Ice Hockey in the Desert

One of our favorite things about living overseas is doing things that are a bit out of the ordinary.  The Kuwait Touristic Enterprises heard that there was a US National Guard Battalion from Minnesota stationed at a nearby base, so they asked if they wanted to participate in a "tournament."  Always up for a game regardless of skill or experience, the Army National Guard said yes and thus the Inagural Desert Classic was born.

Prior to the start of the games there were photo ops, and singing of both national anthems.

Then the Kuwait team unfurled this banner:

There were three teams from the US (White Knights, Blue Lines and Crimson Tide) and the Kuwait International team.  There were 3 games of 2 20-minute periods. First game was the White Knights (US) vs. Blue Lines (US) and it was tied at the end of regulations with the Blue Lines winning in a shootout.  The second game was the Kuwait National team vs. Crimson Tide and it wasn't even close; Kuwait won 8-0.  The final game was the winner of the first game vs. the winner of the second game, so Blue Lines v. Kuwait.  It was after 9PM, so we didn't stay, but I understand that Kuwait won 15-0.  We found out later that it was televised live on Kuwaiti TV and apparently we were on camera.  Might have to check out YouTube to see if it is out there.  :)

Here is a video clip about the event from the Army National Guard's Facebook Page: Army Video

One of the highlights of the evening was Gavin making friends with some local boys by meowing.  Yes, you read that correctly.  Every time someone tried to talk to him, he would meow in response.  They thought he was HILARIOUS.