Roma, Rain, and Ankle Sprains

I apologize from the very start for this being so long but it has been two weeks since the last post and these two weeks have been crazy.

Last Wednesday morning over 60 AUS student athletes, our coaches and some AUS administration left our college in the desert to head to the airport for our big tournament in Italy. In typical UAExcessiveness fashion, we all had matching polos and tracksuits to travel in as well as name tags and bags....needless to say we were quite the site and easy to spot. It was like the more grown up version of those child leashes you see, it was impossible to lose us.

Waiting outside of the airport...gotta love gopros

On the bus :)

 Getting everyone checked in and through security went surprisingly fast and it was not long before we were boarding the 6 hour flight to Rome. Generally on international flights I sleep the entire time to make the time pass but with my entire team around me and AUS students taking up most of the plane, sleeping was impossible and the entire flight was spent talking and hanging out with people. To no surprise we were all exhausted when we landed. I know that this sounds a bit crazy but landing in Italy gives me a similar feeling to landing in the States after being away for a while. For those of you who don't know, I studied abroad in Italy in high school with AFS and since then have been back to visit my host family and friends and work several times (In fact I will be in Italy winter term working again). It has become a home away from home and since I am way more confident in Italian than I am in Arabic, it was a linguistic break (in actuality very little Arabic is spoken at AUS but still). What was odd about our first night in Rome was how quickly my mood changed once we landed. I am not generally one who gets homesick, especially since I rarely get to be home or with family, but being in Italy and not being with my host family and Italian friends to me was like if I were to go to Missouri and not get to see my family. It was just a weird feeling. It hit me that I would be without my family for a while longer (I am not stateside until then end of March) and those thoughts coupled with exhaustion left me really out of it. I knew that if I just called my host family I would be better and oh boy did that phone call do the trick. After that I was back to my normal self and super excited to play in the tournament and see Rome again.

The next day all of the AUS teams checked in (Men's and Women's Basketball and Volleyball and Men's Soccer) and we got ready for the first set of games. Before the first soccer match a group of us went to eat at one of the cafeterias on Roma Tre's campus. Unfortunately, they spoke little to no English and none of the signs were in English but as life has it, the one exchange student who happens to be at AUS the semester they go to Italy and playing on a team happens to speak Italian. And with that I became the group translator for the entire trip. It was so nice to be able to speak Italian again and actually use it to help others. I remember in high school people always joked with me, "When is Italian actually going to be useful, no one really speaks it." But low and behold it was incredibly useful when traveling with my team from the UAE :)

That evening and the next day were filled with games. If we weren't playing we were watching the other teams play or waiting to play. Since our hotel was about 30 minutes from the sports complex we had to all go together each morning and leave together in the evening. This meant that we left the hotel at 7:30am and did not get back until 11:30pm because of the timing of the games. Our schedule was particularly awkward because we had a game at 9:40pm Thursday night, 9:40am Friday morning and 10:10pm Friday night. We did a lot of sitting, sleeping, resting and waiting. Unfortunately, we did not win any of the matches but we were facing teams that had the athletic advantage in that they started playing when they were really young. Here in the UAE (I think it is across the Middle East too but I only know about here) sports are not a priority and a lot of girls just started volleyball in the last 2 or 3 years. No matter how athletic or talented someone is, you can't compare 10 years of court time to 2 years. Either way it was a fun experience and it was really cool to represent a university at that level. I have a lot more pictures from the games and such but will have to upload those later.

The bracket

The soccer players who photobombed our game face picture

A news release from the trip

Like I said we had a lot more pictures that were taken with other cameras but I will get those soon and put some on here for you all to see.

The last few days we got to see Rome and oh boy did we! We walked no joke 15km or more a day and managed to see most of the main places....Coliseum, Pantheon, Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, Vatican, shopping district, etc. The weather was perfect! Not too hot and the breeze was amazing. The trip did prove that Arabs are not able to adapt to and handle cold though. I was wearing a short sleeve shirt for the entirety of Sunday and was totally fine. At one point my friend (decked out in a hoodie and scarf) came up to me and grabbed my arms as she complained how cold she was. She was amazed that I was still warm to the touch despite the fact it was cold outside. I was rather entertained by it to be honest. It was probably around 45F and they were shivering and unable to stay outside. They would die during winter term in Hanover.

Here is a quick look at our days touring Rome :)

One of the best parts of the trip was getting to meet the other athletes

AUS would not be the same without this girl

Fun fact...I took this exact picture almost 5 years ago :) (Take a look!)

