standby me (going nowhere slowly)

Hello's

So....ja...
With the ending of the Holy Month of Ramadan (a Muslim thing, where they -even us in public- are not allowed to eat, drink, smoke or swear during hours of sunshine)I thought that finally I could go out for a party (all clubs closed during the month of Ramadan). But no. After my return from New York, for about 11 days I lived like an owl. Slept during the day and stayed up at night. The first few days, I recovered from jetlag and then after that I accustomed my bodyclock for what was to come... standby. I am on reserve this month. Which means, I don't have a roster. But I get rostered for hours of 'standby'. Where I have to be at home and wait for a call if they need me. And seeing that most of my standby was put anything from 10pm-8am, I changed my sleeping patterns. And thus began a vicious cycle. Of either watching the sun go up, or the sun go down, but never seeing a bright day. Headaches. Everyday. Luckily my flatmate was up with me at the same times, and sometimes we'd go to the beach after midnight. I got called out once, for Nagoya (Japan) and got ready excitedly and picked up, to find at arrival that the freakin' bus driver didn't put my suitcase in the bus:( This led to me being offloaded and put on airport standby (you wait at the Crew Center and if anyone fails to pitch for their flight, you go in their place). This standby month happens every 7 months. So every 7th month, I have reason to hate my job. You have no life. You can make no plans. It messes with your psyche.

Some good news is: that I got accepted for an upgrade to Business Class!!:-) My training is next month for 5 days. Also, I got relicensed. I had to pass 2 days of practical and theoretical exams last week in Safety and Emergency Procedures (SEP). Also, have applied for a facilitator's position and have been shortlisted. Emirates runs this award programme, to motivate and inspire people in the company. And I have applied to facilitate this. Wish me good luck. Interviews will be Pop Idol style, haha.

A few days ago, Goldfish (a South African dj band) played in Dubai and Paula and I went to watch. The event was HUGE!! It was truly spectacular. We were up till 5am and the next day I flew to Johannesburg. Goldfish was on that flight, whoohooo!! In fact, they were right in my area. They missed their Cape Town flight. I dragged them to the back, introduced them to the crew and had a photo session.

Haha. Pookie flew up to visit (on very short notice). Au, that was awesome! I feel blessed and fortunate to have a man like him in my life:). Had a wonderful time.

So....ja.. Just thought I'd keep you updated while the cycle continues. Hooohooo!

Toedeldoe
Hugs,
A

a legal alien (New York & Connecticut)

Hey there,
how are you doing?

So, just after I landed in Dubai from Cape Town, I went to New York the next day and stayed there for two and a half days. My flatmate, Paula joined me as a passenger and stayed in my hotelroom. It was RAD, a mini-holiday. This time around, I saw a little bit of nightlife, went to a few pubs and spoke to Americans that always guess us to be British. It rained, and saw the steam come out of drains.

We also went to Connecticut (just outside New York) to go visit a friend of mine (Tony) and experienced the suburbia side of America as seen on movies (man, everything there feels to me like living in a movie). Tony showed us the beach, we drank some beer in a pub (I had the most amazing beer ever - Blue Point. It is an ale and the aftertaste is blueberry), and we had a braai (whoohooo). We did some groceries shopping for this, and it was again such an awesome experience, finding different and interesting things. Then to my amazement, Tony took us to the self-service check-in counter, where we scanned and weighed our own stuff. It was cool! Even experienced the self-service petrol station:).


Back in NYC, walked around for many, many avenues, popped into the Apple store to see what that is all about, went around Time Square again, and ended up in Wholefoods at Columbus Circle where Paula and I went crazy. Everything there is organic, healthy and supercool. We bought bags full of turkey, bacon, chicken (all vegetarian), interesting kombucha drinks, I found Blue Point there and bought a 6-pack, a few organic facial products and some sushi for lunch. It was WONDERFUL!! Paula even took me into Abercrombie & Fitch (the American "lifestyle" clothing shop). What an experience. You walk in, and EVERYONE who works there, is beautiful, happy, dancing to the loud banging music, smells of strong perfume and by the time you exit, you remember that it was sunlight and normal life outside, hehe.

So, new respect to America (I used to be a bit negative towards it)
Best of luck to them in choosing a new president.

Anyways, for now, I'm on standby for the rest of the month - which means I don't know when I'm going and I don't know where I'm going. It's a crazy life:)

Loving it

Toedeldoe,
till next time

A