Emma and Sara's Excellent Freediving Adventures...

[island_sands]

Here are some photos...
Ahmed from Kuwait
The Killer's Me (deeperblue)
adolphin (deeperblue)
island_sands

 

[island_sands]

and some more...
Emma's new Riffe mask
the dive boat
Cos (one of the Sri Lankan boat captains)
the Oceanic Hotel (next to the dive centre)

 

[island_sands]

and some more... spot the black tip shark

 

[adolphin]

As soon as we got outside of ears reach after the dinner we burst into giggles and realised that the whole idea of the dinner was almost like "magazine dating"

Sorry for the disappointment sands, yes this happens alot, although it doesn't make difference in which country or what culture, it seems many men do have such a tendency (pushing sex right into every matter, well some women do as well .. ) .. but he could at least gave some effort for the reason why you came for, for ethical purposes !! :vangry

The Emirati guys are very discreet and careful about approaching foreigners. Dating Muslims is not really allowed... although they all do it.

Come on sands! you know that most Emirati guys are very bold, ok when it comes to highly positioned people they do have lots of discreet and care, but again it applies for all men of such positions in all countries, then regarding dating being not allowed for Muslims, that applies for Sunni Muslims, not the case with Shi'at as you might know (if you ever heard of the temporary marriage term, which could be diffinately used for dating purposes).

Back also to the topic. Some of our students requested that we wear hoods and gloves, so that they didn't have to touch our skin during training. (Not allowed). Emma sweated profusely in the pool training with all this gear on, but we respected local custom and beliefs. However, those beliefs were not reciprocated as the guys were staring pointedly at us in our bikinis, particularly we thought at me for obvious larger reasons - it got very uncomfortable in the end and we discussed it together at length. We didnt walk around in bikinis, it was just in the communal outside showers where everyone took off their wetsuits. There was no other place to go.

Again, I believe this has a lot to do with applying of rules, once you understand the package of rules that applies for a muslim of certain sect, you then could judge for your-self if there are any contradictions involved in his/her practises or not .. Hey! I can give you a brief session on that (the rules for different sects of Muslims) for free ofcourse .. .. it could help you in dealing with some situations that otherwise would feel realy weired

Back to the top dog !

we put the briefcase of ideas away as it seemed that we would not get anywhere with them, ate, chatted and went home

If you didn't try hard to reach somewhere with what you originaly came for, then I think you should have done it, push him to the corner, it might have worked out, so you come back home with full stomach and empty briefcase .. .. coming back with both full is tiresome I geuss .. rofl

 

[island_sands]

S

Come on sands! you know that most Emirati guys are very bold, ok when it comes to highly positioned people they do have lots of discreet and care, but again it applies for all men of such positions in all countries, then regarding dating being not allowed for Muslims, that applies for Sunni Muslims, not the case with Shi'at as you might know (if you ever heard of the temporary marriage term, which could be diffinately used for dating purposes).

I was told that foreigners/or any girls in the emirates were not allowed to date (i.e. have a physical relationship) with a local guy unless they are married. Not all Emirati guys are bold. Most of them keep their distance from me and treat me with respect. A lot of it boils down to how much you allow people to misbehave with you.

Again, I believe this has a lot to do with applying of rules, once you understand the package of rules that applies for a muslim of certain sect, you then could judge for your-self if there are any contradictions involved in his/her practises or not .. Hey! I can give you a brief session on that (the rules for different sects of Muslims) for free ofcourse .. .. it could help you in dealing with some situations that otherwise would feel realy weired

Yes, and those rules should apply EQUALLY to both parties. You cannot impose a rule on someone, ask them to cover up so you cannot touch them, and then have a double standard, by not respecting that person yourself and staring pointedly at their breasts.

If you didn't try hard to reach somewhere with what you originaly came for, then I think you should have done it, push him to the corner, it might have worked out, so you come back home with full stomach and empty briefcase .. .. coming back with both full is tiresome I geuss .. rofl

No need to push him into a corner, I am quite aware of what's worthwhile doing and in what moment and what time. It was not the right moment or situation. There is a time and place for everything. And when it comes to business and professionalism with Arabs I do not use sex, partying, or any other way to gain attention. If the ambience had been set at a formal pace then possibly some ideas could have been discussed. It was obvious from the start that it was not.

I am not a fool, so don't believe for a second that I am unaware of a lot of things in this country. I have been living in Islamic countries (Maldives, UAE, Iran, and Muslim areas in South Africa) for over 10 years and I am well aware of the culture. I might be very friendly, smile a lot and laugh a lot, but I am more aware of what is going on around me than is apparent.

I will leave this conversation right here as it's not a discussion for this forum.

See you for the next dives,

Cheers
Sara

 

[joe123321]

cool pictures, glad you had fun

 

[SpeerO]

Sara and Emma, thanx for everything... it sure was a great time. Sorry for humping the whale shark and making him bolt.. i owe u one At least u got to touch the seal if u know wot i mean.. Ow Ow Ouuwrofl

Sara ill see u again in Fujaira for finishing up my dive.
Emma.. ill see u in Greece


Zane...

 

[Kars]

Well Sara, I think it's just natural to get a stare at your beautifull curves, especially when the guy has seen next to nothing that inspires his sexuality.

