Little Rowboats, Extreme Heat, and a Helluva Water Slide!

The little clip we get of tonight’s happenings is interesting - Mika shows her extreme fear of heights having to go down a TALL water slide and it looks like Canaan is trying to push her down - that’s not very Christian, now, is it?

Leaving the Pit Stop, teams have to choose a locked briefcase and taxi to the Dubai Creek Golf & Yacht Club for their next clue. Meghan interviews that she can’t remember when she was more stressed than on the Race, and Cheyne laughs that “that’s saying a lot because Meghan gets pretty stressed out.” The clue at the Golf & Yacht Club is a Road Block. One team member has to row a small inflatable dingy out to a yacht anchored in the water, where a sheik will present them with a watch which is the Arab custom of hospitality. Then they have to row back to the dock and unlock their briefcase. They have to figure out that the combination is the time on the watch, 8:35. Their next clue will be in the briefcase.

As Cheyne is rowing, he yells out to Meghan “Do you love me?” and all she does is grin. (I guess she’s not willing to commit unless he kicks butt in the challenge!) Brian & Ericka leave the Pit Stop saying that Ericka starts every day with good hair and makeup, but by the end of the day it’s all gone - “but you gotta try.” Flight Time & Big Easy talk in the taxi about how hot it is (very hot. Really hot. Did he say it was hot?) in Dubai. Gary & Matt re-dyed Matt’s hair, which got a laugh from Gary - “I never thought I’d be dying my son’s hair.”

Cheyne figured out right away that the lock code was the time on the watch, and their next clue told them to taxi to the Abra Station, a water taxi stand in “Old Dubai.”

Brian chooses to row the boat, saying Ericka “does not do water.” Sam & Dan talk about their alliance with Maria & Tiffany, saying that it’s advantageous, and they could outrun the girls if need be. The cab driver takes Flight Time & Big Easy to the wrong marina, making them think they are in last place. Gary can’t row the little boat to save his life, so he ends up laying in the boat on his stomach and using one paddle.

Meghan & Cheyne get to the next clue box to find a Detour - Gold or Glass. In Gold, teams must find a jewelry store and use a scale to weigh out exactly $500,000 worth of gold. They have to figure out how much to weigh out using the gold exchange rate - which changes constantly, meaning they have to work quickly. (This is where the cell phone calculator comes in handy!) In Glass, teams have to go to a spice market and open a crate of pieces of Middle Eastern smoking pipes called Hookahs. They will have to assemble 12 of three different styles of pipes. Meghan & Cheyne decide to try Glass.

Maria & Tiffany are leaving the Pit Stop, saying “Please, Jesus, let us leave Dubai.” (I guess the heat is getting to them.....) Tiffany says “it’s very James Bond, taking a briefcase to some location - although I’ve never seen James Bond sweat.” (Yep, they don’t like the heat). Matt & Gary leave the challenge after opening their briefcase saying “can you just see Big Easy in that little raft?” They called it, because Big Easy decides to do the challenge. Flight Time yells instructions and Big Easy just looks confused trying to row. (I didn’t realize that so many people had problems knowing how to row. Maybe doing it is tough, but knowing how to do it shouldn’t be all that hard!)

Meghan & Cheyne make it to the spice market and pick a crate in the shade. As they start assembling, Meghan starts getting stressed as Cheyne tells her to relax. (It really didn’t seem like anything to panic about - they knew they were ahead just for the fact that no other teams were showing up). In the taxi, Ericka tells us she’s dying to go shopping, seeing all the beautiful textiles hanging at the shops. Big Easy decides to forgo the paddles and uses his hands to row and is making pretty good time, with Flight Time yelling that “you’re going to go down in history as the biggest man in a rowboat made for a 5-year-old.” Dan does this challenge also, following Big Easy’s lead and using his hands to row. Flight yells at Big Easy to “do it for the ‘hood!” and Sam yells for Dan to “do it for the suburbs!” (Heehee)

As Maria & Tiffany show up at the yacht club, Big Easy is trying to open his briefcase. He correctly figures out that the watch has something to do with the lock code, but looks at it too literally - little hand on the 8, big hand on the 7, “and the third number would be the date.” On a close-up of the watch, I didn’t see the little square in the center where the date would be, so I had no idea what prompted that - but it messed them up big time. Dan got it right away, and the Globetrotters watched Sam & Dan leave. Big Easy is trying 8-7 and every other number in order, and not getting the case open. Flight Time, seeing Mika & Canaan at the docks, says “if we stay here long enough Lance & Keri might show up.” Mika then mentions that she’s pretty scared of water (and heights, and can this girl do anything without fear?)

Brian & Ericka find the jewelry store to attempt the Gold challenge. It’s taking him awhile to do the math for the gold weight - and Ericka says “my American education has dumbed me down, to use a calculator for everything.” (Pretty sad comment from a former Miss America!)

Mika & Canaan finish the task at the marina and get their case open, and leave the Globetrotters still trying to figure it out. (Now, don’t you think they could have at least yelled the code to them as they were leaving, considering the Globetrotters helped them out last time telling them to take their coats into the snow challenge? Bad karma, kids!)

