Bringing Home Bronze!

Thursday:

JoJo and I woke up around 9:45am and had breakfast around 1020, kaptin Fatn (one of the coaches) gave us a hard time because she thought we were really late, but in reality the rest of the crew came down around 1045, so it was pretty funny. I am pretty sure these girls LOVE to sleep in, some of them say they sleep in until after noon sometimes which is so funny because they are all 25 years old. I have learned that people stay up late and sleep late in this country. And I am definitely okay with that! We spent the breakfast talking to Kaptin Fatn who has limited english too..so I am sure it is a good image to picture..me with 2 women who don't know much english, it was either really silent, simple questions were asked or they were just speaking Arabic and again I just looked confused- but was loving it at the same time. I got to find out more about Fatn's family who is all from Egypt but they have moved to the UAE. She invited me to Egypt anytime..so looks like I have some traveling in my future :)

A few of us sat by the pool for about an hour and it wasn’t too warm so I didn’t wear my suit or anything but it was nice to just lay in the sun and get a few rays! Around 1pm we left for the match vs. Bahrain. Like I said before, this was an important match because if we won we would be 3rd in the tournament and therefore get a bronze medal.. I wanted to bring one home to the USA. Well..we won 3-0!! Bronze medal!! We were so excited and it was so fun to celebrate with the team, Kaptin Amina was so excited too and I felt like we made her really proud. She always comes up to me after matches, smiles, shakes my hand and says "good job Alex, thank you!" or sometimes in Arabic "Mabrouk Alex, shukran!" That right there is something I will miss. Amina is the founder of volleyball in the UAE and is the head manager for all 3 clubs in UAE; I am happy to make her proud!

Kaptin Amina sporting my sunglasses and me in her glasses!

We had to stay the whole time until another volleyball match and 2 basketball games were over. AKA forever! The medal ceremony didn't start until 10! But Amina took me back to the hotel so I could shower before the ceremony. We ate dinner but I couldn’t eat with them because I can’t stand to share a plate with everyone dipping their hands in. (haha) But they were kind enough to get my own separate plate and fork again! I got to spend some time with the younger girls a lot, they are so great. The ceremony was AWESOME! They announced us and we walked toward the podium to receive our medals. Amongst the people giving us the medals was the Princess of Bahrain, Princess of Dubai, and the President of Sharjah's wife. Pretty amazing. We took so many pictures with our medals. These things were heavy, we felt pretty special to be in the top 3 of the tournament. I forgot my iPhone to take pictures, but I am getting some sent to me..so be patient they will be here soon! The coolest part was when girls from our club and different teams wanted pictures with me...me! Like I was special or something..well I felt very loved and special to say the least. It was great that these people could impact me so much, and I hope I have impacted them. Tonight was a bittersweet night because I had to say bye to some people that I really cared about and got to know very well the last 2 weeks. It was sad..but I told each of them that I will see them again..I know I will.

Bronze Medal..among royalty :)

After the ceremony, I got ready and got in a taxi to meet Kristen (American friend) and Tamara (Kristen's Jordananian Teammate) at Atmosphere in the Burj Khalifah (remember, the tallest building?). Yes, I was in a taxi alone...but it was totally safe I promise mom! The girls were very concerned about how I was getting downtown but they were okay when I said I was going in a taxi. Yes, they worry about me..I kind of love it. The taxi smelled like B.O., my taxi driver was from Pakistan and acted very nice. Until we got to the Burj when he informed me that he accepts American dollars but he totally changed the exchange rate on me. He tried to trick me but there were a few guys opening the door for me who advised me the right amount I should pay so I don't feel totally ripped off. Thank goodness they were there! I finally stepped into the building and the people at the front told me there was a dress code and I needed to wear heels in order to get in. WHAT?! I stood there, pouted a little and explained to them that I didn't bring heels and I can't walk in heels so that's why I'm not wearing any. It sort of worked..finally the man said, "ok, let's go..just don't walk around, make sure you sit in your seat." This was crazy! My pouting paid off and I finally found my friends, who were with 2 Jordanian guys. We were on the 126th floor!!! So surreal. My ears even popped as we were going up in the elevator. We sat there for a little bit and then decided to go to a club/disco to get our dance on at another building in Dubai. It was pretty entertaining to say the least. A bit different from the USA..especially the people! Turned out to be a really fun night with the girls and it was a good way to end the trip. We took taxi’s home at the end of the night. I got home at 5am..so needless to say I didn't get much sleep. But it was all worth it.

Match vs. Kuwait & Birthday Celebration

Wednesday:

I think I am becoming the professional packer and hotel changer! We packed up again today and headed to a really nice hotel called Radisson Blu- in UAE standards it is a 5 Star hotel, which by the looks of the rooms I am really not sure what their standards are. My room smelled like smoke and was just an average room. But the amenities were what I think got them to 5 star status! The hotel is right on the beach with a fantastic pool and workout facility.  After hanging out and getting settled in the new hotel, we piled in the car and went to the Sharjah Ladies Club to play our crossover match vs. Kuwait. Since we got 1st place in our pool, we have to play the 2nd place team in the other pool which is Kuwait. This match was super important because if we won, we would be playing in the championship. But...our team decided not to show up 100%, we lost 0-3 to Kuwait. Yeah, they were good, they had a Bulgarian girl that was pretty good, but we also didn't play our best match. The team was really bummed. Asma was screaming in the hotel in Arabic to some of our teammates (not at them but just in general) and she was just venting about the game, that is about all I got! As bummed as we all were, we still had the chance to get 3rd place in the tournament, which meant that I would get to bring home a bronze medal..we have to face Bahrain again tomorrow, and we all knew that isn't the easiest task. Kaptin Amina still bought us food even though we lost (ha..ha.) and it was rice and meat once again. The girls all gathered around on the floor and ate with their hands...and of course, I had my own separate plate and fork. :)

