Red Sea Adventure!

 

I anxiously stood under the Starbucks sing in the Dubai airport waiting for Audrey and Marlow hoping that there would be no hitch to the directions given.  My excitement was barely containable.

 

I see them . . . . .Here they come. . . . They made it!

 

How wonderful it is to see such loved friends.  And they came to Dubai to see me (well in a round about way).

 

We were able to meet up outside of the airport.  Hugs and smiles were the norm.  I whisked them away in my little Nissan Tilda and quickly made my way down the 311 to my apartment in Motor City.

 

Presents galore!  It was like Christmas!  Peanut M&Ms, my Brighton purse, green tea, and canned chicken.  I was in heaven.  (I still have not found canned chicken here and I look for it all of the time.)

 

It was a wonderful feeling spending the evening with them.  They got the blow up bed, and I slept in my bed.  I let them sleep.

 

For the next couple of days they toured around Dubai.  They really enjoyed their taxi driver tour and Audrey enjoyed her Cold Stone ice cream.

 

We left for Egypt early Friday morning.  Making the connection to our domestic flight in Egypt was a letting frustrating.  We quickly learned that everyone in Egypt will give you a different story when you ask questions.  We got the visa figured out, and stamped, and went on way to catch our flight to Huggard, that is after Marlow figured out to pay a bribe.

 

We survived the 3 hour bus ride to the boat; got all of our dive stuff set up; got settled in our rooms.  Thankfully I had my own room.  It was wonderful!

 

The diving was great.  So much life and pretty fishes were nice to see.  But I really enjoyed the big stuff.  I was able to watch some moray eels swim free on the reef - beautiful!  I spotted many cleaning stations and just watched the action taking place.

 

Then for the big stuff!  Sharks, sharks, sharks, and more sharks.  Yuppers we saw many sharks on this trip.  They are such magnificent animals to watch under water.  We saw grey reef sharks, thresher sharks with their amazing curved tail, a hammer head shark, and White Tip Oceanic Sharks.  Incredible sightings. The White Tip Oceanic Sharks are very curious and come close to you it can be a little unnerving, but cool at the same time.

 

My  birthday was great.  Hey I was diving in the Red Sea - it can't get much better than that!  They only other exciting aspect of my birthday was that I was almost shark bait.  I was finishing my dive doing my safety stop.  I was working on deploying my SMB (surface maker buoy) and paying attention.  All of a sudden my arm is grabbed and I got shaked by the dive guide.  He then points out this Oceanic White Tip Shark that had been circling me.  Can we say dumb blond!  The dive guide had me stay put until the shark moved away.

 

During dinner the crew sang me Happy Birthday and we all had cake for dinner.  Later we played cards.  A great day for a birthday.

 

On our last day on the boat we had a fantastic experience.  Near the end of breakfast we noticed a pod of dolphins swimming near the boat.  A group of us got our snorkeling gear and jumped into the zodiac.  Off we went in search of the dolphins.  For 90 minutes we swam and played with the dolphins.  I was inches away from a group of 3 for a long time.  It was magical.  We also got to see a pair mating right in front of our eyes.  I learned that male dolphins have small penises.  O the things that you learn!

 

Back home to Dubai and one more day.  We explored the spice and gold souks.  I was able to pick up a couple of material wall hangings for my apartment and they are beautiful.

 

I sent Marlow and Audrey on their way home.  I was sad to see them go.  I was lonely when they left.

 

Next visitors?

 

 

 



Squish, Squish

 

 

"What's that noise?' 

 

"It is so freaking hot out!  How am I ever going to get use to this?"  I thought as I slowly moved forward.

 

 

Squish, squish. . . .  "What is that noise?" I thought as I moved forward.

 

"It is so freaking hot out and it is only 4:30 in the morning; how am I ever going to get used to this?"

 

Squish, squish. . . .  "O.K. That noise is driving me crazy!  Where is it coming from?"

 

Then suddenly I realized the answer.  That annoying noise was coming from me.  My socks were so soaked from the heat and humidity that they were rubbing in my shoes, and I was the one squishing!

 

Adjusting to running in Dubai has been a trial of fire; or should I say a little bit of hell.  I started running within 48 hours of my arrival.  I started running back in my Zombie stage when I couldn't sleep.  It seemed like the best thing to do so early in the morning.

 

I, or course, arrived during Ramadan.  During this time you are not supposed to have any food, water, or gum out in public.  Well, that didn't last long with running.  I had to have water with me.  I thought, "Great this will be a quick change - they'll catch me with water and send me back home."  Nope, no one cared that I had water with me at 4:30 in the morning when I was running.  Anyone who saw me probably thought I was deranged and not worth the time and effort.

 

Running has been very interesting.  When I started it was hotter than hell; the humidity was high; and I was afraid of very little creepy crawly thing that ran across my path.    Now  the humidity has lessened greatly; the temps are a cool 81 degrees in the morning: and I don't jump at every creepy crawly thing that runs across my path.

 

At the beginning I was drenched in sweat!  I would come inside to my cool air conditioned apartment and puddles would form under me within a minute.  I would be extremely thirsty and gulp down glass after glass of water.  My clothes would be so wet that the only way to get them to dry would be to hang them outside and let the sun bake them.

 

I am happy to say that I have survived my trial by hell with running!  I have progressed.  With the weather cooling down I no longer require huge amounts of water to drink.  I am pushing between 65 to 75 minutes of running each morning.  My running clothes are semi-dry and puddles no longer form around me.  My sweat is no longer flicking off of my skin as I jog down the road.  I have regular routes that I follow and I am looking forward to exploring more when I have extra time in the mornings.  I still take a water bottle with me when I run, but I hardly ever sip out of it.  I still hang my running clothes out on the clothes rack to bake in the sun to get dry.

 

And the best part. . . . .yes, you guessed it.  That damn annoying squish, squish sound is no longer following me around.