We'll always have Youssef.

Well I dropped Guy off at the airport yesterday.  After four months, he decided he wanted to be with his kids after they asked him to return home.  I can’t say his time here was an overwhelming success, but it wasn’t an abject failure either.  I’m a little disappointed because I expected a bit more.  Now, to celebrate having my own place again, (I let him stay for free) I walked around the flat in my underwear most of the day.  It is quiet, but I can crank my worship music again.  Anytime you have a friend live with you its going to test the bounds of your relationship.  That certainly happened.  There were some difficult moments especially since I was his supervisor.  But as I dropped him off at the airport, we embraced and I told him, “We’ll always have Youssef.”  It was quite a funny line, especially if you’ve seen Casablanca.  Youssef was our drunk Austrian friend who always managed to find us to be on our team at Quiz night.  He knew neither of us drank, so when we won the rounds we’d give our free drink coupons to him.  There were some good memories with Guy here, I’ll stick to remembering those.  I certainly am envious of the way his children desired a relationship with him still.  But I know that time will come with me…soon.

I was on a high yesterday because I bought a kayak.  I have wanted one for months.  So I finally got around to getting it.  I’ve never owned a kayak so I didn’t really know what to look for.  I wound up getting the cheapest, smallest one man kayak the store had.  It still put me back about $400.  So I was looking forward to taking it into Juffair Bay (part of the Gulf) all day.  I didn’t want to go out into the heat of the day.  It was upwards of 110 F.  today, but dry.  So I took it around 3 when it was only about 100 F. 

I drove to the beach, which is about a one minute drive from my flat.  I parked next to a van.  I noticed a whole bunch of Filipinos standing outside the van on the shore.  I wasn’t really sure what they were doing.  So I threw my kayak into the water.  Hopped on, and promptly fell right over into the water.  I hopped on again, and boom right into the water again.  I couldn’t figure out how to stay afloat on this thing.  I bought the type of kayak that rests on top of the water, not the one where you fit inside.  I was just having a hard time getting my balance, almost like having to learn how to ride a bike. With my weight at about 200 there was only about 3-4 inches above the water line.  But the kayak is designed to expel water automatically. 

After about fifteen times into the bay, I was getting a little embarrassed.  Surely the Filipinos were back there laughing at me.  Look at the funny white guy that can’t figure out how to ride a boat.  Well…I finally did get the hang of it.  The water is very shallow, about 2-3 feet deep, so that helped me get in and out of the kayak several times.  When I finally was upwards and slowly moving out, I paddled past three Filipinos in the water.  I was paddling by a baptism.  All the Filipinos were from a church group getting baptized.  I felt really stupid then.  I hope I didn’t ruin the sanctity of their event.  If not, Im certain that I probably amused them. 

So once I got going, it was slow but steady, I didn’t fall in again.  The bay has a giant fountain that shoots water some 50 meters in the air.  Its quite a majestic site.  My goal was to make it out there circle around and come back.  I didn’t want to push myself too hard on the first day.  So I made it out to the fountain. On the way back, I realized, I was going against the tide.  On the way out I was going with the tide, so I thought it was easier than it actually was.  By now, I was nearly exhausted, and I still had ½ way to go back.  I thought I was in shape.  As far as the upper body is concerned, this is probably the best shape that I’ve been in….since ever…I never really worked out the upper body.  When I exercised before, I was always a lower body workout.  I was a marathon runner way way way back.  So I never really bothered with the arms til I became single again and wanted to try to impress the girls.  Pretty shallow, I know.  So even though I was fit, I was really struggling with the current.  I would paddle for about fifty strokes, then have to take a break.  Fifty then break, so on and so on.  I bought the kayak so I could get a work out, and I certainly got one of those.  So I finally made it back to the shore. Mercifully the Filipinos were gone by then.  So I had a shred of my dignity back.  Oh by the way.  The water was amazing.  Crystal Clear like you might see in the tropics and white sand.  The water was somewhere around 85 F.  So falling into the drink wasn’t so unpleasant at all.  Did I learn my lesson?  No, I’m going to take it out again tomorrow.  Even though it was a struggle, how cool is that Im kayaking in the Persian Gulf in crystal clear 85 degree water in front of a beautiful and majestic fountain, all the while maintaining this quiet prayerful worship/dialogue with God.  Life today…was pretty darn good.