After hanging out with the team for a bit, a girl comes up from the elevator with gifts and a sleigh (yes, literally a mini sleigh) with presents all over it and balloons. I was so confused, but then they said she was JoJo's best friend and it was JoJo's birthday..I was like ohhhh wow, friends are pretty amazing here. So we set up the room and made it all 'birthday like' and surprised JoJo with decorations, gifts and a cake! She was so surprised and thankful. We celebrated, talked, hung out..it was a perfect night. Probably the day where I officially realized how blessed I am to be here. These girls are amazing..they embrace me like a sister and friend even though we have only known each other for a a little over a week. They are special!

JoJo with her British themed cake and cupcakes!

 I had a mountain dew, yes mountain dew, that was spelled in Arabic (obviously), I was so excited that I had to take a picture.. 

Well after that mountain dew I was pretty wired, so that made for a pretty fun rest of the night. We took a ton of pictures and goofed around like teenagers. The girls even decided to put the wrap on my head and take pictures..they thought it was so funny. I thought I looked a little scary but they told me I looked "beautiful"! They are way too kind.

I think I fit right in...except for the blue eyes

Probably my favorite night so far! Even better, is that JoJo decided to stay over in the hotel (she always goes home) and we were roommates! Her english isn't as strong as the other girls, so it was definitely a challenge to make conversation..but we made it work! She is an incredible woman and I was so happy to get to know her a bit more, she is my setter after all :) Great great night..I can't believe I only have 2 more days in this wonderful place. Until tomorrow..

Desert Visit & Karak Tea

Tuesday: Today was one of the best mornings yet! Huda, our team friend, brought us Karak tea, which has turned into my all time favorite drink. I had it a earlier in the trip but I have just realized how much I love it. It is chai tea and hot milk..yummm! I am definitely going to try and figure out how to make it this good when I go home. Haya brought us some typical Arabic breakfast foods, which is basically either cheese, veggies or meat wrapped in bread. Pretty simple, but really good. We all just sat around chatting and I made them listen to some American music..just some relaxing Jack Johnson and maybe some Justin Bieber (guilty!) It was a pretty awesome morning. 

KARAK TEA!

We didn't have any matches today, so we just had a training session in the afternoon. We got to the gym around 2:30, when we thought our training was, but apparently we were supposed to be there at 1pm..oops!! Palestine actually had the gym reserved for 3pm so we literally stretched and hit a few balls and then we had to be done. Pretty funny actually, but very typical Arab style! 

After training, Huda told us she was going to go make her infamous pasta dish and I couldn't wait. She arrived at our hotel around 6pm and, let me tell you, this was so incredible! I can't even begin to describe it..but maybe a couple pictures will suffice...

After I was completely stuffed, Kaptin Amina came in and told us we were going to take a trip to the
desert. Immediately I thought of camels and Arabian nights.. I really didn't know what it would actually be like though! We piled into a few cars, drove for 20 minutes and all of a sudden we pulled over to the side of the road..and there was the 'desert' AKA mounds of sand everywhere. We climbed over away from the road and set up camp. We made a bonfire, lit some torches and ate more food and drank more Karak. The girls and Kaptin Amina brought drums, and they started singing some traditional Arabic songs..it was really cool. I just sat there and embraced it all, and smiled while listening to them sing and play music. This is a typical night for them and it was very enjoyable! 

The set up at the desert! Beautiful!

Check out the video of the girls singing their traditional Arabic songs around the bonfire....

Victory + Princess= Amazing!

Monday: Match day vs. Bahrain... We had breakfast an hour earlier today down in the lobby and at the end, Asma looks at me and says "You have your bags packed right? We check out today." I look at her with a blank stare and I nod my head with my eyes wide open in surprise. Once again..last minute. But gotta love it. So I go up and pack pretty quick because we are checking out so we can go to a hotel closer to the gym. We will now play at Sharjah Ladies Club, which is the main site for the tournament where Basketball is also played. I was kind of bummed to have to leave the Centro Hotel, it was starting to feel comfortable and of course it is really really nice. So we packed up in Houria's car and headed to Sharjah Ladies Club for our match.

While we were in the car I remembered a few things that shocked me about their driving habits:


1. They don't wear seat belts! Fatma, one of my teammates, even buckles her seatbelt in permanently and sits on her seatbelt so her car doesn't beep at her.
2. More on the seatbelt thing...if they don't buckle their seat belts, the car beeps every 2 minutes, and don't do anything about it! So we will be driving and it'll beep the whole time..how does that not irritate them??
3. They have no hesitation when it comes to honking at people.. they honk just to honk I think.
4. They use their brights for different reasons than us..we use ours to let's say see better... they use their brights to signal to people they are on their butt..like if they are in a lane and someone is going "too slow" they go right on them and flash their brights...how rude! :) But I just laugh because it is frankly very funny to witness.

Gotta make friends with the police women at the match!

