Today, was an awesome day!
I actually did some pretty crazy stuff in the middle of the desert!
I went to the Al Ain Wadi Waterpark, which has just been opened for about 3 months.
Confession: I didn't know I was going to a waterpark in the first place.
When the magic question popped up, "Do you want to go white water rafting in Al Ain?"
"Yes!" I answered right away. Not a second of hesitation. After some pretty stressful months out here, I needed it.
Knowing that Al Ain is an oasis, when the guy mentioned white water rafting, the following scene popped up in my mind: Cold, serene, lush forests, big, thick, tall trees and in between them? White, foamy, bubbly, turbulent waters gushing through every corner.
It was not until the middle of the week that I found out that a water park had just opened in Al Ain. Instantly, a curious thought crossed my mind, "Ohhh... I think this is where we will be going to go white water rafting! Geez! I was conned!"
Ok. It was my fault. I should have asked. Plus, I should have put on my black hat for logical thinking. How is it possible that there'd be a river big and deep enough to hold such a huge volume of water? If it did, at fifty degrees Celcius, the river'd dry up in no time. "Come on... you gotta be smarter than that." my brain cells knocked my heart the whole day long.
"Man-made or natural, I am going to do it anyway." I told myself. "After all, don't you want to check out how real can a man-made river be?"
Come to think of it, it is pretty amazing that people can actually come up with the idea of building a river with turbulent waters, and sea-surfing? Wow! That is cool! (a.k.a. unbelievable!)
It turns out, white-water rafting is pretty much the same anywhere, man-made or not. In fact, the man-made rivers seemed more dangerous. In natural surroundings, the rocks are usually rounded, dark, covered with moss, slippery. Looking at it, you wouldn't think that it's hard. In fact, they look so welcoming that you'd think that if they could talk, they'd probably say, "Come! Lie here, bask in the sunlight and have a good rest."
Well, not in the man-made river. Here, the rocks were square and rough. You could see all the boulders cemented together and you just knew it'd turn really nasty if one knocked onto these things. Imagine the cuts and bruises. They looked menacing. Gosh! I'd better follow instructions and do as I'm told. I'd do anything to stay in the boat, not out of it.
But, there's one good thing. Because it was in the middle of the desert, near the mountains, there were no trees! So, we didn't have to duck from tree leaves and branches! We went on it 3 times! Even though it was the same 'river' course, each time became increasingly tough. Tired from all that rowing, left, right, in, out, I was only too happy to step out of the raft when it approached the 'river bank'.
The next thing I did was the zip-line. Ok, that's pretty relaxing. Just hanging on a piece of rope, cruising about 30 feet above the waters. I had so much fun that I just had to do it again and again!
THEN, as I was walking up for my 3rd time, guess what? I met Vanessa, a courageous South American lady who beckoned me to take a ride on the Giant Swing.
To be honest, I love swings. You know, those swings on the play ground which come in all shapes and sizes? Tyres on ropes, planks on ropes, or even those white garden chairs on hooks. It's a nice feeling to be pushed high up into the air, and feel such a sense of peace as it swings down and you look at the whole world around you, spinning, spinning, spinning. Then you swing up, and down, up , and down. And you wish that it'd never, ever stop. Ahh... I would always long to sit on the swing for just one more minute.
I don't know what I was doing. Maybe it was because Vanessa looked very welcoming and credible. She just radiated with this aura of confidence. "Trust me." she said. "It'll be fun! You'll see."
And I believed her. After all, I had come to release my stress and so far, I still felt all those tensed up muscles in me.Yeah... I should go. So, I inched forward as she beckoned me. Step by step, I finally reached this big piece of log. It was about 1 metre long, and it's diameter was about 12 inches. Hanging on this piece of log, were 3 'seats', or thick belts where we were supposed to sit on, and yellow piece of rope to hang onto.
The operator of the Giant Swing, began pulling the log backwards and upwards simultaneously. It was pretty amazing. Looking up, up, up, it was like being in a cable car. Then when we reached 30 feet above the ground, guess what? The guy stops in mid-air, suspends the log, and begins counting, "1!" , "2!", "3!".
Thup! The log drops and my heart lunges forward, plunging into a deep, bottomless pit. I scream on top of my lungs. Screaming for my life. I knew I couldn't shout "Stop!!! Put me down now!" no.... at this stage, that was impossible! Physics taught me that when something is moving at top speed, and you stopped it suddenly, you'd be flung very, very far away! Now, you wouldn't that to happen, would you?
Nope. So, I just sat there, hanging onto that fragile piece of plastic pipe, and yelled, "Aaaaaaarrrrrrgggggggghhhhh!!!!!" for about 3 minutes. It was so shrill that my 'neighbours' turned deaf and had to console me in the middle of the swinging, "It's all right, it's all right!" in the midst of my ear-piercing screams.
Towards the end of the swing, it became gentler and milder. I was just beginning to enjoy it and Jimmy remarks, "I'm getting sick.Quick! Stop!" and I go "No! No! I'm enjoying it!"
Boy! All that screaming? It felt good! I had wanted to scream, yell, cry, since I came to Dubai and I just didn't know how. Nothing could trigger it. This, was the perfect avenue!
At the end of the ride, Jimmy complimented me for my scream. "Wow... I have never, ever heard anybody screamed like that."
Vanessa, in her own understanding way, comfortingly said, "Yeah! She probably needed to let all that pent up emotions out of her system!"
Then they look towards the operator and said, "You're doing a great job! You must have enjoyed it!"
The operator just smiled and waved us on our way to the next adventure.
In my defense,I did a good job. Screaming,that is.
My heart is pounding really hard and fast. In fact, I could even hear it beating. My legs were wobbling.
Yet, at the end of the day, as I walked along the corridors and jingled the keys in my pocket, as I opened the doors to my new apartmnt, I just kept on smiling to myself. I can't help it. I took the Giant Swing and I am still alive! Now, ain't that something? It's incredible!
From now on, whenever I am gripped with fear, I will say to myself,"now,now, what's d worst thing that could happen? What could be worse than that Giant Swing? You rode it and you survived! Go ahead and work ur charm."
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