In the desert.... Along with the (gi)s, bokkens, and (Jo)s (Day 1)

It wouldn't be true if I could mention that iI've lived flashes of my dreams last Friday, these two days made it possible for me to picture my life in the future, where nature and aikido would make the perfect blend. I've never been to the desert for such a useful cause other than releasing out the stress and issues to put my mind in peace. However, this time it was not just for the relaxation, but for the training too, and it was not as easy as I've imagined.

We've arrived at noon with a party of six along with three 4x4 vehicles filled with plenty of various supplies enough for two days. Fortunately, the camp was as same as we left it in the last trip, the stones around the firepit, and the extra wood that we discarded were there like no body bothered to steal them since last November. As soon as we arrived there, me and sensei Atif decided to go hiking up to the fossil rock spot, while the others preffered to bash the dunes. The fossil rock was beyond our vision, so we planned to head to the small mountains and from there we change the direction right to the spot. These mountains seemed close to my vision, but I started to deny the distance as soon as we kept approaching. The sand beneath us was as hot as a frying pan in such a degree for me to believe that I would have my own crispy roasted feet for dinner. We went on moving for about forty minutes, and the mountains could never get any closer, this was the point where most of my energy was wasted, I desperately needed the water that was in Atif's bag, but the enthusiasm and persistance in moving on that I saw on Atif made me feel embarrassed to ask for some, like it was way too early to take a rest and drink.

We arrived at the mountains, and unexpectingly Atif continued to climb it, It can't be helped anyways so I managed to just lay down on a rock until he reaches the top, which seemed impossible in my opinion, but not until I heard his scream to take a picture of him at the top of the mountain. It might sound funny, but the camera could'nt zoom in any further to make him look larger that a pixel.

He stayed there while I was digging my own grave until he yelled asking me to meet him on the other side of the mountain. I pushed my self to move, Althought I was breathing dust, I spent the whole time praying and asking god to drop the rain, unluckily, such miracles never happen to me.

The first thing that I asked for when I met Atif was a sip from the bottle, I was amazed that the bottle was almost full, which made me admire Atif with such stamina (mashallah!) to keep up, and it was the reason for me to take a tiny sip as a form of respect. We switched directions heading to the fossil rock, It seemed to me that it was just a matter of few dunes, and luckily it was! With all the energy I had left over, I kept moving until I saw the other cars which made me sigh in relief. It was not a planned reunion, but looks like god have answered my prayers. Water have never had a value until that moment, that litre of water streamed my veins until my body felt alive again~