I have never been a huge fan of fishing nor was I any good at it, but when Abdula offered to take us out on the Arabian Gulf, I was more than happy to go.
When we got home from Dubai on Thursday, he wanted us to come that night for barbecue and drinking. Tired from the trip we told him we would see him in the morning. Originally the group of us (Ryan, Eric, Yang, Jen, Zizi, and myself) were going to leave at 6 in the morning. Thankfully, that got pushed back. We left about 8:45. We were worried about being late, or at least I was, but in reality . . . we woke them up.
It is about an hour and half drive to Al Mirfa. That is the town in the western region that sits on the coast. It isn't very big, but like the rest of the western region there are plans for growth. Since we weren't sure where Abdula's house was, we planned to meet at the Mirfa Hotel. We were traveling in two groups and the group I was driving got to the hotel with plenty of time to spare. We tried to get in contact with Mahmoud and Abdula, but no answer. Since we had some time we explored the grounds of the hotel. I had to stick my feet in the water to see what it was like. It was a little colder than I expected, but still very comfortable. I collected some shells that I am going to find a place for as decoration in my apartment. They aren't really that different from shells that I collected over the years except for a few of the colors. A few also seemed bleached, they were very white. After that, we still had not gotten in touch with Abdula or Mahmoud, so we wandered some more. We ended up finding a large chess set with plastic playing pieces. The board was big enough that you could walk on it to play. Ryan and I decided to play a game. Despite the fact that I was teaching him, he managed to beat me. Sad, I know. At that point we were hoping that we had wasted enough time and would be able to get ahold of someone. Our plan worked and we met up with the other car to head out to the house.
When giving directions, typically you give them in pieces, but you give the whole trip at once. Mahmoud has a different method. Partly because I think we still woke him up, but who knows. He told us drive here, take a left and call me when you have gotten that far. It was a bit strange, but it got us where we needed to go.
When pulling into Abdula's place, I knew it was going to beautiful, but I didn't quite expect the ostrich pen to the side. Though in reality he has so many animals that I should not have been surprised. He is actually planning to build a zoo in Madinat Zayed, I don't know if I have mentioned that before. That is another time and another place, back to the beach. He has a beautiful house that is right on the beach. You have a walk a little bit to get to water that is deep enough to swim in, but the view is amazing. I think I am a little bias because I love the beach so much, but it is a really nice area. You can look out and see all the different shades of the Arabian Gulf. Since we had woken them up, we sat outside enjoying the sea breeze and relaxed for a while before heading out to the boat.
It was perfect weather for fishing, though a little windy. Abdula keeps his boat docked at a friends house nearby. His friend built a channel to take boats in and out and is now in a bit of trouble because of it. It made it nice for us though. We easily were able to board and head out. As soon as we were out of the channel I could feel my soul smile. I know that sounds cheesy, but I just knew that time on the water was exactly what I needed. I had been feeling a bit blue about the holidays coming up and being away from home. The boat and fishing were good therapy. I am still going to miss my family, but I am not as down and out as I was before.
After a quick stop for gas, we headed out to sea. He has a fish finder and an area on his GPS that he knows is good for fishing. He was right. The minute we started fishing we were catching them left and right. Well, I should say that Ryan and Mahmoud were catching them quickly. The rest of us took a little while. Now, when I say fishing most people think of the pole and you toss it out. Not here. It was a roll of fishing line that had a couple of hooks on it and weight at the bottom. You dropped the line in the water and let it sink to the bottom. After that, you pulled on it every so often to attract the fish. Sounds simple right. Well, it must have been because even I caught three good sized fish. My luck ran out shortly after that, but I was surprised and pleased to even have caught one. I do have to thank Ryan for showing me the trick to get in done though. I wasn't getting much of anything until he helped me out.
Since nothing was biting, I handed my reigns over to someone else and decided to go for a swim. Not many people brought a bathing suit, strangely, but I found one other person willing to jump in with me. Off the side of the boat we went. It was only after we were in the water we realized that there was not ladder to get back in. I wanted to stay in the water longer, but with a strong current and no ladder . . . I knew getting back in I would need all my strength. With a little help from people on the boat and some contorting of my legs, I was able to get up into the boat. Needless to say, I knew that I would be checking on things like that before jumping in, in the future.
No one was having any luck getting the fish to bite, so we decided to pack it up and head back in. The sun was on its way down at that point and it would have gotten cold anyway. Once getting back to the house, we all cleaned up and just hung out for a while. Abdula has a pool table and so some of us played a few rounds of pool, others watched Arabic Soap Opera- like shows with Iesha, and the rest tried to relax. We ate lunch, fish of course, just not the fish we just caught and then later on snacked while drinking and talking some more. It was just like the night at the farm with different scenery.
In the end, I had to drive back. I didn't have change of clothes and really wanted to be in my own bed. Looking back on the whole thing, I am glad to have made this connection with local people. It gives me a chance to be a part of the culture and go and do things that I am not sure I would have the opportunity to do otherwise. At least not as easily. I feel very blessed to be able to have had all the experiences that I have thus far since being here in the UAE.
