ROAD TRIP TO DUBAI

So the Ras Tanura Water Polo team logged its first official road trip for 2010.  Normally the team plays in the 50+ category at most master's tournaments, which leaves-out a number of us on the team from playing.  So when the Dubai Water Polo Club organized an open tournament and invited us to play, we were game on!

The tournament took place on Friday, September 24th at the Dubai Marina.  That's right, we were officially playing in the Persian Gulf.  I was very fortunate because I was already in Dubai when the tournament took place - I was there for work at our Jebel Ali facility.  But my week of work allowed for no time to scope out the facilities.  All I had were some pictures taken from a previous tournament, which I posted on my last blog.  Friday morning would be my first view of the field.

On Friday morning, Tommy Broussard was nice enough to drive me down to the marina from his apartment, where I had been staying that week.  We barged into 3 different "marinas", each time being told with a yes-nod that this wasn't the place (the yes-nod accompanies all answers).  On our fourth try we were successful!  Tommy drove me down to the water's edge, right to the field I'd seen in the pictures, although this time there was a huge boat at the far end of the marina.  It turns out that this boat was there by chance only, and that was a good thing!  It was close to 100 degrees outside and we were probably playing 5 games.  This boat provided shade and a decent view of the games.  Here's a shot of an ongoing game from the boat.

Our team was placed in bracket #2.  We started our first game at 11:00am in order to accomodate a number of our players who took the early morning 1 hour flight from Bahrain to Dubai.  By the time our first game rolled around we were all present and accounted for.

We breezed through our bracket, playing one close game against Dubai "B", which we eventually won 5-3.  While the scenery was pretty awesome, it was apparent when playing that anything could happen.  Here's a few situations to consider:

1. The cages weren't really tied down tightly.  Those of you that have been to a game in a pool know that floating cages have to be on a tight line or they tend to flip forward.  This happened a number of times with the goal falling down onto the goalie. 
2. The water was actually pretty mild.  I had swam in the Gulf that summer and it must have been 134 degrees then.  But that was the middle of summer and this was September.  What didn't change however was that this was saltwater.  When you're experienced (and lazy) like me, swimming with your head down is a very good energy-saver, versus chugging around with your head out of the water.  If you know what's happening, you can take 80% of your strokes in the more efficient head-down mode.  Salt water makes that miserable because your eyes get ruined in 45 seconds.  So it was head-up all day.
3. You'll notice the pier to the left side of the field.  That is where the referees called the game and where the scorer's desk was located.  It's also a small barrier between us and 1,556 boats and jet skiis that are zipping around the harbor.  More than 6 times some yahoo would go whooshing by on his 1,000 horsepower Sea Doo and create humongous waves.  There were a couple of plays where you actually lost a view of the game you were playing in because the waves were so high!  Some skip shots went 12 feet over the goal because they hit a wave and bounced straight up...
4. It was hot.  The Dubai sponsors had water in ice chests set-up all over the place, but those little water cups ran out quickly and there was no escape form the heat.  To cope, I resorted to my inner bedouin instincts:

Notice the stylish towel that is serving as my protector from the sun.

Still, the venue was one of a kind and we were smiling ear to ear after our morning matches.

Our walk through bracket play set-up a match with the Dubai "A" squad.  This was a good team, with players from all over the world.  We stunk it up like small children and lost 4-0.  I think in the end we got off 2 good shots.  They punched us in the mouth and never looked back, taking an early 2-0 lead before we even felt warmed-up.  Adding insult to injury, the referee was from their club!  I think we still would have lost, but some of the calls were downright awful, and he made them while wearing sandals and a red bikini!  Now let me be clear when I describe this to everyone: THIS GUY WASN'T CHISELED FROM STONE.  Just imagine, you're wrestling for position, gagging on salt water, you hear a whistle blow, and when you turn to see the call, not only do you realize he's calling a turnover, but you're catapulted into shock by the visual:

Regardless of the calls, we lost the game and were relegated to the 3rd-4th place match against Abu Dhabi.  Abu Dhabi had barely lost to Egypt in their semifinal match, so we knew we had our hands full.  In typically tardy fashion, we recovered from our sloppy semifinal match and beat-up on Abu Dhabi 6-1.  So 3rd place at the end of the day.  We finished very tired, parched from salt water, and ready to head home.  Here's some picutres from after the game.

Back Row: John Denker, Me, Vidal Noya, Abdi Majdpour, Haider Haj, Anthony Sawaya, Raul Murillo, Costas Tsingas

Front Row: Dean Bell, Austin Brill, Dennis Bell

CAL Brothers:  Anthony and I with Dubai in the background

Here's Dean and I with the awesome curved building in the background

I arrived at the airport that evening for a 10:30pm flight back to Bahrain.  At this point I was wasted and ready to get home.  I approach the Gulf Air check-in desk and they don't have my return ticket!  Apparently they only had a one way ticket from Bahrain to Dubai - the return ticket was never booked.  I'll close on this conversation:

Ticket Lady: "You can purchase a ticket for the next flight.  It leaves at 11:20pm to Bahrain..."

Me: "...Ok, no problem..."

Ticket Lady: "...but that flight is actually delayed an hour and is now scheduled to leave at 12:30am."

Me: "Well, I'll take it.  I have to get home for a meeting in Bahrain tomorrow."

Ticket Lady: "We'll get you there eventually (smile on face)."

At 1:25am we finally lifted off the ground in Dubai.  At 1:20am I landed in Bahrain (1 hour behind thankfully).  At 2:10am I fell into bed.  At 3:00am I fell asleep....

And that's a trip to Dubai for you.  Anybody want to visit?