Well...after huge anticipation we beat Bahrain 3-0, they were actually the best team we have played but we really played as a team today and really well! We got 1st in the pool..yay! I stayed to watch the Kuwait match to prepare for Wednesday, because we play them in the crossover match. Meanwhile, I got invited to lunch with the coaches at the restaurant at the club and got to take in the beautiful scenery there. I would compare it to a country club, except only ladies are allowed. I ended up sitting with a few younger girls who are 16,15 and 14. They sit on our bench and wear our uniforms so they can learn about the team and be involved to see what it is like to play volleyball for Ajman Club. They are so precious and have REALLY good english. So we enjoyed lunch talking about their hobbies, school, boys and they asked me many questions about the USA. It was fun to be able to talk to them and made me realize that across the globe all teenagers are exactly the same..so awesome :) 

The view from our restaurant at the Sharjah Ladies Club

After lunch we all walked back over to the match and it was actually just about to finish, but another match was starting (Sharjah vs. Palestine). I decided to stay with the coaches again and we sat in these big red comfy chairs that were just for the higher up people in society (I assumed). I was definitely right about that because as I crossed my legs when I sat down she whispered to me, "don't do that..we are in front of a princess." I looked at her like what?! And she said "yes, right there." And 2 people down from me was the princess of Dubai. She came over to talk to my coaches and then they introduced me to her! She spoke perfect English and we talked for about 20 minutes about UAE and USA. She was a very interesting woman and actually took my email address and phone number because she wants to "teach me more about their culture and the Arabic language." I was honored!

Shamsa, the Princess of Dubai :)

So back to real life...Remember when I said we had to check out of our awesome hotel? Well we headed towards the new hotel, which I was expecting to be pretty nice, but me, Asma, Fatma and Sam came up to the hotel, went to our room and once the lights started flickering amongst the darkness we decided this would not be a good place to stay. So apparently all you have to do is call Kaptin Amina and she gets right on it! We checked out in 30 minutes and drove to a new hotel which was much better. They are hotel apartments, so I am in an apartment with 2 other girls but I have my own room. The hotel is pretty old school and does not have wi-fi just "wired" internet as they say. So I have to have the internet plugged into my computer..I know I am a poor thing. But it's been fun to all be together! I am going to miss this place and especially the wonderful people.

Rest Day & Rice

Sunday: Today was our rest day..but we still had training in the afternoon. I got up as late as possible to still catch breakfast at 10:15 before it closed. I get an omelet every morning, they are so good here! So is the coffee. The girls actually wanted to sit by the pool with me, which for them means sitting under an umbrella and chatting. Apparently they don't go in the sun! But they made a spot for me to sit where I could at least somewhat catch a little sun tan. I showed them some pictures on my computer and of course showed them this blog..they cracked up at everything I say on this (because it is about my honest thoughts!). After about 30 minutes, yes just 30 minutes they had enough and left me at the pool, but I was okay with it. We had training at 2:30 at the American University Sharjah. I learned that they speak only english here and by the looks of the inside of some of the buildings it is very "Americanized". So it kind of felt like home. The gym was so nice (per usual here haha) and we just did some hitting and some serve and pass. The girls kind of stroll in late to practices, which is very new for me, but I don't mind that they are so laid back and relaxed here!

                                                        

         The gym at American University Sharjah                                                                                  




      The outside of the AUS Sports Complex

After each practice we have to get on the sideline and face towards the bench and the coach. The coach talks to us about the practice and then told us that we have to be in bed by 10pm because our match the next day is very important. After, Sam, the captain looks at us and says a chant "Kaptin!" and we respond with "Shukran!" which means thank you- their way of thanking the coaches I have figured out..that ends practice.

The rest of the day was spent watching a few movies at the hotel, reading and just relaxing (they do a lot of that here..) Kaptin Amina bought us dinner in one of the girls rooms, which was typical Iranian food..meat, chicken (there is a difference between the two here!) and rice. Which by the way...they sit on the floor and eat the rice with their hands! I kind of feel like vomiting when I watch it, and it is really the only thing I refuse to do here. I will sit on the floor and eat with a fork, but everyone digging out of the same rice plate...gross. I am pretty sure my mom would have to leave the room because she would be so grossed out. haha. Tomorrow we have a huge match against Bahrain to be 1st in our pool! Go Club Ajman!!

Match vs. Iraq & Late Night Visit to Dubai

Saturday- I met the team downstairs in the lobby for breakfast again and enjoyed parts of the conversation that were translated for me...it is always so interesting just listening and trying to guess what they are talking about. I usually sit with Kaptin Hanan, Asma and Sam..and then Fatma strolls in late as usual! Our match starts at 4pm, so I definitely have some time to kill and some skin to burn (sorry mom). So I headed out to the pool, it was such a nice day out! Of course the little shop had no sunscreen, and I didn't think to bring any..so as a result I got pretty burned. But, being the justifier that I am, I told myself that my skin needed a little burn because I was SO white. Yeah, probably not true, but it really did need some color. I am getting really into my book "Catching Fire", the second book of the Hunger Games series.. I love it so far, so it was very enjoyable at the pool. As I was laying there on the lounge chair, I had a minute where I reflected on how lucky I was to be A. Sitting by a pool in February B. In the UAE, a place us Americans never even fathom visiting C. I get to play the sport I love, in a different country!

