**HATTA**

So, in December, one of my colleagues demanded that I not work the whole day of Saturday and join their trek to Hatta. While I assume that means we would be dune bashing, I was completely wrong- it is the milder, mountainous region of the UAE, near the border of Oman. So, we have a lovely early afternoon of driving through the area and seeing the local sites and then stopping for lunch.

This would be where I ran out of camera battery but the pictures are OK nonetheless. So, we set up a little camp for lunch in the Wadi. A new thing I learned is that a Wadi is is a valley and in some cases, it can refer to a dry riverbed that contains water only during times of heavy rain. Interesting.

So, we finish lunch and it seems that instantly everyone is rushing around to break camp and pack up. I asked what was going on and my coworkers informed me that they didn't like the dark clouds over Oman at that moment because if it rained too hard there, the exact place we were having lunch would be hit with a flash flood; the prior year 13 people had died in the same . I am instantly motivated to the point that they are no longer moving fast enough for me. They inquired as to my new found nagging and I simply reply, "If you knew my friends then you would understand. I moved the the Middle East and live in a desert. If I die in a flash flood, they will never let that go!!"

I heart my friends. They raise the bar.