Happy New Year and new everything

Hi everyone, Happy New Year! I made it to Dubai yesterday. I flew via Air India, and just f.y.i. I don't highly recommend it. But in any case it got me here. A nice lady sat next to me and gave me samosas (a nice fried treat). When I reached here I was greeted by Simone, her step mom, Tess, and her half brother Keith (8). It was so good to see her again. We tried to go out to church last night but it wasnt to start until 11:30 and all of us were already really tired at 9! So we walked around by the canal. Dubai is really beautiful at night. There is a huge annual international shopping festival going on starting on the 4th here, so we are planning to stay until the 5th or 6th now instead. The whole city is decorated for the festival with strands of little yellow lights on all the trees and buildings. The weather here is really nice. It is like spring in MN but there are palm trees here. The city sort of reminds me of California, but its clean and everything its written a second time in Arabic instead of Spanish. It has a modern feel to it here. I didnt stay awake until midnight last night so I guess I am ringing in the new year today. Simone and I made it to church this morning, but only stayed through the worship because it seemed like it would be a reallly long service. There are people of all nationalities here, though it is a mostly Muslim country, so there are many people in traditional Muslim dress. I dont know what we'll do today, but hopefully I'll be a bit more awake for it and less sick to my stomache. The food I've eaten in India and here has been really good but my body is all messed up from the time change. Anyway, thats all for now. I wish everyone a blessed 2006

P.S. If you want a post card from somewhere, I still need addresses! Thanks!