Hi all!
This morning I woke up around 2am thinking it was 6am because my body clock is completely out of whack.
So whilst the rest of the world slept, I somehow ended up reading some old posts of mine on this blog.
That's the great thing about having a blog: I don't do it for anyone but myself.
I'm not here to win some sort of popularity competition, or make money off of it somehow by telling you what I'm wearing (really, why would you care?)
I write here because for me it's sort of an online journal, a place to store moments in my life that I can easily call upon if I ever feel like taking a trip down memory lane.
To me the idea of keeping a journal (diary) sounds like too much of an effort, and quite frankly, it sounds stupid.
But at the same time, I think it's healthy to write about what's going on in your life, and being able to read your thoughts years later is kind of awesome.
That's why I love blogging.
I thought I'd write an update about how Dubai-life is going so far.
It's nearly May and I have graduation coming up. I can't believe that I have been living in Dubai for nearly 6 months now already. In a weird way it has gone by so quickly but also so slowly at the same time.
Quickly because I can't believe that I have been to SO many countries in under 6 months. (According to the iPhone app 'Been', I've been to 9% of the WORLD).
But it feels like it's gone slowly because, seriously, has it ONLY been 6 months since I was last home?
I feel like I've been gone for ages! Yes, sure, seeing the world is exciting and all that, but after the constant traveling, all I really want to do is go home, sleep in my old bed, and lie on the lawn on my front yard in the sun as my cat tries to eat my face.
The current rules are that I'm not allowed to leave the UAE for non-work purposes during the first 6 months here, which really SUCKS when you're as homesick as I am.
I've been praying to the aviation Gods that I would get rostered a Cape Town flight. But because we don't have that many flights that way, and with Cape Town being a popular destination amongst crew, I've had no such luck.
I'm also not allowed to request flights or swop flights during these first 6 months, so I just go wherever and whenever they tell me to, not that I mind because I've gone to some really cool places.
I'm just very very homesick for all things Cape Town, man, jurre!
April is currently my 'reserve' month. What this means is that for the whole 30 days of this month, I don't have a roster.
I don't know to where I would be flying, or when.
Each day, just after 6pm, I would find out what they have planned for me the next day, and it can be one of the following:
1. Day off - I can do whatever I want (in the UAE).
2. Rest day - This means that this day is dedicated to re-adjusting my sleeping pattern so that I can be awake after 12am, probably because I will have a night flight the following day.
3. I have a designated flight assigned to me - This means I know what time to wake up; what clothes to pack; for how long I will be away; which aircraft I will be flying on, so I know what information to freshen up on; etc.
4. Home Standby - They will give me certain hours I will have to be awake and at home, phone nearby, waiting to hear if I will get pulled out for a flight. If (when) they do call you, they usually give you about an hour to get done and be by the 'office', ready to go. It's a little more stressful because a lot of the times the standby hours are ridiculous, like from 4am-10am, and they don't give you much time beforehand to get adjusted to being up and functioning at that hour.
5. Airport Standby - The most stressful of them all. For this one, you have no idea what is going to happen, and you have almost no warning for it. All you know is that you have to be at work in full uniform, between certain hours, waiting to hear if they need you for a flight (usually because someone called in sick, or is late, etc). The thing about this standby is you have to come prepared with your bags packed for a possible layover flight, with clothing ready for whatever type of weather possible. The thing is you have no way of knowing if you will get called out, or for how long you will be away. This means you don't know if you need just one extra shirt, for a 24 hour layover flight, or if you need 5 for a multi-sector flight like Bangkok-Sydney-Christchurch-Sydney-Bangkok.
Make sense?
As I'm on reserve this whole month, it was mostly a mix of airport and home standby.
At the very beginning of the month they put me on home standby, for which I got called out for a flight to what is now one of my favourite cities, Barcelona.
The kak thing about this was that if I had known I was going, I could have made arrangements beforehand to get my sister, Farhana, up there. I haven't seen her in over a year, and she's one of my best friends, whom I really miss. But due to such short notice, and the cost of having to travel up from Madrid for less than 24 hours, it wasn't worth it.
Back in December of 2010, I picked up my first job working as an ice-skating marshall at a small, temporary rink that opened up at the V&A Waterfront. The then "manager" (LOL) is now a really good friend of mine.
When we both lived in Cape Town, because he (Jarryd) lived practically on the other side of the country (Bellville), I rarely got to see him. In December, he moved to Andorra in Spain to become a snow-board instructor, so when I found out I was heading to BCN, I messaged him to say I thought it was a good time for him to take a trip to Barcelona.
He messaged me to say that he was in fact going to be there! The only crap thing was I was leaving the Sunday, and he was arriving the Monday.
Dammit.
Nevertheless, I absolutely loved Barcelona.
The whole city has this energy to it that I can't really explain, and I just loved the fact that I could speak the local language, especially as not many people there speak English.
The city is also small, so it's very easy to navigate, and the people are much more relaxed compared to the rest of up-tight Europe.
Not to mention the fact that the men there are just GORGEOUS, helllooooo.
