Before we left, I asked what happens if racers have run-ins with law enforcement since it would be pretty easy to violate social norms or laws that we are unaware of or unfamiliar with. The answer was that nothing very significant has happened – a guy misunderstood a Japanese menu and ordered an $800 steak; police got called but his team treasurer resolved the situation with emergency funds. To that I say, “I see your steak and raise you a kings palace!” This is the story of how Jylan* and Dohn* accidentally invaded the king’s palace.
* – names changed to protect the participants
After squad debrief outside the capital city, the Aspenators hopped on a 12 hour bus ride headed South across the country; yeah, a 12 hour Greyhound-style bus crossed the entire country. We arrived in what was comparably a small beach town somewhat like San Diego – a sub-tropical desert climate in the mid-80s with palm tree beaches, mountains in the backdrop, and desert waiting to be explored.
The rental we reserved was about a mile and a half from a beautiful white sand beach. In the first couple days, Jylan, Dohn, and Smishmoria went to the beach for the boys to do a swim workout. Smishmoria stayed on the beach to play around and get some sun and understood the boys would be out for about 30 minutes, which came and went without seeing either of them.
On the first leg of their swim, the boys crossed a pylon fence – San Diego has structures like this all over its beaches that don’t necessarily mark anything so they boys kept swimming without thinking anything of it. They swam, body surfed, and hung out on the beach before making the return swim against the current. While on the beach, however, a uniformed security guard approached them and said “excuse me, no” and gestured for them to leave. The boys apologized without knowing where they were, and began to walk down the beach toward the pylon fence, where they were approached by another uniformed guard, this time in camouflage utilities and carrying a rifle; he instructed to follow him.
The boys followed him back through the fence, noticing a sign that said “access prohibited”. The guard took them to his guard booth and said “wait” which the boys learned to be the extent of his English. As they attempted to ask what was going on, what was wrong, or where they were, they kept being met with additional guards, the word “wait”, and a gesture that looked like how Westerners ask for money. Soon the count was up to probably 8 guards in varying uniforms, equipment, and levels of English.
One of the new guards spoke enough English to help the boys understand what was going on – they weren’t security guards, they were soldiers in the Army and the pylons weren’t a fence, they were an extension of the bastion wall surrounding THE SULTAN’S PALACE. Jylan and Dohn could do nothing but laugh at their ignorance and the situation they had gotten themselves into, but it didn’t stop there.
The man in charge, a Sergeant, spoke the best English and asked for the boys’ passports. Standing there in board shorts and goggles, the boys laughed and said they didn’t have passports on them. The Sergeant gave them the same “pay me” gesture and the boys laughed again and expressed that they didn’t have any money. The Sergeant asked some more questions, spoke on the radio, and gave commands for various actions to his squad; the whole while, the boys joked about the situation and wondered how much worse it would get before it got better, how cold the detainment room would be, and what a fun story this would be to share afterwards.
Able to read the rank inaignia of the soldiers, Dohn explained to Jylan that there wasn’t anyone of significant rank questioning them so the situation hadn’t actually escalated too much and assured him that until an officer arrived to question them, they were in no danger. As soon as Dohn finished his statement, Jylan pointed at a 4×4 racing down the beach. The truck stopped at the fence and two Army officers stepped out. Jylan and Dohn looked at each other and laughed at the timing.
The officers approached, introduced themselves per protocol and with better English, asked some of the same questions the Sergeant had asked:
Officers: What are you doing here?
Boys: We were swimming and didn’t know this was the Sultan’s palace.
Officers: Show us your passports.
Boys: We don’t have them, we didn’t bring anything with us.
Officers: Which hotel are you staying at?
Boys: It isn’t a hotel, it’s a guesthouse.
Officers: What is the name of your guesthouse?
Boys: um, it doesn’t have a name.
At this point, the boys started to realize the situation was getting bad – they had unintentionally infiltrated the Sultan’s palace, then attempted to sneak out (in the opinion of the soldiers), didn’t have any identification, were not staying anywhere reputable or identifiable, and one had a big cross tattooed on his back. At this point, Dohn began wondering “would name, rank, and serial number make this better… or worse?” but decided to keep it to himself.
The officers decided the boys would be taken back to their rental to retrieve their passports to verify who they were and instructed them to get in their truck. Dohn remembered Smishmoria was still waiting on the beach and was probably getting worried for the boys, so he asked the soldiers to pick her up. Approaching from the truck, Dohn explained:
“These are our new friends. They’re going to take us home. Also, they’re the Army and we might be in a little trouble.”
Smishsmoria didn’t seem surprised but willingly accepted the ride home.
Once departing the beach, the Americans asked their new “friends” how to say “left”, “right” and “straight” in Arabic to best provide directions to the house. Upon Jylan’s first attempt to provide the word for “left”, the soldiers got excited, celebrated his effort, fist bumped him, and a friendship was born. By the end of the mile and a half, everyone was friends and the boys felt they were not at risk anymore.
Getting home, Dohn walked in and expressed to his Team Leader, “not to alarm you, but the Army is outside. They brought us home and need our passports.” which of course got a fun reaction from the team, but the truth is a nice relationship and genuine effort to connect with the soldiers is what turned their perception of the boys. The soldiers essentially only saw that the boys had passport at all,, then everyone wished each other a good day and the boys were released.
Fun story right? Just goes to show Jylan’s charm can win anyone over, but also that a pure heart to befriend anyone and trust in the Lord prevails.
