St. Valentine's Day in the UAE

One of the misconceptions that Americans have about the rest of the world, and especially the Middle East, is that they have to leave the familiar behind.  That is hardly the case, especially in the UAE.  I guess it may seem strange to celebrate a martyred Christian saint in an Islamic country, but we are all peoples of the book - and the Emiratis are even more commercial than we are.  I was determined to make sure that Laura received a dozen roses for Valentine's Day.  Yes, it is a ridiculous corporate holiday, but I am both very old school and also absurdly romantic in my own odd fashion, so not getting flowers was inconceivable.  Now, how to pull it off?  I drafted our good friend Mel, who teaches with Laura at Zayed, into the covert operation.  Mel, being a good soul and a person with tremendous clandestine potential, had two chores: tell me Laura's office number (even though I'd been in the office a thousand times I couldn't have told you the number) and swing by Al Bustan Flowers to gather information.  It may seem odd that you would have a flower shop on campus, but Zayed has one on the female wing of the Abu Dhabi campus.  So, I emailed Jinan at Bustan Flowers and she managed to get a dozen lovely roses delivered on time.  The only thing we haven't figured out is how to pay for them.  The online tool for paying with a credit card isn't working, so I truly got the flowers on credit.  I told them I'd swing by in a couple weeks when I visit Abu Dhabi for my spring break, which they were perfectly cool with (try that at home).

The good folks at Al Bustan Flowers.  The female students stay on campus all day, so flower shops and nail salons are a natural fit.

Nicely done.