Monday was our last day in Rome since our flight was at 8pm that evening. We had the morning off to sleep/pack/eat but I took time off from my team and had an amazing breakfast with a dear friend. With the D-plan, it is not uncommon to have friends in essentially every European country during any given term and lucky me one of my friends was finishing up her term in Rome and came to have breakfast with me. I love how small the world is. The flight home was a red eye of sorts and actually the most turbulent flight I have ever been on (because of all the storms that were in the area...read on) and felt painfully long. It was my goal to make it to class the next day so before we boarded I knew I needed to sleep most of the flight for that to be possible. Unfortunately, that did not happen..again. The first hour of the flight I talked to the person next to me who is Australian and just graduated with  a political science degree. We discussed American politics, Australian politics and foreign policy...really interesting stuff (no sarcasm at all, it was a really great conversation). Then I read the news and was about to fall asleep when they brought us dinner. After dinner I planned to sleep but got distracted again. By the end of the flight I maybe slept an hour or so and I knew classes were not going to happen. We landed in Dubai at 5am, got through customs, grabbed our bags and were finally back to AUS by 7:30am. Then we slept. Most people slept all day and woke up to start the mountain of work we all had to do to catch up from missing a week of courses. In conclusion to the Roma part of this post, the trip was amazing. It was so great to travel with so many of my friends, to play in an international tournament and get the opportunity to meet the other AUS athletes. I have stories on stories of funny and outrageous things that happened during that week but I will save those for later. After all, if I blog about everything there will be no stories to tell once I get back to the states.

Now to the rain...you may be confused as to how rain is making a major appearance in this blog since I am currently living in the desert. Trust me, I was equally as surprised by its presence this week. While we were in Italy we heard that it had rained across the Arabian Peninsula and that parts of our campus was flooding. It was not even that it rained that much but with no drainage systems or any means of moving water out of road ways and away from buildings a little rain led to a lot of flooding. It is also not cost efficient to install any drainage systems since rain only comes once or twice a year and it is cheaper to just make repairs as necessary. We were disappointed that we missed the rain but that disappointment did not last long because it rained 3 more days after we got back to AUS. It was unreal! We even had the campus close down because of inclement weather when the second rain storm came in. I thought it was an exaggeration because come on it is just a little rain but then I heard about all of the car accidents because of flooding and realized rain is a serious deal here.There was one downside to the rain in my life (that is in the ankle sprains part) but overall it made the week perfect. It is funny how even without seasons you can experience seasonal affective disorder (SAD), we literally only have sunny days and temperatures in the 70-80s so the overcast and cooler temperatures really made us happy. It actually felt like November and put us in the holiday spirit. But I am not complaining, the weather here is amazing and I am thankful I am not walking to class in below freezing temperatures. Hopefully you can get an idea of how crazy the whole rain situation was by these pictures.

The round about under water

Cars were everywhere

And now for the even more confusing part...ankle sprains. As luck as it, the second to last point in the last game of our tournament I got hurt. I came down from a hit, stepped on a girl and hurt my ankle.

I remember hearing the pop and in my head hoping it was the other girl but then I realized I was the one the floor. In typical stubborn Tanya fashion, I shook it off and got back to receive. It was not but  a few seconds when I looked at my coach and said it may not be ok. Thankfully that was the last point so we were able to get ice on it. The most amazing part is this is the first time I have hurt my ankle when I have been playing volleyball for more than 13 years. I did a good job at convincing my coach and even myself that it was totally fine so we wrapped it and I walked like nothing happened. And when I say walk I mean I walked three full days in Rome (way more km than I am willing to admit to the doctors). Monday night came and we were putting out shoes back on after going through security at the airport when my coach saw that my ankle was not only swollen but bruised. She freaked out and had me put sandals on (I happened to be wearing two different colored neon socks which thoroughly embarrassed my coach). I tried to keep it up during the flight and iced it some but the pressure changes made it swell even more to the point the shoe wouldn't go on all the way. Coach sure loved that. Anyway, we got back to AUS and over the the next few days I saw a few doctors, was put on crutches and got an MRI. Yesterday I found out that I managed to completely tear one of the ligaments and strained some of the others which means I have a grade three sprain. I am on the crutches for another week and will be in the air cast (walking boot) for four weeks. As we were leaving the hospital earlier this week my coach said she was sorry I was on crutches and I told her it was totally fine because at least we were in the desert and not in the states where there is always rain and snow. Jokes on me. It rained this week. And rain plus tile walk ways is not good, especially on crutches. Some may call it an adventure others may say a disaster. Whatever it was I am thankful the rain has passed. I am totally fine though so no worries. I am sad I can't play anymore but it could have been a lot worse. Makes for a good story...once I sprained my ankle while playing volleyball in Rome with my team from the UAE.

