The Persian Gulf emirate of Dubai is home to a large expatriate community. People from all over the world go to there to work in Dubai's oil-driven economy. Thousands of Americans are there. And you can imagine how homesick many of them feel this time of year. One group of American women in Dubai has its own way to fight the holiday blues. The World's Alex Gallafent has more.
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It's an overcast afternoon on one of Dubai's vast, congested highways. Eruptions of skyscrapers loom in every direction, the result of this city-state's grand, swift ambition. And in the car, two Americans - Debbie Rooney and Crystal Ellison. They're members of the American Women's Association of Dubai, and the organizers of its annual Christmas Homes Tour.
Today, eight American families have opened up their decorated houses. Members have four hours to drive to each of the homes for a cup of cider and a look round. Many of the group's members are in Dubai because their husbands have taken jobs there. The wives that accompany them arrive with no practical information about things like finding a doctor, buying curtains, or whatever.
Debbie Rooney says that's where the Association comes into its own.
"Your husbands are so involved in their work, that you need a network of some group of women to find these things. So to me it was invaluable. This is where we turn, right, Crystal? ..This is Susan and Zac Crouch."
On the porch, a group of excited American children sing Frosty the Snowman.
"The hostess is in here... Hi Susan! Did the kids do the cookies?"
"No, Tina's kids did them..."
"Really, they're so cute! Thank you so much."
Step inside the Crouch house, and Dubai is lost to the sand dunes.
This is America.
Two expectant stockings hang off a dark wood bookcase, with stitching that reads 'Zane' and 'Zinnia'. And next to a living-room dartboard, the score reads 'Zane two, Santa zero'. But look closer at the room's centerpiece..
(Susan Crouch) "This is kind of my Dubai tree. For the candles I got sand from the beach and put it in these clear bulbs like that, and the shells are all from the area. These are some of the buildings from around Dubai - they're wine charms actually - but I thought they'd be cute to hang on.. there's the Burj, the Emirates towers and so forth."
The Burj-al-Arab is a hotel in the shape of a boat's sail. And Dubai's skyline morphs into something ever-more fantastic almost every day.
Migrant workers from countries like Pakistan and India are the ones constructing those fantastic buildings. Susan Crouch says this Christmas a group of churches based in Dubai, including her own, is collecting donations for them.
"It'll be, like, a nice Christmas present for them."
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As the sun begins to set, Debbie Rooney and Crystal Ellison head towards the next home. On the way, Crystal says it takes a certain mindset to move to the Middle East. It's something she was open to. But her family saw it differently.
(Crystal Ellison) "Of course my parents were scared for me - they thought.. how close to Iraq will you be? The first few months I was here, every time there was something on the news they would call and say, 'did you hear about the bombing in Baghdad?'..and I would say 'Mom, I'm not close to Baghdad'. They just couldn't get the geography down."
(Debbie Rooney) "People in America are really very Amero-centric. They think that they're there and they're removed from the rest of the world. Whereas here you get a different perspective - and you find that Americans are in the minority - although you see Starbucks around and you think, OK they're infiltrating! This next house is Rob and Karen Ruth's."
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(Karen Ruth) "Even if no-one else came to the house, it'd look like just this, down to the music and everything. Because that's Christmas."
Karen Ruth is four foot-9 of pure Texan energy. It's her first Christmas outside the United States. She's found it hard, being away from her family back home. But familiar things can help.
"We brought all of our Xmas stuff, everything... we didn't even get to bring all of my husband's things because of Christmas. And he was not happy at the time, but when I brought it all out and it made the house look like it did back in Houston, that changed. So he was really glad that I did that. So now, I've decided that Christmas is wherever you hang your hat."
The Ruth's Christmas things include a vast collection of ornate snowmen. But in Dubai, it's hard to make things exactly like back home.
"..and I don't have any pecans...I'm like...oh great! I can't function without pecans for my pecan pie!"
(another guest) "I think Dana found them at Choitroums on al-Wasr for Thanksgiving.."
(Karen Ruth) "OK, because I was going to call Dad and ask him, Dad this is an emergency... send some pecans and send some Kraft marshmallow cream... because you can't make fudge without that."
*
We're back on the road.
(Crytal Ellison's phone rings) "Hello? I'll be home in about 2 hours. I'm heading.. you know I'm on the Christmas Homes Tour.. did you forget?"
It's dark now, as Crystal Ellison and Debbie Rooney drive to another family's home, another American Christmas in this desert of sand and soaring steel.
"What villa number is she?"
"Twenty-three."
But, somehow, it seems to work.
"Oh yeah, there it is... all the Christmas lights."
For The World, I'm Alex Gallafent, Dubai.