Continuing with the tradition of not getting any information prior to meeting the team in the lobby, I take a guess and figure that we are supposed to eat lunch at the hotel... I was right! All the girls came down and we ate a good buffet lunch together. It has been 5 days and I am finally feeling very comfortable with the girls and coaches. Haya (the manager) is someone I especially give a hard time to and have become comfortable around.. at lunch she walked inside with her big sunglasses on, and of course I had to ask her "is it bright in here??" and she looked at me...paused..and laughed and told me that she didn't like how her face looked at the moment. So for the last few days, she always asks me if it is bright, must not be a normal thing to ask because she gets a kick out of it! Oh at lunch, I figured out why all the cars seem to be white here... because of the heat most of the year, they like to keep cool, also because since darker cars show dirt easier (according to Haya) they prefer white cars, helps impress the men and/or women I guess!

Our second match was vs. Iraq. They had one really good player on their team that we had to defend. So I was told by the coaches to "follow her and block her"..because it is THAT easy right? So that is what I did, I really wasn't outside or right side, I was kind of everywhere depending on where the girl was..something very new but created some excitement in the match! For some reason (haha), I really wanted to beat Iraq, so we made sure that happened and beat them 3-1.

Club Ajman before the Iraq match...Bet you can't find me :)

 I have picked up on a few words that they like to repeat during the game, one is "yallah" which means "let's go", so all I hear sometimes is yallah yallah yallah!! Pretty easy word to say I think. I have learned some other words during my time here..the joke with the team is that I at least learn one word each day. So far I have learned:
1. Maa' (pronounced my)= Water
2. Shookran=Thank you
3. Yallah= Let's Go, come on
4. Wallah= I promise (by God), I swear- (They say this all the time!!)
5. Inshallah= If God is willing, or hopefully
6. Mabrouk= Congratulations

That is it so far..but pretty solid I would say :)

With Houria (front), Amoona (left), Asma and Sam in Dubai!

After the match the girls surprised me by deciding to take me into Dubai for some night sightseeing! (Later on I realized that the coaches said we were not allowed to go because we are in a tournament..so it was very sneaky of them!) I can't even begin to explain how cool this place is. They took me to the Dubai Mall area where there was an awesome fountain playing with music and I got to see the tallest building in the world called Burj Khalifa, it is featured in Mission Impossible 4 by the way. All the restaurants had seating outside and next to every table was what looked like hookah pipes, and people were just smoking it freely..so crazy to see. After walking around there and taking lots of pictures, we drove around and went to a really good food place and went to the beach to eat it..it was freezing but still really awesome view of downtown Dubai. Then we drove through Atlantis resort which is HUGE! It is a row of hotels and is just amazing. They were very good tour guides, making sure we stopped at every important site to take pictures :)

In front of the Burj Khalifa!! 

These girls and coaches are the nicest people I have met. They are so caring about me and always ask me if I need anything and take me everywhere! Amoona, one of my teammates, even bought me an awesome white puma watch..how the heck did she know my taste?! Well I don't know but she really did- how thoughtful of her! I am already realizing the very short time I have left here..and am already getting sad and anxious about never seeing these people again. But I know I will..I have already invited all of them to the USA and I bet at least one will come! Shallah :)

First Match vs. Jordan

On Friday we all had breakfast in the hotel lobby at 10am because it was a game day. We had our first match of the tournament against Jordan. I really didn't know what to expect the volleyball to be like when I got into the gym, but it was very different compared to college..to say the least. We met in room 110 to hang out a bit before heading to the match. Gosh that was so fun! It was just us girls sitting around talking...well besides me..but actually I was talking if you count asking questions as talking! I asked them about boys of course, a little more about the Islam religion and what they like to do for fun here. Basic stuff, but those subjects definitely got them talking. They gave me a drink to try called Karak, which is their chai tea with hot milk...it was SO good! They told me they like to drink it before games, so I said okay!  Before we left the hotel to head towards the game, Haya asked me if I had shorts and she pointed toward her knees, so I assumed that meant NOT spandex or nike shorts. Luckily, I brought my pair of knee length black nike dry fit work out pants. This was quite the outfit, let me tell you. That paired with my white knee pads, white shoes, and huge jersey. I was stylin'. Thank goodness I could snag the #8 at least.

  Here I am with Fatma, the all star on my team, also my new best friend!

  She is an amazing woman! Also..check out my outfit..can't get any better :)

We beat Jordan 3-0! Wow was that a good and interesting first match playing for a different country. We had cheers that I slowly learned, and everything. These matches are televised, because here the tournament is such a big deal, so there were TV timeouts and normal timeouts. AKA a lot of timeouts for me to stand there and be really confused as to what Captin Hanan was telling us (our coach). All part of the experience! We are supposed to put our right hands in the middle, Sam says "1, 2, 3" in english for me and then we say "AJMAN!" (our team). Pretty pretty awesome. On the other team there was a girl speaking english, I could tell she was from either Canada or America, so of course I went right up to her after the match and we both simultaneously asked each other where we were from. Wow! Someone that I don't have to talk slow like a robot to..incredible. We end up talking for a while, and I find out she is living in Jordan getting her PHD in Political Science and is from California. She said "wow, so you are getting paid??" I said, "yep..but it's been much more than that! that's only a bonus." It was just refreshing to talk to an American, we are hoping to get together before they leave to go back to Jordan after the tournament.

One of the many observations that I want to express into words, is that these Arab women, about 95% of them wear their head dresses and their whole body is still covered even if they are playing volleyball. (per the picture above). Wow, can you say warm?!? It was hard for me to get used to, because when we have training, they don't have to be all covered up because it is just women in the gym, so when they are in game apparel it is very different! Again, very eye opening for me. Also, there is no set defense (for you volleyball players out there, we know how important having a perimeter/rotation or just a set defense is!) Yeah, confusing. I was all over the place trying to defend the ball, especially because I am not sure these girls are used to digging hard balls. During the match, I try my best to cheer and to encourage if we make a mistake, but of course it is all in english and I am not sure they understand. But lately they have understood me when I say "swing!" or "get up!" The girls are loving it; they routinely make fun of me saying those things, but said they love when I talk, so I will keep doing it!

