It was a paradox that i finished two of my bucketlist wishes in dubai . First was to touch snow and second was to touch a real firearm . And the third one to see the face behind the veil . (dont misunderstand :) )
I went to ski dubai , one of the largest indoor skiing facilities in the world .And yes its in the middle of the desert kingdom and thats a big paradox . With minus 2 degrees my first reaction on seeing the snow was to touch and feel it . It was an amazing feeling for a person who comes from a place which never snows even in the winter . For once i wished i was a child because the children around were giving me stares when i scooped up a handful of snow . So i left it at that . Ski lesssons were amazing when i realised half the class they were teaching how to walk on snow , and how to get up when you fall .
Walking lessons went well at snails pace . And i and my relative (who was my adventure company ) managed very well . I even had to help out a girl who had difficulty walking on snow . Confidence started building up . And when the guy in front of me fell down many metres down i was helping him out with instructions as told by the instructor on how to get up from snow . I was as frustrated as him when he couldnt, even after few minutes ,and instructor had to save him . I was even thinking how he cant even follow the simple instructions told by the instructor and all my verbal help . (i couldnt go and save him as it was a slope down )
Soon my turn came and in james bond style as in the movies i glided down the small slope for beginners . Even glided like james bond for 2 seconds . But then crashed down totally flat on the slope . And thankful to snow god that few people saw it (hopefully ) but more importantly had a divine enlightenment . I struggled for a full 5 minutes to get up and couldnt and then realised advising people is easy but only when you encounter it you know the difficulties . So never advise anybody including in blogs :)
0.22 rimfire rifles are fun . They are like airguns but much more powerful . But shooting them is easier as recoil is manageable and if you are an ok shot you manage to hit the target . Then the chance came in the sharjah shooting club to fire a 9 mm handgun . Having built confidence after the rifle i took on this challenge . Each shot was a mini explosion in the hand and for once i had great admiration for the policemen who use these guns for peacekeeping purposes . I was more amazed when the 25 bullets fired hit reasonably randomly compared to the rifle shot . For a firsttimer it was ok but the lesson learnt was never underestimate anything . If you are good at one thing and proud dont assume a similar thing will be equally easy .
And lastly the veil stuff .. I always wanted to see how an arab girl looks like . Just curiosity . Having visited other GCC country where many are veiled including face and arabs are generally hostile towards even a casual glance at their women . I was particular that i will just observe at least one arab girl for one second . What started as a glance for one second continued for the full ten days not only observing (remember not staring ) arab women but arab men and children . I was curious and thrilled to find with all the stereotypes the emirati men were looking after children quite well (at least in public ) , emirati women were gorgeous ( as if you wanted my opinion ) and children were much more well behaved than in some other GCC countries . I later learnt emirati arabs are much more dignified than others .
So having finished 3 on my bucketlist and having been very impressed by the vision of the dubai rulers to bring snow into this desert kingdom as well as the tallest building on earth the burj kalifa , etc i came back in one piece to my india . I told you dont misunderstand me , i was decent throughout , including the observations and handholding in snow walking , so landed back in one piece .
I went to ski dubai , one of the largest indoor skiing facilities in the world .And yes its in the middle of the desert kingdom and thats a big paradox . With minus 2 degrees my first reaction on seeing the snow was to touch and feel it . It was an amazing feeling for a person who comes from a place which never snows even in the winter . For once i wished i was a child because the children around were giving me stares when i scooped up a handful of snow . So i left it at that . Ski lesssons were amazing when i realised half the class they were teaching how to walk on snow , and how to get up when you fall .
Walking lessons went well at snails pace . And i and my relative (who was my adventure company ) managed very well . I even had to help out a girl who had difficulty walking on snow . Confidence started building up . And when the guy in front of me fell down many metres down i was helping him out with instructions as told by the instructor on how to get up from snow . I was as frustrated as him when he couldnt, even after few minutes ,and instructor had to save him . I was even thinking how he cant even follow the simple instructions told by the instructor and all my verbal help . (i couldnt go and save him as it was a slope down )
Soon my turn came and in james bond style as in the movies i glided down the small slope for beginners . Even glided like james bond for 2 seconds . But then crashed down totally flat on the slope . And thankful to snow god that few people saw it (hopefully ) but more importantly had a divine enlightenment . I struggled for a full 5 minutes to get up and couldnt and then realised advising people is easy but only when you encounter it you know the difficulties . So never advise anybody including in blogs :)
0.22 rimfire rifles are fun . They are like airguns but much more powerful . But shooting them is easier as recoil is manageable and if you are an ok shot you manage to hit the target . Then the chance came in the sharjah shooting club to fire a 9 mm handgun . Having built confidence after the rifle i took on this challenge . Each shot was a mini explosion in the hand and for once i had great admiration for the policemen who use these guns for peacekeeping purposes . I was more amazed when the 25 bullets fired hit reasonably randomly compared to the rifle shot . For a firsttimer it was ok but the lesson learnt was never underestimate anything . If you are good at one thing and proud dont assume a similar thing will be equally easy .
And lastly the veil stuff .. I always wanted to see how an arab girl looks like . Just curiosity . Having visited other GCC country where many are veiled including face and arabs are generally hostile towards even a casual glance at their women . I was particular that i will just observe at least one arab girl for one second . What started as a glance for one second continued for the full ten days not only observing (remember not staring ) arab women but arab men and children . I was curious and thrilled to find with all the stereotypes the emirati men were looking after children quite well (at least in public ) , emirati women were gorgeous ( as if you wanted my opinion ) and children were much more well behaved than in some other GCC countries . I later learnt emirati arabs are much more dignified than others .
So having finished 3 on my bucketlist and having been very impressed by the vision of the dubai rulers to bring snow into this desert kingdom as well as the tallest building on earth the burj kalifa , etc i came back in one piece to my india . I told you dont misunderstand me , i was decent throughout , including the observations and handholding in snow walking , so landed back in one piece .
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