Holidays here perplex me. If I stay long enough, I’m sure I will figure it out. Meantime …

We are in the midst of what apparently is up to 10 consecutive off days for government workers in the United Arab Emirates. Abu Dhabi is one of the seven emirates.

Not that this applies to journalists. This whole “daily newspaper” thing means even holidays you have known since your childhood generally are just days on a calendar. (I worked about 20 consecutive Christmases, once upon a time.) And that “hey, we still print” thing applies here as well as in the United States. It’s journalism. We know the drill.

But … what is going on … with the local civilians? I’m trying to figure it out, and this is what I have come up with.

First up is Eid al Adha.

This is one of Islam’s two biggest holidays.  And even though the U.S. population includes more Muslims every year, most of us are hazy on Islamic holidays.

Both of the  two big holidays are named Eid. The other is Eid al Fitr and comes at the end of Ramadan — and 70 days before Eid al Adha.

I’m not even going to explain this any further for fear I will get it wrong. The current Eid has to do with the end of the annual pilgrimage to Mecca and Ibrihim (Abraham) almost sacrificing his son Ishmael (or Isaac, his other son, for Christians and Jews).

Follow the wiki links, and maybe they have it right. But maybe they don’t.

The point here is … this is a serious religious holiday, and a long one. Four days. Beginning back on Thursday and running through Sunday. Most all public buildings are closed. As well as schools and banks. Some private businesses are closed for some of the days, as well.

Eid al Adha is determined by a lunar calendar (Easter and Passover also are based on the moon), and this year it happened to fall … just before National Day.

National Day is the big secular holiday here. The UAE’s Fourth of July.

In 1971, the UAE was formed. It came into existence on Dec. 2, and that is National Day. But it’s a two-day event, including Dec. 1. (Unless it’s Dec. 3.)

So … the way this is working out is … government workers, teachers, etc., are off Thursday through Sunday for Eid … then off Tuesday and Wednesday for National Day … and apparently it was decided it would be silly for everyone to go back to work for that one Monday there, so it’s been added as a holiday … and it seemed equally silly to go back to work next Thursday when Friday is the local equivalent of Sunday … Or maybe the fact that Eid is over the regular weekend (Friday-Saturday), so it has to be extended to make it special …

You’re following this, right? I know. I’m supposed to be clearing things up. But it absolutely is like nothing in the European/Christian tradition.

So,  Thursday through Sunday for Eid. Monday because there’s no point in going back to work.  Tuesday and Wednesday for National Day. Thursday because there’s no point in going back to work for one day … and Friday the regular Sunday/Sabbath in Muslim countries, and Saturday off because it’s a weekend day, like Sunday in the Western world …

And everyone goes back to work on Sunday, a week from Sunday. As in Dec. 6.

So that is how a lot of people here get 10 consecutive days off. What a concept.