Not so long ago in Europe it was the same here, when ladies where indecent to show her enkles, that's why it's proper custom to acent the stairs in front of a lady.

Like many have noticed, people invent 'rational' tricks to get around dogma imposed by priest and the likes. Nothing new here either

Have fun diving, and have a good laugh viewing the situation and all the people who're so inventive to 'outsmart' the current dogma/culture/system, in a way it's encouraging, daring, sweet and tender

Perhabs returning to a more ontopic with these questions:

Have you had any funny, beautifull, extraordinairy, dives?
How deep do you usually go?
What is diving like over there?

Love, peace and water,

Kars

 

[samdive]

know exactly what you mean Sara from spending so much time in Egypt... mind you the guys back home aren't a whole lot better ; )

and as with anything there are plenty of exceptions to the rules, met more than a handful of very respectful, fun (rather than scary) Egyptian guys in the last few years

S

 

[Kars]

What's wrong with a bit of playfull flirting Samanta?

It seems to me that all parties enjoy it and engage in it
Anyone can join or retread from this nice dance. And this tread rocks because it's playfull and light in nature

And as you noticed correctly, people have more in common than some expect, so this tread can also been seen as an educational one LOL.

Hopefully see your around!

Kars

 

[BennyB]

Ogling at women is the one thing that keeps me sane in life. They don't call it being "attractive" for nothing...

Sam - when's the next bikini dive off at Chepstow?

 

[samdive]

ha ha - flirting in context is one thing

flirting when you are in the middle of a stressful working day and just trying to walk down the street/get a cab/sit in an internet cafe and file a report to the office is quite another....

most of the Egyptian guys never quite grasped the difference....

Ogling - now that's something else entirely! and Sara can't object because from what I heard one of her students had pretty nice pecs that didn't exactly go unnoticed!!

 

[shoutatthesky]

Go Sara!! Respect!!!!

 

[Kars]

"most of the Egyptian guys never quite grasped the difference...."

A key observation I think. Timing is important, some say the most important thing.

Well men, you've heard what the lady said, it's time to put on those hard monofins and do some double-time extra laps so we at least have the oppertunity and pleasure of saying: "hey girl what are you gazing at?"

However to enjoy the worship of our hard labour we need to be very clever! Because the laydies are often so subtile and tactfull. Use mirroring objects and irregular behaviour to detect the stares of those 'naughty' girls Than you may experience too the need to defend your bodily domain from the many babes whom seek your intrest!

ROFL!

Kars

 

[Marwan]

"most of the Egyptian guys never quite grasped the difference...."
so filing a report to the police is actually NOT a sign of acceptance, now im all messed up and confused rofl, first they tell me leo wasnt actually on board the titanic and now this maaan

 

[adolphin]

Here are some photos...
Ahmed from Kuwait
The Killer's Me (deeperblue)
adolphin (deeperblue)
island_sands

Hmmmmm! .. where is adolphin sara ? .. you don't mean the one trying to rescue Emma (practice drill) .. this is not me is it? ..

 

[island_sands]

Hmmmmm! .. where is adolphin sara ? .. you don't mean the one trying to rescue Emma (practice drill) .. this is not me is it? ..

i thought you were the one in the black hood with your back to the camera.

 

[island_sands]

What's wrong with a bit of playfull flirting Samanta?

It seems to me that all parties enjoy it and engage in it
Anyone can join or retread from this nice dance. And this tread rocks because it's playfull and light in nature

The flirting and staring is fine... but when someone imposes on you and insists that you dress differently in order not to touch their skin, and does not play the same game and blatantly stares at you (not playing by his own rules...) then it's unfair and quite annoying

Kars you should come and visit, Dubai is fantastic! Emma is going to release an article soon

 

[adolphin]

i thought you were the one in the black hood with your back to the camera.

.. I had a skin suit that is red on one side with a long john wetsuit on top of it, the wetsuit in the picture looks like one piece, I think it's someone else .. it's amazing to see that all freedivers look the same when we don't look deeply into the details, just like all diving mammals ..

 

[adolphin]

I am not a fool, so don't believe for a second that I am unaware of a lot of things in this country. I have been living in Islamic countries (Maldives, UAE, Iran, and Muslim areas in South Africa) for over 10 years and I am well aware of the culture. I might be very friendly, smile a lot and laugh a lot, but I am more aware of what is going on around me than is apparent.

I can see sands that you are quit upset, in most cases even if the one of us stays for years in contact with another culture, he/she won't be realy understanding it enough, most of us wouldn't ask too many questions to try to understand the culture, instead we would try to interpret what's going on around us in the same way we learn a foriegn language by listening, although a very effective way for linguistics because we listen and talk as well (two way full interaction) but not effective in understanding a different culture since we don't realy immerse ourselves in that culture like being one. So, you don't want to take advantage of the special offer? you think you already understand dear Sara, no problem ..

The flirting and staring is fine... but when someone imposes on you and insists that you dress differently in order not to touch their skin, and does not play the same game and blatantly stares at you (not playing by his own rules...) then it's unfair and quite annoying

Not playing by his own rules, and double standard is unfair and quite annoying, I agree with you completely.

See you for the next dives .. .. Cheers