posted Nov 27th, 2012 - It was a very long travel day for the NSL News to move from DeLand, Florida, to Dubai, United Arabian Emirates. However, this update comes live from Dubai, and at least it brings across the first impressions of an event magnitude that the skydiving world has not seen yet.

The arrival at the Dubai International Airport was well planned by the host, and each travel group had a guide who kindly helped everybody to get to the hotels. NSL News Khalid spoke fluently English and explained that Dubai was the first place in the Arabian world that made an effort to teach English as the second language for each citizen. In fact, English has already become the first language for many Dubai citizens.

The NSL News travel group, including Melanie "Melsinore" Curtis and Nick Grillet, was welcomed at the airport with the first advertisement of the Mondial 2012. The NSL News has seen great ads inviting the general public to be part of the skydiving events over the years. However, the promotional campaign in Dubai is unique, as the Mondial 2012 logo and skydiving images run along everywhere on the roads and highways.

Khalid explained that Sheik Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and Crown Prince Hamdan bin Mohammed are sports fans. They have brought many other top events to Dubai, and there is a swimming world championship running parallel with the Mondial 2012. The European Golf Tour just finished the 2012 season with the top event of the Race to Dubai at the same place. He said that many other high-profile events are also in the works.

It happened by coincidence that the NSL News ended up in the same bus with Melanie "Melsinore" Curtis and Arizona Airspeed's alternate Nick Grillet. It offered the great opportunity for a new update on the Fun Flag topic.

Nick Grillet's comments were a little bit confusing though. He confirmed that the Fun Flag is in Airspeed possession, as he took the recent photo in front of the SkyVenture Arizona windtunnel. However, he also mentioned a second flag floating around, with European involvement. The NSL News will continue the investigation tomorrow at Skydive Dubai's dropzone.