Big Easy finally figures out that it’s the time on the watch, and remarks that he was “doing it for the ‘hood, the ‘hood is mad at me now.”

Meghan & Cheyne have some pieces left over and are told they don’t have the pipes put together correctly. In the meantime, Brian & Ericka are having problems figuring out the gold. Ericka says she just “spends the money, rather than counting and keeping it - I’m sure glad I married up.” Their first attempt at the weight is wrong. (Looks like both of these challenges are not easy ones!)

Gary & Matt, talking about what challenge to attempt, talk about the pipe assembly - and as Matt describes what a hookah is, Gary says “we used to call it something else.” (You old hippie, you!)

After being told once again that they are wrong weighing their gold, Brian & Ericka run off to try to assemble pipes, while Meghan & Cheyne finally realize they have extra parts left over that need to be used. They put the leftover washers on the pipes and get their next clue, telling them to go to the Atlantis, The Palm Dubai resort and search the water park for a slide called the "Leap of Faith.” They have to slide down the 6-story slide at nearly a 90º angle through a shark tank and they will get their next clue.

Sam & Dan choose to do Gold and take off for the jewelers, as do Maria & Tiffany. Brian & Ericka, meanwhile, are putting together the pipes with Ericka saying “I don’t think the colors matter” and then saying “it’s got to be something miniscule” when their pipes are rejected. (Ya think it might be something like the COLORS?)

Sam & Dan bought a calculator at Wal-Mart before they left on the Race, and pulled it out of their bag - but didn’t know what to do to figure out the amount of gold they needed. Maria & Tiffany borrowed the calculator and knew what to do, and told the guys, but just as the guys got their gold on the scale, the price changed and they were told it was wrong. They have the girls recalculate the amount and both teams get it right, finally.

Meghan & Cheyne see the slide and admit they are afraid of heights, but both enjoy the trip down the slide (which looked like wicked fun!) Meghan asked if they were “real sharks” down there (they were). The clue told them to search for Dolphin Bay Beach, which was the next Pit Stop. They dash off down the beach and make it to the Mat first, and go falling into the water - then run back to Phil saying “okay, what did we win?”

Back at the hookah challenge, Ericka is letting Brian do all the work, saying “I don’t think that matters that much” when Brian wants to assemble them a certain way. (C’mon, if you’re supposed to build something, and there are samples to look at, wouldn’t you think the samples are what they need to look like?) The heat starts getting to Matt, who has to sit down because he fells like he’s going to pass out. Mika wishes she were naked (and I bet a bunch of guys watching second that!) Brian finally figures out the combination of the pipes and gets their next clue. As the Globetrotters see Brian & Ericka leave, they figure that Brian & Ericka were two hours ahead of them, and it took them two hours to do the challenge, so they were going to switch tasks and go do Gold. (They may have been 2 hours ahead, but they took so long at the challenge because they were STUPID!!!)

Tiffany & Maria both get close to using their bikini tops going down the slide (oh, what this show could have been for the guys watching!)

Gary & Matt get their clue (after Gary does most of the work assembling the pipes). Brian & Ericka go down the slide, commenting that Brian is afraid of heights and Ericka hates water - but they do just fine and seem to have fun in the process. Gary & Matt love the water slide after the heat of Dubai. At the top of the slide, Mika is in a panic and has floaty things on her arms (to go down a water slide? Good grief!!!) Canaan is trying his best to get her down, telling her “it’s a million dollars, just go down the slide.” He gets her close to the slide and tries to push her at the opening, which of course doesn’t work and sends her into more of a panic. He implores her to just sit down in the water as she prays. She sits down and Canaan gets behind her as if to go down with her, or push her - no such luck. Big Easy & Flight Time show up, and we find out that Mika & Canaan have two minutes to either do the task or let the next team go ahead. Big Easy & Flight Time start yelling to Mika “don’t do it! It’s a big way up!” and Mika ends up wasting time and the Globetrotters go ahead. Canaan tells Big Easy that “it’s crap, dude.” Canaan goes down the slide and Mika finally decides not to go down the slide, and they walk up to the Mat in last place and get eliminated. Canaan interviews that he doesn’t hold it against Mika - give him credit for that, I suppose. My hunny is bitching that the Globetrotters did a cheap shot by goading Mika about her fear - but I don’t see a problem (during the eating challenge in Survivor, the other team was making gagging and vomit noises when Ashley was drinking the goo). It’s a million dollars!!! The Globetrotters didn’t sabotage their equipment, or Yield them, just talked some trash, and if Mika couldn’t handle it, shame on her.

So Mika & Canaan are gone - do you think the Globetrotters were low class or just trying to win the Race? Are Meghan & Cheyne becoming the team to beat? Who are you rooting for? We’ll talk more next week!

1 - Meghan & Cheyne
2 - Maria & Tiffany
3 - Sam & Dan
4 - Brian & Ericka
5 - Gary & Matt
6 - Big Easy & Flight Time
7 - Mika & Canaan - eliminated