What I looked like at 5am after our flight...made coach proud

It is hard to believe that it is almost Thanksgiving and December is next week (especially since it is warmer here now than it was in Hanover this summer). This will be my third Thanksgiving in a row spent outside of the US but no worries I will be with family (sort of). I am flying to Jordan to be with my best friend from school for the weekend. I am beyond excited! Even though I am crippled, I CAN'T wait!

Happy Thanksgiving from AUS! 

I am so thankful for all of the love and support I am constantly receiving from all of you :) 

Thanks for reading my blog too :)

Sweet Victory

Volleyball, volleyball and more volleyball. That pretty much sums up my week. (but actually)

Today is day ten of nonstop volleyball (which in actuality is not that abnormal in the States but not what I would have thought my time in the UAE would be like). Last week I practiced with Al Wasl (the club in Dubai) on Saturday and Sunday, game with AUS on Monday, AUS practice Tuesday, game with AUS on Wednesday, practice with Al Wasl Thursday, Al Wasl Tournament Friday and Saturday, AUS practice Sunday and a game with AUS tonight. whew! So clearly all of my adventures this week revolved around volleyball (which aren't traditionally cultural per say) but hopefully you all enjoy :)

I can't put into words how great it was to play with Al Wasl. I went into the weekend just excited to get to be around great players (a good amount of people in the tourney played on their home countries' national teams) and did not expect to play that much since I had barely practiced with them. To my surprise I actually got to play (in a position that I had never played in a game before so it was great to try something new)! It was amazing! Also, having my coach set for me (she played on the Jordanian national team) was great. As a hitter, nothing is better than a good setter. I also had the privilege to play with a player who I am certain is the best volleyball player I have ever seen. She is from Kenya and they flew her in for the tournament (apparently they fly her in just so they can win big tournaments). She was an unreal player. I kid you not her hits were better than Olympic players and every time she got a set we knew we would have the point. So as you might guess, she got the majority of sets and made winning a lot easier. The second day we played really well and after one of the most intense matches I have watched in the longest time we secured the victory and took first place! I am so thankful that this weekend came together like it did and that now when I leave the UAE I will be leaving with an Al Wasl uniform, a UAE jacket, a gold medal and a great memory of playing volleyball with some of the best players in the UAE.

Huddle before the last game

Sarah and I before the second day of games in front of the flag.

These two make volleyball even that more amazing here. I am so thankful for Sarah and my Coach Rawan

We coincidentally both did game faces on this selfie

Al Wasl after winning the tournament! (we are in black and the other teams are around us)

I look like a little kid who won a turtle race or something but I was pretty excited (Note my super cool UAE olympic jacket I got from the team too!)

Al Wasl coach and I with the cup :)

I wonder if I will ever reach a point while here that I actually belief this is real life. As cliche as it sounds, it is so fairy tale like. I would have never in a million years imagined my semester in the UAE would include befriending a sheikh, playing a tournament with the best players in the UAE, and traveling to Italy to play volleyball. Who knows what the next two months will bring my way :)

Also, the cold season is upon us...cold meaning in the 70s and 80s. The weather is incredible! Since the sun is not burning everything that is alive they are planting flowers and the grass looks so amazing. It is making me reevaluate my thoughts on winter :) The other day in class we watched this video called Emirates Winter that shows what the winter months are like across the UAE. It's incredible how beautiful winter is here (and its obviously not for the snow capped mountains). Though the holidays are approaching and I am starting to realize how strange it will be to celebrate Christmas 10,000 miles away from my family I think the weather being in the 70s will help raise my spirits!

We leave Wednesday morning for Italy so once I return later next week I will post another update of the trip. I can't believe it is already here! Until then...Arrivederci!

When in the Emirates...Do as the Emiratis Do

Happy Halloween Week!

