Saturday, August 23, 2008

USA vs. Brazil.... and other stuff

Saw the volleyball finals this afternoon and, boy, was it good!! The women were neck in neck for most of the game... altho, Brazil did pull ahead in the first quarter, the US won the 2nd and then Brazil won at the end.... they were so happy. I just love to see teams (individuals) so happy when they win a gold medal. Seems like such a long time ago that I'd see players crying when their national anthem was playing. I don't think I've seen such in a good while. This year... not once have I seen it. Shoot... I cry and I'm not even playing!! :)

Pretty soon the Olympics will be coming to an end. It's been a good year. China has really competed well... winning several gold medals and showing true sportsmanship - even in the face of controversy - w/ reports that a few of their gymnasts are 14, when the age of an Olympian has to be 16. Even w/ this said, I'm really happy they had a chance to shine and that so many countries were able to win gold medals for the first time ever.

I really enjoyed watching the power lifting. Saw a friend's countrymen doing well and felt really happy when China won at least two gold medals in this competition. I also really enjoyed watching track and field... boy, that Jamaican guy can run!! Did anyone see him running the 200M?!! Wow!!! As the announcer on Dubai Sports says, "Ya Salam" (wow)!! I heard that many times today while the volleyball game was going on! ;) I thoroughly enjoyed seeing the Russian woman winning at the pole volt. She broke her own world record, matter of fact. That was exciting stuff... lemme tell ya!! The one thing I did regret was not being able to see more gymnastics. Seemed like I might have been the only one in this part of the world really interested because Dubai Sports wasn't interested in showing too much of it... but oh well.

I also missed some of the best swimming competitions as well. Was talking to my sister on the telephone one morning - my time - and she was right in the middle of watching one competition, which was taped, and I had missed all of it. It was when Phelps was winning big time, so I was a bit down about that. I did catch a lot of diving, which I love... and, again, China was kicking butt w/ that.

Soon it'll be over and my world will be back to normal :'( ... Olympicless... so sad.

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I will add, on a personal note, that I have reconnected w/ my older sister after two (edit: I'd say it's been more like 4, after seriously thinking about it) years, and I'm really happy about this. My younger sister was instrumental in helping this along, and if it hadn't been for her, don't think it would have happened so soon if at all because I am one stubborn thing when it comes to matters of the heart.

I've really missed talking to her over the last couple of years... finding myself longing to call her many a day, but didn't, and only wishing that we were close like before.... but now, things are ok again. I made the initial call to her. I think it was around 3:00 a.m. her time... and when she answered the phone, I couldn't even talk. My voice cracked and that was it. I knew if I tried to carry on a conversation, all to be heard would be tears/sobs of joy... but when you're in the midst of such, they don't sound so joyful, now do they?!!

My mother is there visiting w/ her right now and flies back to Florida to spend the rest of her summer w/ her sister, my auntie. Gosh, it's been forever since seeing my auntie... something like .... gosh, I don't know, probably 20 years!!! No kidding. The last time I saw her, I was a teenager. She moved to Florida w/ her husband and that's the last I saw of her. She has since visited my sister in California and I was able to talk to her on Skype, which was good, but ain't it weird how no matter how long it's been, there's still something that connects family. I can truly say that I hardly know her now, but am starting to get to know her again through emailing and pictures... and I'm really happy for it.

Ramadan is almost upon us. This year I will be cooking at home and treating my own family to good home cooking and homemade desserts. I'm excited for many reasons... the main one, our family can start our own tradition w/ respect to Ramadan and it really tickles me that it has the possibility of becoming truly special and, two, I don't have to put up w/ any outside 'stuff'.... if you know what I mean?!! :)

7 comments:

The Moody Minstrel said...

The Beijing Olympics were certainly interesting. I actually felt myself burning out on Olympics in the past, but this one really kept me engaged, helped in part by Japan's excellent, multi-channel (with different events on each channel) coverage and also by the sheer unpredictable nature of this year's Games.

I'll be doing my own post on the subject soon.

I didn't know you had another sister besides the amazing Jahooni!

Christopher said...

It pleases me to know that you are reconnecting with family. life is WAY too damned short, if I don't say so myself!

L_Oman said...

We watched the closing ceremony yesterday and wow! Who can ever out-do China with that celebration?!? I wasn't so impressed when London had their 'show' but, I can't say enough about China! Can you imagine being there? WOW!

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About your sis - tell me how you got the nerve to reconnect, because I'm in the same boat that you were in. I thought sisterly relationships would get easier as we get older, but totally not the case... :(

Um Naief said...

moody, can't wait to read your post on the event. i was quite impressed w/ china and so many other countries. russia really had some great athletes this year... but they always do, really... but for some reason, like you, there was a difference this year. and yep, i have two sisters and two brothers!! :) just haven't spoken to my older sis in a while.

kissy, you're right... time passes by too quickly for stuff like this. i'm glad i took the initiative and didn't let my pride get in the way this time around.

l_oman, nerve?? well, i think it was more about pride w/ me and getting over anger. we had a falling out after i moved here and since i'm so far away, it was easy to keep the distance between us, even though there were many days when i wanted to close that gap... i just didn't. i'm glad i finally got over it and made the call, but it wasn't w/out urging and pressure from my other sister. sometimes i think that it's easy to do once the initial fear is gone. pick up the phone and call... sometimes that's all it takes unless it's a really big issue and then the wounds can go much deeper... and you're right, you'd think that w/ maturity that sisters would get along better, but i still fight w/ my younger sister like no tomorrow... i think we just get over it faster... well, on days. ;)

Jahooni said...

your welcome ;)~

Rock Chef said...

Interesting to see you making plans for Ramadan. I assume that you will be following the rules for Ramadan with some interesting extras - please share!

Olivia said...

I didn't know you had a younger sister, but then I guess if you had lost the connection there would be no reason for you to mention her out of the blue.

But I'm glad you're reconsolidating your family ties - especially now that Naief is here so he can grow up knowing his relatives.

As for the Olympics, I did not really follow them again this year - Athens was so good it sort of levelled it for me. I can't think why, but then I prefer the winter olympics.