Coming from Dubai, where a girl just feels so damn deprived of eye-candy, it was a much-welcomed surprise.
I was lucky in that the first airport standby I did, I didn't get called out, so I managed to get the first-time-standby-nervousness jitters out of me whilst I listened to Oscar on trial for the 6 hours I was there.
The second time, I got called out to do a 3am turn-around flight to Kuwait.
Easy. I'd be back home and in bed in under 6 hours.
The third airport standby I got called out to go to London, Heathrow, which is a post I will write about separately.
After that I had home standby which saw me on my second trip to Singapore.
This time around it was too damn hot and humid for me to handle. I honestly felt like I was stepping into a sauna whenever I exited a building. It was so bad that my glasses would mist up the moment I left the hotel.
The thing about me is I actually cannot stand being hot. (Smart idea moving to the desert, hey?)
I hate sweat and feeling clammy.
I hate when your clothes stick to you and the back of your legs get stuck on seats.
I hate what humidity does to my hair.
I.do.not.like.it.
It's as though my body rejects hot weather. Trust me when I say I'd much rather take freezing European weather over hot and humid any day of the week.
Being in Singapore wasn't exactly "fun" for me. Even though I did get to see more of the city this time around, no matter where I went, I couldn't wander far away from the nearest train station out of fear that by the time it would have taken me to walk back to it, I would have collapsed from heat stroke and just let the ants take me away (hopefully somewhere cool).
Just two days later and I was in rainy, overcast Manchester, UK.
Winter weather, yay!
I was super excited to be in the home city of my favourite football team. I wanted to get to the hotel, change, and go out to check out Old Trafford stadium.
Sadly my body had other plans.
I got to my room around mid-afternoon, dropped everything and changed, then decided to close my eyes for a few minutes whilst I allowed my phone to recharge.
I woke up somewhere around midnight. I must have been super exhausted, apparently.
Honestly, I am at a point where I can no longer tell just HOW tired I am.
I need a vacation from vacationing.
I have one more airport standby to do for this month.
Who knows where I could be off to next? :)
P.s. CROSS YOUR DAMN FINGERS AND TOES AND PRAY THAT IT'S AN AFRICAN OR EUROPEAN LAYOVER FLIGHT.
Thank you and goodnight!
This morning I woke up around 2am thinking it was 6am because my body clock is completely out of whack.
So whilst the rest of the world slept, I somehow ended up reading some old posts of mine on this blog.
That's the great thing about having a blog: I don't do it for anyone but myself.
I'm not here to win some sort of popularity competition, or make money off of it somehow by telling you what I'm wearing (really, why would you care?)
I write here because for me it's sort of an online journal, a place to store moments in my life that I can easily call upon if I ever feel like taking a trip down memory lane.
To me the idea of keeping a journal (diary) sounds like too much of an effort, and quite frankly, it sounds stupid.
But at the same time, I think it's healthy to write about what's going on in your life, and being able to read your thoughts years later is kind of awesome.
That's why I love blogging.
I thought I'd write an update about how Dubai-life is going so far.
It's nearly May and I have graduation coming up. I can't believe that I have been living in Dubai for nearly 6 months now already. In a weird way it has gone by so quickly but also so slowly at the same time.
Quickly because I can't believe that I have been to SO many countries in under 6 months. (According to the iPhone app 'Been', I've been to 9% of the WORLD).
But it feels like it's gone slowly because, seriously, has it ONLY been 6 months since I was last home?
I feel like I've been gone for ages! Yes, sure, seeing the world is exciting and all that, but after the constant traveling, all I really want to do is go home, sleep in my old bed, and lie on the lawn on my front yard in the sun as my cat tries to eat my face.
The current rules are that I'm not allowed to leave the UAE for non-work purposes during the first 6 months here, which really SUCKS when you're as homesick as I am.
I've been praying to the aviation Gods that I would get rostered a Cape Town flight. But because we don't have that many flights that way, and with Cape Town being a popular destination amongst crew, I've had no such luck.
I'm also not allowed to request flights or swop flights during these first 6 months, so I just go wherever and whenever they tell me to, not that I mind because I've gone to some really cool places.
I'm just very very homesick for all things Cape Town, man, jurre!
 |
| This was what my trip to JHB in January looked like. I packed only one pair of clothing, cos I KNEW. |
I don't know to where I would be flying, or when.
Each day, just after 6pm, I would find out what they have planned for me the next day, and it can be one of the following:
1. Day off - I can do whatever I want (in the UAE).
2. Rest day - This means that this day is dedicated to re-adjusting my sleeping pattern so that I can be awake after 12am, probably because I will have a night flight the following day.
3. I have a designated flight assigned to me - This means I know what time to wake up; what clothes to pack; for how long I will be away; which aircraft I will be flying on, so I know what information to freshen up on; etc.
4. Home Standby - They will give me certain hours I will have to be awake and at home, phone nearby, waiting to hear if I will get pulled out for a flight. If (when) they do call you, they usually give you about an hour to get done and be by the 'office', ready to go. It's a little more stressful because a lot of the times the standby hours are ridiculous, like from 4am-10am, and they don't give you much time beforehand to get adjusted to being up and functioning at that hour.
