Maa fi petrol? Maa fi mushkulah!

I went on a trip this past weekend (weekends are on Thursdays and Fridays). 12 of us in the program went on a camping trip organized by one of the guys' host dad. After school we went straight to the beach ready to go with our gear and tons of food and water. We were ready by 4 and we sat and waited...and waited...and then waited. The sun went down and we were still waiting. Then Grahm's dad showed up, but the men weren't there so we waited a little more. Around 9 they came and we all gathered around a small boat with a motor that we had piled all of our stuff in. Then we all ran the small boat into the ocean. Then we all got in. With the weight of our luggage in addition to us, the boat was low to the water and waves were crashing in over the sides. We drifted a little ways out to sea (I don't think any of us were fully comprehending the situation we were in) as the men worked to start the engine. It just wouldn't start. Amongst the unidentified Arabic, I recognized one phrase that summed up the entire problem - "Maa fi petrol!"...Oh! Ok...so we just don't have any gas. I was expecting us to paddle our way back to shore, when they told us to jump out of the boat. We did. One of the drivers (around 16 years old) began swimming back to shore to retrieve the much needed petrol, as the rest of us proceeded to bail water out of the boat that seemed to be filling up quickly. One of us asked how long of a ride it was to the island, and the answer...40 min. People began to doubt the entire trip at this point, but we stuck with it. 20 min later, the 16 yr old returned and filled up the boat. It wasn't much longer until we were on our way. 20 min into the boat ride (which was beautiful with the ocean, the stars the occasional smugglers from Iran) the boat just stopped. There were only minutes of tension until the roar of the engine killed the silence. We passed by one other boat that was close enough to see who we were. It must have been a puzzling sight for them - 12 young Americans crammed into a small boat in the middle of the night between the gulf and Iran (Just not your typical scene). We finally arrived on the island to find we were not the only ones with the intention of spending the night there. We ate like royalty that night; shrimp kabobs, hamburgers, roasted apples, s'mores...wonderful. All the while listening to the music we missed the most. By the time we cleaned up, it was already 1 am and we were all tired, not to mention everything we owned was sandy and wet but passed out on mats anyway.
The next morning I woke up with the sun around 4 am. I was freezing cold (I haven't known this for a long time) and so I walked along the beach with the sunrise to warm up. I woke up again around 6 am (felt like 12). I helped make breakfast...I'm getting better at cooking out of necessity, and went snorkeling around the island. We saw a turtle, some fish, some coral and swam through an opening in the rock to some pools and caves that I later could walk through after the tide went down. Our boat was late to pick us up and we were all in bad moods; tired, hot, sun burned, hungry. When the men finally arrived I thought some of us were going to attack them because they decided they wanted an hour break of just sitting around. We finally set off, after taking 10 min of trying to start the engine. It started thankfully and we were on our way home. On the way, one of the men threw fish to seagulls. At first there was a following of 2, but by the time we reached Muscat there were about 7 of them snatching fish out of the air. We also stopped again half way, but this time just to randomly fish a little. By the time we reached the shore, and pushed the boat up to its resting spot it was dark. Two of the others in my group who live close to me and I walked 3 km (about 30 min) to the nearest souk to find a taxi. We were so hungry and tired and carrying heavy luggage. No taxi wanted to take us considering it was dinner time and they wanted to go home too. Just then, one taxi rolled up. Scott told him where we needed to go and gave him a low price. The driver agreed immediately - no haggling. As I stepped into the car, I felt as though I was stepping into a spa. There was frankincense burning and the cab was clean. We all were talking and the next thing I knew he was taking us for meshcock on him. By the time I was dropped off at my house, I was feeling much better.
All in all it was a wonderful weekend and even though, my phone fell victim to the ocean as a result, I had a great time.