Unfortunately, it is back to work tomorrow. Work isn't bad, but it is always tough to go back after a nice break. I can always look forward to national day in about a week, that should keep my motivated. ; )
When we got home from Dubai on Thursday, he wanted us to come that night for barbecue and drinking. Tired from the trip we told him we would see him in the morning. Originally the group of us (Ryan, Eric, Yang, Jen, Zizi, and myself) were going to leave at 6 in the morning. Thankfully, that got pushed back. We left about 8:45. We were worried about being late, or at least I was, but in reality . . . we woke them up.
It is about an hour and half drive to Al Mirfa. That is the town in the western region that sits on the coast. It isn't very big, but like the rest of the western region there are plans for growth. Since we weren't sure where Abdula's house was, we planned to meet at the Mirfa Hotel. We were traveling in two groups and the group I was driving got to the hotel with plenty of time to spare. We tried to get in contact with Mahmoud and Abdula, but no answer. Since we had some time we explored the grounds of the hotel. I had to stick my feet in the water to see what it was like. It was a little colder than I expected, but still very comfortable. I collected some shells that I am going to find a place for as decoration in my apartment. They aren't really that different from shells that I collected over the years except for a few of the colors. A few also seemed bleached, they were very white. After that, we still had not gotten in touch with Abdula or Mahmoud, so we wandered some more. We ended up finding a large chess set with plastic playing pieces. The board was big enough that you could walk on it to play. Ryan and I decided to play a game. Despite the fact that I was teaching him, he managed to beat me. Sad, I know. At that point we were hoping that we had wasted enough time and would be able to get ahold of someone. Our plan worked and we met up with the other car to head out to the house.
When giving directions, typically you give them in pieces, but you give the whole trip at once. Mahmoud has a different method. Partly because I think we still woke him up, but who knows. He told us drive here, take a left and call me when you have gotten that far. It was a bit strange, but it got us where we needed to go.
When pulling into Abdula's place, I knew it was going to beautiful, but I didn't quite expect the ostrich pen to the side. Though in reality he has so many animals that I should not have been surprised. He is actually planning to build a zoo in Madinat Zayed, I don't know if I have mentioned that before. That is another time and another place, back to the beach. He has a beautiful house that is right on the beach. You have a walk a little bit to get to water that is deep enough to swim in, but the view is amazing. I think I am a little bias because I love the beach so much, but it is a really nice area. You can look out and see all the different shades of the Arabian Gulf. Since we had woken them up, we sat outside enjoying the sea breeze and relaxed for a while before heading out to the boat.
It was perfect weather for fishing, though a little windy. Abdula keeps his boat docked at a friends house nearby. His friend built a channel to take boats in and out and is now in a bit of trouble because of it. It made it nice for us though. We easily were able to board and head out. As soon as we were out of the channel I could feel my soul smile. I know that sounds cheesy, but I just knew that time on the water was exactly what I needed. I had been feeling a bit blue about the holidays coming up and being away from home. The boat and fishing were good therapy. I am still going to miss my family, but I am not as down and out as I was before.
After a quick stop for gas, we headed out to sea. He has a fish finder and an area on his GPS that he knows is good for fishing. He was right. The minute we started fishing we were catching them left and right. Well, I should say that Ryan and Mahmoud were catching them quickly. The rest of us took a little while. Now, when I say fishing most people think of the pole and you toss it out. Not here. It was a roll of fishing line that had a couple of hooks on it and weight at the bottom. You dropped the line in the water and let it sink to the bottom. After that, you pulled on it every so often to attract the fish. Sounds simple right. Well, it must have been because even I caught three good sized fish. My luck ran out shortly after that, but I was surprised and pleased to even have caught one. I do have to thank Ryan for showing me the trick to get in done though. I wasn't getting much of anything until he helped me out.
Since nothing was biting, I handed my reigns over to someone else and decided to go for a swim. Not many people brought a bathing suit, strangely, but I found one other person willing to jump in with me. Off the side of the boat we went. It was only after we were in the water we realized that there was not ladder to get back in. I wanted to stay in the water longer, but with a strong current and no ladder . . . I knew getting back in I would need all my strength. With a little help from people on the boat and some contorting of my legs, I was able to get up into the boat. Needless to say, I knew that I would be checking on things like that before jumping in, in the future.
No one was having any luck getting the fish to bite, so we decided to pack it up and head back in. The sun was on its way down at that point and it would have gotten cold anyway. Once getting back to the house, we all cleaned up and just hung out for a while. Abdula has a pool table and so some of us played a few rounds of pool, others watched Arabic Soap Opera- like shows with Iesha, and the rest tried to relax. We ate lunch, fish of course, just not the fish we just caught and then later on snacked while drinking and talking some more. It was just like the night at the farm with different scenery.
In the end, I had to drive back. I didn't have change of clothes and really wanted to be in my own bed. Looking back on the whole thing, I am glad to have made this connection with local people. It gives me a chance to be a part of the culture and go and do things that I am not sure I would have the opportunity to do otherwise. At least not as easily. I feel very blessed to be able to have had all the experiences that I have thus far since being here in the UAE.
Unfortunately, it is back to work tomorrow. Work isn't bad, but it is always tough to go back after a nice break. I can always look forward to national day in about a week, that should keep my motivated. ; )
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