With the weather still lingering in the 90s and no pumpkins or colored leaves in sight, this week did not feel like Halloween at all. I honestly would have forgotten about it all together if it weren't my brother's birthday too (Happy Birthday, Nick!). Thursday rolled around and we were all going to spend the entire night in the desert. We had decided to dress up and make it a little more Halloween like but right before we were going to meet up to leave everyone decided to not dress up. Little did they know my friend and I had a surprise in store for them. After dinner we all drove in separate cars to the gas station that we were going to meet up at to drive to the desert. While driving there my friend Joya and I changed into our costumes. Since she is Lebanese and I am American we decided to take this opportunity to do as the Emiratis do so we dressed like khaleejis. When we drove up next to our friends they did not even recognize us at first. Joya was wearing a kandora which is traditionally worn by Emirati men and I wore an abaya and sheila like Emirati women traditionally wear. Of course my outfit had to come with a pound of makeup since the khaleeji women wear a ton of black eye liner and blush. It was really fun to not only experience what it would be like to dress as an Emirati but also trick our friends...their reactions were priceless. The rest of the night was spent at this amazing spot in the desert. We started things off with a Khaleeji photo shoot...

Sumaya pretended to be our child...aren't we just a precious Emirati family?

AUS Vollyeball team in the desert for Halloween :)

No outing is complete without a funny picture

We were trying to look stoically into the distance but Joya fell down the dune

Titanic in the desert?

The photo shoot continued even after we took off the Emirati clothes. I am so blessed by the friends I have here, they are ridiculous in all the best ways and so loving. I know someday I am going to be super grateful for all of these crazy pictures with them.

Prom picture anyone?

I love these girls so much

 

No night in the desert is complete without s'mores of course so we spent some quality time around the fire roasting marshmallows.

 Instead of charades this week we had a dance party. Unlike in the states where generally the girls are all in the middle and the boys are circled around awkwardly watching, here the boys are all about being the center of attention and the girls generally dance on the side or just laugh at the boys. It makes sense considering a lot of dance moves a girl would use could be considered inappropriate here. Either way, it was still incredibly fun (and a crazy good work out since maintaining your balance in super soft sand is rather difficult) and we didn't have to face the embarrassment of losing at charades again.

Some khaleeji music and moves for you

No dance party is complete without a group picture

 Considering it was the men's and women's volleyball teams together in the desert of course volleyball was played. The dunes that we were on made it really hard to keep the ball from rolling far away but it made for a great picture!

 The rest of the night was spent with us all talking and telling stories around the fire.  At one point the boys asked me tons of questions about university in the US and what my day to day life was like. Everything from Greek life to dorms to relationships to the dining halls...they wanted to know it all. My friend got this great picture to capture how ridiculous it was.

As the night turned to morning it actually got surprisingly cold and we were all as close to the fire as we could be for heat. At about 5:20am we heard the morning call to prayer and decided to head back to the dorms. When we were cleaning up I realized I had left my shoes in my friend's car and she left early so I ended the night in a rather grim state. We clearly missed our 1am curfew in the dorms so not only was it 6am when I walked into the dorms but I was wrapped in a blanket without shoes. The supervisor was thoroughly confused to say the least.

Probably the most grim picture of me that exists. 5:30am on a deserted road in the desert without shoes.

Halloween was an amazing night and another one of those memories I will hold onto forever. I laughed so hard I cried more than once that night and also during our super long talks around the fire I really got to know people on a deeper level which was really nice.

Apart from Halloween, I had an amazing week! Lots of great things happened so here is a quick summary....

Wednesday I helped plan and host a screening of Girl Rising. I was able to watch the film back in the spring at Dartmouth and was super excited to have the opportunity to raise awareness of girls' education here at AUS too. We had about 50 people (which is pretty good for an AUS event) and had a nice discussion at the end. The coolest part was there were some students (and faculty) who were really encouraged by the film and wanted to get involved! I have been in touch with a few of them and we are in the process of planning a larger event in which we hope to hold a screening of Girl rising for all of University City (AUS and the surrounding universities) and get the culture clubs at AUS to get involved too. I had no idea that this event would turn into anything more but I am so excited to be a part of this movement...especially since the education gap is in the UAE's backyard.

My team showed up to support me at the Girl Rising screening..they are the best!

This week I also bought my Christmas present... a plane ticket to Jordan to see my best friend Phoebe. She is doing her study abroad there and I am incredibly excited to get to see someone from home and to get to adventure with one of my closest friends here in the Middle East. I leave Thanksgiving day so just three weeks away!

Next week's post is most likely going to be all about volleyball since that has become my life. I was asked by my coach to play with a club team in Dubai in an international tournament this weekend. I have gone to a few practices and it has been so great. I am crazy excited to play with them and to get another unique experience. Plus it is great practice for our tournament in Rome....after all we leave in 9 days!

Until next week...HAPPY NOVEMBER! As most of you adjust to below freezing temperatures and snow I will continue to progress through fall in 90 degree days with perfect summer like nights...oh the joys of living in the desert :)