After the match, we gave all of our fans hand shakes and say thank you (must be tradition). Our fans consist of the girls' friends and other mostly women who just like to watch. Sidenote: speaking of hand shakes, that is what you do here. They either give hugs, or you shake hands with people who you see for the first time that day..especially your superiors like coaches or managers. So when I see any of the girls in the morning I give them a low five/hand shake..not very formal, kind of more relaxed like saying "what's up!" I really like it and have gotten used to it, it just makes everything that much more family like and respectful. I think I might try and start that tradition with my friends..we will see how it goes :)

Opening Day of the Arab Women Sports Tournament

I spent most of my Thursday at the pool typing some of my blog, catching up on email and sending messages to friends. I woke up not knowing what the schedule was going to be. Seems like the normal thing for these Arab women. Every day ends with, "I don't know Alex, we will call you." And they will call me means they will call my hotel room..which I may or may not be in. So around 3 I decided I should probably go into the my room to see if there was a voicemail, but as I was walking past the lobby I saw a woman who looked vaguely familiar (but you have to remember, most women here look the same with their black robes and head dresses). It was Hya thankfully, she said that we are going to meet the team in her room when the rest of the team checks into the hotel, which was around 5.. ok?!? Once again, not a plan. But I got organized and met in Room 110 to find the team there, we received our warm up jackets and we went downstairs to pile into the cars to go to the opening ceremony of what I later figured out is called Arab Women Sports Tournament.. which is the tournament I flew all this way to play in! As we are driving into the entrance of the complex, we are greeted by hefty security who look very serious, and Hya has to show a badge to get in. Finally, we park and as we are walking towards the entrance, one of the girls said that they aren't going to allow cell phones or cameras..what?!? I thought.. I have to take pictures of whatever we are walking into, but of course we walked a little farther and ran into this lady....


who told us to empty our pockets and cell phones/cameras are NOT allowed. I am pretty sure I got pretty nervous and was about to do whatever she said! So Amoona (my teammate) took all of our phones and brought them back to her car. Of course I asked why they weren't allowed and the girls said because the President of Sharjah's wife (who is sponsoring this whole tournament) will be there and I guess we can't take pictures. Cool. So we walk in, and my mouth is just kinda dropped the whole time because I realize there are like 11 other countries represented here. We get there pretty early to witness the whole rehearsal (even though I thought it was the real thing, until later!) There's loud music, some performances and the coolest was that there were clumps of people on the gym floor with their flag in their hands. It was like a mini mini olympic games..just women. I later asked one of the girls what EXACTLY is going on here.
So here is the story on the Arab Women Sports Tournament:

This is the FIRST EVER Arab women sports event for clubs. The tournament lasts approximately 10 days and all the gulf countries come to Sharjah, UAE to play their particular sport. There are about 4 sports represented- basketball, table tennis, volleyball and archery. The countries are: UAE, Kuwait, Iraq, Palestine, Bahrein, Jordan, Iran, Egypt, Syria, Qatar, Tunisia, Yemen (I think I remembered them all..) It is a time to celebrate women in sports, this is something I imagine is pretty new to these countries. Did you know volleyball is only 8 years old in the UAE? That means that some of my teammates probably learned it at age 17 at the earliest! In the volleyball part of the tournament, there are 8 teams (2 UAE teams).

For more info:

http://www.emirates247.com/sports/other/sharjah-to-host-first-arab-women-sports-tournament-2012-02-01-1.440695

The opening ceremony was pretty interesting to say the least. Once I realized we were about to actually be a part of the real thing, we all had to line up with our flags and sit out in the hall for probably 20 minutes. That in itself was so entertaining to me. I wish so bad that I had a camera! If you can picture it, I was just standing there in the middle of all these Arab women speaking Arabic, not having a clue what they were talking about but enjoying the fact that I was lucky enough to have this experience. Finally, we start walking into the gym with our UAE flag bearer in front and we stand in front of the whole audience with all the other countries at our side. Everyone has probably figured out I am not from UAE, but no one says anything.. everyone is so accepting. We listen to some speakers, which is all Arabic, so it was quite boring for me but really cool. There are a few dances, songs and the national anthem. Finally it is over. I apologize for not being able to take pictures of this awesome event, but hopefully I explained it with decent detail.

Well I am glad I packed my volleyball gears in case they sprung a training session on us..well they did.. and we drove to the gym at approximately 9:00pm.. oh yeah did I forget to mention that these UAE people stay up all hours of the night? Luckily we only had one hour of practice..it was really fun because I was familiar with all the girls and knew what to expect. We had a few new (and better) girls join us tonight, so that was fun. There are definitely perks to not knowing the language because you really can't get yelled at, or cringe when a teammate is getting yelled at because you don't really know the coach is saying.




This is from the gym door looking out into the main part of the school we practice in. As you can see it is still outdoors, because it is so hot here all the time. The actual gym is behind where I am standing.






Another news flash: the girls call a coach or a manager "captain", so to distinguish between a player and a coach when they are talking to them or about them they say Captain Amina.. I think the word captain might mean coach in Arabic and it is probably spelled different..just my guess. But I feel like we have a different thought on what captain means than for coach so it is a little different for me to get used to.

