Next day we woke up at a nice time but still relatively early. We went down and enjoyed the breakfast buffet. I very much enjoyed the arab foods as it felt like home. (Egyptian food is still better). After that we went back upstairs to our hotel rooms and prepared for our trip to the dead sea. Me and Darius ran up to our room and packed our duffles and headed back down in preparation for the ride to the Dead Sea. The bus ride was very scenic and beautiful. We knew we were going to the Dead Sea but we didn’t know exactly where because we would have to eat at a hotel and stay there for the day. TURNS OUT IT WAS THE MARRIOTT. It was such a lovely location and had amazing facilities and a view of the Dead Sea. We looked around for a little bit and made our way down to the Dead Sea. We got into our swimwear and ran into the water but were still wary about the water. I had quite a few cuts around my body so the highly concentrated salt water stung a lot. But I absolutely loved the experience. I was able to float around effortlessly and it was amazing. All the other guys enjoyed it too. It was also nice because we had the Lincoln Leopards with us. After swimming in the Dead Sea for a while we got out to put the mud on our bodies. A Marriott employee came down and brought us multiple clay pots full of the famous mud. We all applied to ourselves and each other, it eventually became a mudball fight. It was fun and it was healthy for the skin. But washing it off was a pain since the showers were freezing cold and I had applied so much. Then we walked back up into the main part of the Marriot and jumped into the pool. We did some shenanigans and just fooled around. Eventually we got out and split into different groups. I went with Darius and Ben, we found some sunbeds and just chilled on them with the towels over our bodies and head, soaking up the sun and texting back home.

Not too long afterwards, lunch was ready. Honestly the food wasn’t that great but the dining hall was beautiful. We got unlimited soft drinks which was great. After eating we went downstairs and made our way to the outside part of the Marriot again where we played a few rounds of hide and seek and messed around the hotel. 

After an hour and a half of random shenanigans we were called back to get ready to board the buses and get back to the hotel. Again, the drive was very scenic and I really enjoyed the views. Once arriving back at the hotel we had another team talk and me and a lot of the other guys decided to hit the gym in the hotel and get a run and workout in. I did a 30 minute jog and did some free weights. The weights were light as I didn’t want to accumulate muscle pain a day prior to the tournament. After the workout I made my way back to the hotel room and showered off. The workout was fun and I got to talk more and workout with some Lincoln friends. One especially called Pavlo. After the shower I prepared for dinner and enjoyed the buffet. This time I went to bed early in preparation for the next long tournament day ahead.