waren alle nederlandse kindjes uit Dubai (en dat zijn er nog al wat!) aanwezig achter het Crown Plaza hotel.  Met 2 boten kwamen ze aanvaren met de Dubai skyline op de achtergrond.

Het paard was in Nederland gebleven maar gelukkig heeft Sint een kameel kunnen lenen om toch een grootste entree te maken.

Boot met op de achtergrond de 'Burj Dubai' en de rest van de Dubai skyline

Kleine 'stoomboot'

Sint op de kameel

Floortje wel een beetje bang

Famke danst 'linkerbeen, rechterbeen' met haar nl-se les klas

Eid Mubarak!

Tomorrow is Eid, celebrating the end of the Ramadan.  Thijs and the girls have three days off.  Great!  The weather is getting better (i.e. cooler) so we will be spending some days by the pool.  Below an article from the Gulf News paper explaining Eid.

Dubai: Astronomy calculation indicates that today may be the last day of Ramadan and tomorrow the first day of Shawwal and Eid Al Fitr. The estimation is mainly based on moon-sighting and Saudi Arabia is the authentic reference for officially announcing the end of the fasting month.

In general, preparation differs from one person to another - sometimes people start to pay attention to the details from the first week of Ramadan in order to avoid the hectic rush right before Eid, while others postpone shopping until the last week of the holy month.

Emirati men and women make sure they buy everything new from head to toe such as new outfits, abayas and shailas. Preparations sometimes include revamping homes and furniture. Islam demands hygiene, good fragrance and paying attention to overall appearance, taking Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) as a perfect example.

Emiratis greet each other by saying "Eid mubarak" meaning "happy Eid."

Eid is synonymous with joy and generosity and it's a three-day celebration. However, the first day is the most crucial, when Muslims from each corner of the globe perform Eid prayer at what Muslims call "Musala Al Eid". This is a large place where men gather in the early morning. Right after prayers are offered, the men congratulate each other on the occasion and a huge line of them head to salute the Shaikhs in the front row and afterwards return to their families.

Commonly, small families pay several visits to their relatives, starting with the elderly, and the rest of relatives gather there as well to have lunch together. Emiratis spend the second and third days doing activities such as taking their children to public entertainment areas such as water parks, concerts, and movies, while some even go abroad for the holidays.

Children have the lion's share of the celebrations because most of the gifts, trips and the rest of the entertainment are planned around them. Not to mention the "Eidiah" - an amount of money given to children during Eid Al Fitr and Eid Al Adha. Emirati children wake up early in the morning and put on their lovely outfits, then greet their parents and siblings, and of course eat some cookies and later, at around 9am, meet their companions. They walk in groups and tour the neighbourhood to get Eidiah. It's a delightful atmosphere of generosity and caring that joins the whole Emirati community as well as the rest of the neighbouring and other Muslim countries.

For the occasion, Emiratis prepare a variety of traditional sweets such as lugimat and khanforoush and main courses such as khabisa; assidah and muhalla. International cuisines are also present including delicious pastries, cakes and chocolates.

After the three official days of Eid, the Emirati community resumes duties and life goes on as usual.