Speaking of Captain Amina (remember she is the older women who I was with the first night?), she brought us some Arabic food for us to snack on after practice. And then the girls asked me what I wanted to eat, it was already like 10:30, I said I didn't care, but the coaches got us Burger King..which we ate in the room. That was my first time getting to hang out with the girls without the coaches, it is a blast! By the way, they don't miss a meal here, if anything they eat way too much.. but I am not complaining.

A Much Better Day: New Hotel, New Friends

As we approached the new hotel, called Centro Hotel Sharjah, I could only smile in relief. We walk into the hotel and I can tell it is brand spankin new. Amina and I are waiting for a specific guy that works there, who she must know and have connections with. Before Amina leaves, she tells me to be back in the lobby at 6:30 pm for practice and she speaks to him in Arabic and he translates to me, "She said, have whatever you like." I was like wow, okay! I was quickly reminded that they pay for all of my food and accomadations. He gives me a tour of the hotel, which has a pool, a workout facility, a food shop and a big restaurant- also, he told me that this hotel has only been open 3 1/2 months..that is awesome. My room is so sleek and nice.. I thought to myself, "gosh, I can do this for the next 9 days." Here is the hotel website, if you want to check it out:

http://www.rotana.com/centrohotels/unitedarabemirates/sharjah/centrosharjah

6:30pm came pretty fast! I was in the lobby and Hya was there to pick me up her in her very nice white BMW. We started driving for a bit and then pulled over into a gas station. When I say gas station, I know you are all thinking like a grungy Shell or something. No this was like out of the future. The nicest gas station I have ever seen! We walk in and she tells me to pick anything I want..I get an energy drink and some gum. I am beginning to think that they treat visitors very well! We get back in the car and find out we are heading to yet another emirate called Ajman to practice. I finally ask her to explain to me what tournament we are playing in etc. She tells me that in November this team, the UAE played in the GCC (Gulf Champions Cup) which consisted of all the teams on the gulf (Jordan, UAE, Kuwait etc.) and UAE won that cup. Now, there is another cup happening in the next week that is sponsored by the president of Sharjah's wife. AKA big deal apparently. We are one of two UAE teams playing in this 8 team cup. She kept referring to this cup as the "games". She would say, "the games begin on Thursday" or "the games will go until.." Yep, you know what I am going to say..all this talk reminded me of the hunger games, like I was Katniss or something.

I am a very good question asker, and I put those skills into perfect use on this ride over to the gym. I asked Hya how old she was, what she did for a living, where she was born. She is 25 years old, she is an electrical engineer (wow, smart!) and was born in Sharjah, UAE, and LOVES her country. Eventually, I knew I just had to ask her about the outfits and dress the people wear here and the reasoning behind it.  So me, being the blunt and honest person that I am, straight forward asked Hya, "so, why do women here wear those things on their head?" as I pointed to her head. I couldn't come up with the right word, so I said 'things'..just go with it. She just smiled and replied, "It is because of our Islam religion. Women are supposed to be covered up from head to toe in front of men, unless it is her husband or family. We do not sleep with a man until we are married, therefore we do not show our bodies to other men because it makes them want to sleep with us. Only our husband's are worthy of seeing all of us." So then I asked, "Why do you have to cover your hair though?" And she said, "Well, if I were to put my hair down and put my fingers through my hair like this, that would be seductive and men would come to me." I was just nodding the whole time just trying to absorb all of this information. I later find out that it isn't all family that they don't have to be covered up with. Yes, it is okay to wear normal attire in front of their father, grandfather, brother, uncle but they have to be covered up in front of their male cousins! Cousins. Yes I said cousins. She said that women can marry their cousin here. So interesting. Oh yeah, and men can have 4 wives. That, I just couldn't grasp. But she said, personally she could not "share" her husband and I replied with a big "WELL DUH!" This is all part of the Islam religion that I really want to get to know and understand. I was well on my way.

As we arrived at the gym, I met about 8 other girls who are on my team and 2 coaches. They all introduced themselves and I couldn't remember any of their names for the life of me. Mostly because they were so different, so I could barely even say them, let alone remember them. The gym we were playing in was part of a school, probably an elementary or middle school. The net was like the one I had in middle school, kinda flimsy like an oversized badminton net. Before we started playing, I noticed one girl, still in her black outfit, was praying (the way we have seen Muslims pray), it was my first time seeing this in real life and was very interesting. Since there were all girls in the gym, my teammates and coaches could take their head dresses off. Once all the girls were there our coach told us to run around for 10 minutes. So we literally ran around the gym in circles for 10 minutes. Never done that before! We stretched in a circle, while all the girls were speaking Arabic and I was just looking confused. One of the coaches knows how to speak decent english and a few girls can say words but overall it's all Arabic and hand motions. We warmed up our arms with partners, passed and peppered for a bit. So far everything was a lot like the USA. Then we started in hitting lines and I realized how much lower the level is compared to my college team (which I was prepared for!) I hit a couple of balls and the coach got off of her seat and started to tell the setter how to set me ( I think). It was kind of a time for me to get used to the setter and for her to get used to me. After we hit for a really long time we went through rotations and served. The coach told me I am playing outside, which I am excited about because I am so used to playing right side. The whole practice was just so eye opening for me. If I wanted to tell the setter how I wanted the set to be, I couldn't because she didn't understand english, so I attempted to tell one of the coaches who I hoped understood me. I don't think I will ever take being able to speak to and understand people for granted again. My hand motion skills got really good though. I tried to learn everyone's name and they helped by just giving me a shorter version of each of their names, except for a few that I actually could understand. One of the girls, named Fatma, is about as tall as me (and we are giant compared to the rest of the team, such a first for me!) and she is super athletic. She came up to me and said "If I wear shorts like you, we would look the same..because we walk the same." What she was trying to say is that if she wore spandex like I was, we would look the same because we are both athletic looking. I thought that was really cool! She will definitely be one of my favorite teammates because besides the athletic part, I can tell we are a lot alike. (and it is a bonus she can speak English!) After 2 hours, we called it quits and one of the girls who I called Sam (her real name is Samira) took me back to my hotel. I was in a good mood because of the practice and the new friends I got to know that night. I am glad I am here, this will be nothing but a life changing/growing experience for me. On top of meeting new friends, I was in a great hotel, I ordered some food from downstairs, downloaded the latest episode of the Bachelor and I was in heaven :)

