Pristine has a little gift to the her adoptive country in celebration of its 39th National Day – she painted her nails with the UAE flag. And she isn’t the only one showing the love. Cars are painted the UAE flag, taxis carrying small fabric flags and buildings lit up in national colors. December 2nd is a festive day for not only locals but for us adopted residents as well.

Expatriates who have lived here for long have seen the reality of ‘building rising in the sand’, the massive glittery projects that followed and the ongoing magnanimous engineering feats that we continue to see everyday. I can make this post long by describing the UAE when all that’s glistening was sand but you can easily google that. We’ve been here close to four years now and we’ve seen how the country has grown, despite the economic downturn, despite all the Dubai bashings published left and right.

We’ve seen it grow and we know it won’t stop. This country has potential, whether the outside world recognizes it or not. Go UAE!  Happy National Day!