So lets continue from just after we escaped that scam artist near the Sphinx :) there was so much excitement in that one day to just write one post . When we left we headed back through that rough area and we were in a rush to make our 7 pm ice time in Genena Mall .... things were going crazy though with all the messages flowing in over that picture of me in front of the pyramid with my gear on so time was just moving way too fast and it was hard keeping up . We had to eat and the boys needed to smoke a sheesha as people do here in Egypt so we ordered these shawarma plates that have rice in them which I can't remember the name of for the life of me :) regardless the food was fantastic and we enjoyed a minutes rest or so to say . We were automatically running late and for some reason there was either no urgency or we just couldn't keep up with time ?
We had to pick up the nets from the rink in Maadi right around corner from the sheesha joint and then drive something like 45 minutes in traffic . Apparently ice times here are not set in stone :) we arrived at the mall around 8 pm or so .... over and hour late for puck drop and the rink and the nets got put together. Just like any mall rink the heat will definitely be an issue especially with my gear on ... all 60 pounds of it ! Most people don't realize how heavy this gear is lol 😂 anyways the ice rink in Genena Mall seems a bit bigger then the one in Maadi but as you see there is a net around the rink that wouldn't be as high as glass and doesn't really catch anything and is not very secure . The kicker is that from what I hear this rink used to have glass but they removed it for some reason or other .... confusing ? Yes ! You know that puck is gonna clock a bystander or break some glass someday hahaha ... well not so funny if someone gets hurt .
You can see in all the pics that the nets are loosely fit around the rink and the only real solution is to bolt some permanent netting as it's open air above with a few levels of viewing in the upper floors . This rink is on the ground floor of the mall so you can watch from all the floors above us and basically the roof of the mall is the roof of the rink . Probably not gonna have any pucks go up that high but some form of protective netting needs to be secured to enable the guys full range of puck blasting hahaha ! We didn't have like 18 skaters show up this night but there was still around 10 or 12 for 3 on 3 hockey that's great . The guys took some time to get the game going with discussions over using 2 full size nets or 1 with the half nets they have as the other which was the final decision .
We drew a crowd of onlookers in the mall which was great and you would hope one or two will consider wanting to try the game someday . Some guys played with no helmets which I still say is ridiculous and unfortunately I didn't bring enough to distribute to others . Maybe I didn't bring enough gear 😥 .... hopefully someone else will follow suit and bring some gear with them in the future ? Maybe the NHL or IIHF or some other larger charity can help here or maybe I should come back but the bottom line is ice hockey here in Egypt 🇪🇬 needs all the help they can get .... so don't be shy if you're reading this ! Our other goalie today was a girl named Yasmina who also played in Saudi Arabia and is fully kitted out and playing her butt off . This girl is truly amazing and I am very impressed with her enthusiasm for the game .
Yasmina is pictured above with me . I hope I didn't startle the woman that took this pic when I almost fell through the netting on way off the ice midway through our 1.5 hour skate as I was going through the dehydration of playing in a hot country in a mall . My body just can't keep the water I'm chugging in my body and I'm sweating more then just profusely .... break time sorted me out and taking off my clavicle guard helped with the heat a bit . Not many of the guys can rifle pucks like pros here and even if they could they can't with this crazy netting around rink . Really it's a shame they took the glass off around the rink but at least they have ice here .
After the match we took everything apart and packed Ahmed's car with nets and all the gear along with Ayman uncomfortably in the back seat and we drove to Sun City mall to drop the gear there so we might not be so late for tomorrow's ice time . We had to clear everything through security at this mall and when we dropped the gear we went to the old part of the city which is within these fortified walls . I found this Egyptian oil Kathleen wanted with the help of my friends and then went for a bite to eat at 2 am . This is dinner time here ! Yes for us westerners this is sleeping time but here in the desert heat people don't go out much during day and the streets are filled with locals enjoying life . Children are still out playing at this time also which always seems off when I was a child that age I was forced to bed about 4 or 5 hours earlier hahahah but things are so different here as they should be .
After we had our road side spicy sausages which were way too spicy , we made our way to a popular sheesha place and of course when I was introduced to the server as a Canadian he called me Canada Dry which seems to be an ongoing nickname for Canucks here lol ! When we left it was around 4 am and that was the end of that day .....
Later on I will find the time to write about the ice time at Sun City Mall . Time for some much needed rest .
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