A Little Geography Lesson

For some people who may not know where the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is in this world.. I decided to post a map so you could see exactly where I am. I have to admit, before I left I needed to look at where I was going and didn't realize what specific countries the UAE was actually surrounded by.
1. Iraq
2. Iran
3. Kuwait
4. Qatar
5. Oman
6. Yemen
7. Saudi Arabia

Yep.. I am in the thick of it. I am in the middle of all the places we learn about in school to NOT GO. At least this map will help you get a good feeling about where I am. I was given this idea after one of my best friends, who I will not name, thought Dubai was in India..yes, a map is needed.

Cars Are White..Robes Are Black

After driving for about 15 minutes in the white van with Ismail, he said that we were going to meet a woman named Amina. She is the "big dog" of the club and is the head manager (as I found out later), I was expecting..well I didn't really know what to expect, just not what she turned out to be. We pull over and this white mercedes comes by us honking, yep that was Amina. She gets out of the car and is wearing all black, with the traditional robe on and her head dress ( to be more politically correct, I will try and use the word "Keffiyeh", which is their Arabic term for it). Her face was showing, thank goodness, I don't think I could've handled a mask on the first night I get to UAE. She had dark sunglasses on and a big smile..and she might be about 60 years old. Probably one of the nicest women I have met in a long time, except she really couldn't speak english, so I got in the car and we sat in silence, until the phone rang. It was a 25 year old girl named Hya, who I later found out is the direct manager for my team within the club and she speaks english very well. So, Amina handed the phone over to me and the girl said, "Hi Alex, I am Hya. Amina is going to see her friend whose uncle passed away, so it will take about ten minutes and then she will take you to your hotel." I nodded and said, "okay sounds good.." I got off the phone, and in my head was thinking probably every thing one human can possibly think about at once. We kept on driving and then all of a sudden 2 white cars (a toyota and a very nice BMW) flew by us and honked; we started following them. I am assuming a.) these are her friends who we are following to this get together and b.) EVERY car in the UAE is white. This caravan took about 20 min longer than expected, I think we got very lost, but of course Amina couldn't really tell me that, all she did was chuckle. We pull into this HUGE house, I may even go as far as saying palace, every white car is pulling in. We pull over and the two friends get out of their car..I later find out one of them is Hya, the girl I spoke to on the phone and another girl named Fatma, who is on my team. All three women go into this palace, while the white American girl (me) hangs out in the car feeling all sorts of emotions: awkward, anxious, worried, interested, wide-eyed. You get the point. I just am watching all these Arabic people walk in and out of this place; men are in white, women are in black. I am starting to think it is a big time person who passed away, but then again, maybe not, maybe this is just how they do it here when someone dies. Anyway..Amina finally comes back and we get in the car, after about another 30 minutes of driving ( I think she got a little lost, even with my bad sense of direction I could sense that we were driving in circles), we arrived at the hotel called "Sharjah Airport Hotel".

Sidenote: I am already being surprised on this trip for several reasons.
1. I thought that I was going to playing in Dubai..turns out I am going to be playing the tournament in another "emirate" or state called Sharjah, about 10 minutes away from Dubai.
2. I thought Cory said I was going to be put up in a 5 star hotel..this was probably a 1 star.
3. Did I mention all cars are white, well except for about 2 black ones I saw? Oh yeah, and they also put a black screen on their windshield that goes from the top down until the driver's eye height. (we will get to that later)
4. Every single woman wears a Keffiyeh..I knew I was going to an Arab country, but I thought UAE had some "non-Arabic" people, according to some of my sources. This is actually a pleasant surprise, as I want to be completely immersed in the culture (and be the signature white, blue eyed girl).

We get into the hotel, and Amina seems surprised ( I think she was lost again, because she acted like this was the wrong hotel) but she ends up getting me a room and drops me off and tells me to sleep, to have breakfast and then someone will call me tomorrow. Okay?!?!?!

Next morning (Wednesday) I wake up at about 12 because of my severe case of jet lag and tossing & turning all night. I finally get a chance to see my view..or lack there of. I look out of my window and see a pool..well an empty, dirty pool. And all of a sudden my only hope is shattered..what am I going to do all day until they call? I decide to shower, hoping this would make me feel better, only to find out there is no hot water. So far, this so called adventure is really pleasant. I order room service, because Amina said to order whatever I wanted, so I ordered some food hoping it would make me feel better. It did for sure. But in my head I am still thinking, wow this is going to be such a long trip, if this is where I am going to stay..in the middle of nowhere it seemed, in a quiet hotel, with a dirty, empty pool and cold water. This is not how I envisioned the UAE.