5. Airport Standby - The most stressful of them all. For this one, you have no idea what is going to happen, and you have almost no warning for it. All you know is that you have to be at work in full uniform, between certain hours, waiting to hear if they need you for a flight (usually because someone called in sick, or is late, etc). The thing about this standby is you have to come prepared with your bags packed for a possible layover flight, with clothing ready for whatever type of weather possible. The thing is you have no way of knowing if you will get called out, or for how long you will be away. This means you don't know if you need just one extra shirt, for a 24 hour layover flight, or if you need 5 for a multi-sector flight like Bangkok-Sydney-Christchurch-Sydney-Bangkok.
Make sense?
As I'm on reserve this whole month, it was mostly a mix of airport and home standby.
At the very beginning of the month they put me on home standby, for which I got called out for a flight to what is now one of my favourite cities, Barcelona.
The kak thing about this was that if I had known I was going, I could have made arrangements beforehand to get my sister, Farhana, up there. I haven't seen her in over a year, and she's one of my best friends, whom I really miss. But due to such short notice, and the cost of having to travel up from Madrid for less than 24 hours, it wasn't worth it.
Back in December of 2010, I picked up my first job working as an ice-skating marshall at a small, temporary rink that opened up at the V&A Waterfront. The then "manager" (LOL) is now a really good friend of mine.
When we both lived in Cape Town, because he (Jarryd) lived practically on the other side of the country (Bellville), I rarely got to see him. In December, he moved to Andorra in Spain to become a snow-board instructor, so when I found out I was heading to BCN, I messaged him to say I thought it was a good time for him to take a trip to Barcelona.
He messaged me to say that he was in fact going to be there! The only crap thing was I was leaving the Sunday, and he was arriving the Monday.
Dammit.
Nevertheless, I absolutely loved Barcelona.
The whole city has this energy to it that I can't really explain, and I just loved the fact that I could speak the local language, especially as not many people there speak English.
The city is also small, so it's very easy to navigate, and the people are much more relaxed compared to the rest of up-tight Europe.
Not to mention the fact that the men there are just GORGEOUS, helllooooo.
Coming from Dubai, where a girl just feels so damn deprived of eye-candy, it was a much-welcomed surprise.
 |
| The "Don't tell Daddy" Bar. |
I was lucky in that the first airport standby I did, I didn't get called out, so I managed to get the first-time-standby-nervousness jitters out of me whilst I listened to Oscar on trial for the 6 hours I was there.
The second time, I got called out to do a 3am turn-around flight to Kuwait.
Easy. I'd be back home and in bed in under 6 hours.
The third airport standby I got called out to go to London, Heathrow, which is a post I will write about separately.
After that I had home standby which saw me on my second trip to Singapore.
This time around it was too damn hot and humid for me to handle. I honestly felt like I was stepping into a sauna whenever I exited a building. It was so bad that my glasses would mist up the moment I left the hotel.
The thing about me is I actually cannot stand being hot. (Smart idea moving to the desert, hey?)
I hate sweat and feeling clammy.
I hate when your clothes stick to you and the back of your legs get stuck on seats.
I hate what humidity does to my hair.
I.do.not.like.it.
It's as though my body rejects hot weather. Trust me when I say I'd much rather take freezing European weather over hot and humid any day of the week.
Being in Singapore wasn't exactly "fun" for me. Even though I did get to see more of the city this time around, no matter where I went, I couldn't wander far away from the nearest train station out of fear that by the time it would have taken me to walk back to it, I would have collapsed from heat stroke and just let the ants take me away (hopefully somewhere cool).
 |
| I'm convinced a successful economy is linked to excellent public transport. Case and point: Singapore. |
Just two days later and I was in rainy, overcast Manchester, UK.
Winter weather, yay!
I was super excited to be in the home city of my favourite football team. I wanted to get to the hotel, change, and go out to check out Old Trafford stadium.
Sadly my body had other plans.
I got to my room around mid-afternoon, dropped everything and changed, then decided to close my eyes for a few minutes whilst I allowed my phone to recharge.
I woke up somewhere around midnight. I must have been super exhausted, apparently.
Honestly, I am at a point where I can no longer tell just HOW tired I am.
I need a vacation from vacationing.
I have one more airport standby to do for this month.
Who knows where I could be off to next? :)
P.s. CROSS YOUR DAMN FINGERS AND TOES AND PRAY THAT IT'S AN AFRICAN OR EUROPEAN LAYOVER FLIGHT.
Thank you and goodnight!
I ended up going on a turnaround trip to Vienna. Normally turn rounds suck, but this one had all the crew deadheading back to Dubai as passengers.
ReplyDeleteYay!
Great Read waiting for the next update on your travels
ReplyDeleteA friend of mine suggested me to read your blogs and trust me so far this is the best thing she has asked me to do. The pictures you have added are so nice. Thanks for sharing your experience.
ReplyDelete