My phone rings. It's Amina, she says "Hi Alex. Come to lobby and bring bag, we go to different hotel." HALLELUJAH!!! I don't think I have packed a bag so fast in my life! I was down there in 2.5 minutes. I met Amina in the lobby and another woman (forgot her name already) who is my coach. I get in the car with Amina and she says, "wrong hotel..this one will be much better." Turns out, it WAS the wrong hotel! I was so excited..I think my trip was going to take a turn for the better. It had to.

A 14 hour flight...WHAT?!?

So going back to the whirlwind of a day I was experiencing after my eye appointment… I got home and finally had the email translated and I had read all of those words very correctly, this was happening. After talking to my agent over Skype, he said the team needed me ASAP so I was to leave at 3:30pm that day. I hadn’t packed and it was already 1pm!! Needless to say I was so stressed out, but quickly packed a small suitcase and my parents took me to the airport. My mom and I got to the GR airport apparently a few minutes too late to check in, so after much arguing with the Delta crew, I sprinted through security and on the plane. My adventure had officially begun.

My day/night of flying included GR-Detroit-Atlanta-Dubai. My flight from Atlanta to Dubai was a grueling 14 hours! Right when I got on the plane, I was immediately reminded that we paid extra for the “economy comfort” seat, which I was hoping would provide me with extra leg room, free drinks and an endless supply of movies offered. I got that and much more! When I first sat down in the middle “chunk” of seats, I was on the aisle. And in my row was a man from Arkansas who, after I told him hopefully we will get lucky and no one will sit in between us, responded with a “yeah right, wishful thinking.” But we lucked out, and all my positive thinking paid off because we had a seat empty in between us. Besides telling me that we wouldn’t get that lucky, he also told me how much this flight “sucks”. I was immediately deflated and started to really realize I was about to endure a 14 hour flight. He proceeded to tell me, “yeah, you can get really drunk twice, sleep with the help of sleeping pills, talk to me for a few hours, wake up and you still have 6 hours left of the flight!” That was probably will forever be the best quote of my trip. I couldn’t help but laugh. Arkansas man is a contractor (plumbing to be exact) in Kabul, Afghanistan and as I looked around me, I noticed there were men on the flight that were probably working for the government too. By the way, I was probably 1 out of 7 girls total on that flight, the rest were men...very interesting to say the least. 

When we were in the air I got to take a look at the movie selection..going into it I thought there would be maybe 5 to choose from, but to my surprise there were so many I couldn't even count! Also, there were plenty of TV shows to choose from too.. I think I was going to survive. I spent most the flight watching movies (my favorite) and got about 7 hours of sleep (with the help of a few glasses of red wine and a sleeping pill), all of a sudden we had about an hour left and I couldn't believe I was about to land in such a foreign place! As we proceeded off the plane, I said goodbye to my 4 new friends who I will now be thinking about as they go off into a war zone for the next few months. I waited in the customs line and all I saw were men dressed from head to toe in white robes with a black rope around their head (you can picture it..I hope). Being the American that I am, my initial reaction was to tense up and get really nervous. I walked up to one of those men and gave him my passport, he asked what hotel I was staying at and I said "I..dunno...?" He looked at me and said "You don't know?!?" with a straight face. I gulped and said "I don't know sir." I told him I was meeting a "friend" at the airport (if I said a guy, I don't think that would've gone over well so I pretended who I was meeting was a friend.) He finally let me through..and I walked away shaking as I headed toward baggage claim. I was looking for a guy named Ismail that was supposed to come get me (I know...this is sounding SO safe Mom and Dad..don't worry I am okay). When I walked out into the waiting area I saw a guy looking at me with a picture in his hand (of me) and approached me and said "Alexandra? Ismail. Come with me."

We walked outside, into his white van (yikes!) and went on our way. This was truly going to be an adventure.

An ‘Isaiah 6:8’ Type of Adventure

I woke up this morning like any other day, I ate breakfast, chatted with my parents and drank some coffee. But today I headed to GR Ophthalmology for my first ever eye exam since I was 12 …ya know when you read the letters on the wall in your pediatrician’s office and get a piece of yummy candy afterward for being a good patient.. yeah this one was different. After getting my eyes dilated (first time I have ever had that done to me!) and finding out I am near-sighted and that I need glasses for when I am night driving and for movies/TV, I walked out not being able to read my phone but I knew I had received a very important email.  With the phone still being a bit fuzzy while I was walking out of the office, the only words I could make out were “From Cory Solomon…99% sure…Dubai..today..midnight”. At that moment, I rushed home knowing I had to have someone else read this email, this very crazy email that I thought could be an answer to the last 6 months of my prayers.

I have had this desire to play pro volleyball overseas, and have hoped that the door would open for an opportunity to come. I remember one night at Pathways Church in Denver sometime in October, the message was on asking God for the impossible. We had to write down what our prayer was on a piece of white scrap paper and proceed to throw it in this open casket, representing Jesus resurrecting from the dead a.k.a the impossible. I wrote down “God, send me where you want me to go, send me and I will follow you. Use me wherever you need me to be used for your kingdom.” It was  very powerful service, especially when I threw my piece of paper in. I had faith that He would come through but would’ve never guessed that I would be sent to The United Arab Emirates! Isaiah 6:8 says, “Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, 'Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?' And I said, 'Here I am, send me!'" I truly believe this will be THAT type of experience: just completely trusting and following where God wants me to be.