Muzungu In Uganda

Ever just have those moments where you are overcome with peace? For me, it's a different feeling than happiness. Happiness comes in the form of ice cream, fact. Peace is the feeling I get when I recognize that at this exact moment, there's no where else I'd rather be than right where I am that very second. Sometimes the feeling comes when I'm by the ocean, on a run, swinging in my parent's backyard, laughing with my favorite people, or, as was the case this week, riding on the back of a stranger's motorbike through remote Ugandan villages.

Let me rewind. Before I left for my trip to Entebbe,Uganda, I received an email from a fellow crew member informing me that through a website she had located a tour guide that would be willing to show us around Entebbe. Always up for an adventure, and in need of redeeming myself after being a lame-o in India, I eagerly signed up!

Just an hour after our arrival, we met our tour guide, Walter, outside the gates of our hotel. Walter also brought along three other drivers, so that all four of us crew members could have our own limousines. And by limousines, I do mean motorbikes, or as the locals call them, boda bodas. My driver, a very sweet Ugandan man who introduced himself as Johny, and after a five minute discussion over the pronunciation of my name, settled on calling me Kels for the remainder of the day.


My driver, Johny.

 

We quickly signed waivers promising not to sue Walter's Boda Boda Tours in the unlikely event that we were injured and or killed that day. We were fitted with our very own bike helmets (safety first), and away we went!

 



 

The first stop along the tour was to a large mosque. Following with Muslim practices, women must wear skirts and cover their hair in order to enter the mosque. Although skirts and a scarf wrapped around my head is not my usual look, I obliged.

 

 

After I was all suited up, we entered into the mosque, and climbed a tower connected to it that led to an awesome view of the city. It was neat to have different areas pointed out to us, so that we would somewhat know where we were during the rest of the tour.

Before we left the mosque, Walter took a moment to explain the next point of interest along our tour. We would be driving through the slums, but because of safety reasons we would not be stopping. Houses, many made of leftover plywood scraps, lined the dirt roads. Children, no older than ten, with dirty faces and no shoes, carried babies on their backs. And every few feet blankets were spread out on the ground that were covered with clothing items that were for sale. They all appeared to be used clothing, and many of the tee shirts I saw had logos such as Miami Heat and Iowa State University printed on them. Many people shouted, "Muzungu, muzungu," (white person), as we drove past, and we definitely were among the minority in this neck of the woods.

After driving through the slums we reached an area that served as a torture camp during the 1970's. Over 300 people were tortured and died inside of the champers. The victim's hand prints, created from a mixture of the mud and feces they were forced to stand in, remain on the walls. Being inside of the chamber was eery, and I was more than happy to get the heck out of dodge, so to speak.

After our stop at the ol Disney World of Uganda, I was beyond exhausted and ready to head back to our hotel. Nightfall had set in, as had crazy amounts of traffic. Although all four of us left at the same time, we all were soon separated due to the every man for themselves style of traffic. After about eight minutes into our thirty minute drive, Johny and I came to a street that was blocked as far as the eye could see with vans, taxi's, and bota bota's. There was no other choice for movement, even the sidewalks were blocked with vehicles, so we turned off our motorbike, and sat. And sat. And sat. I took my camera out from it's hiding spot in the front of my shirt in order to capture this craziness on film, but Johny was quick to tell me, "Kels, not safe. Camera away." Noted.

With that, I did become slightly frightened. Girl, check. Only white in sight, check check. No cell phone, check check and check! All while humming the tune of "Do Lord, oh do Lord, oh dooooo remember me," I slowly started to pull down the sleeves on my rolled up shirt so that I could tuck my white hands inside, and ever so slightly shoved my long braid inside of my helmet. Anything to minimize the whole extreme tourist look I had going on! Within minutes we were rolling again. I was literally squeezing my knees together so that my long legs would not scrape the other vehicles as we zipped past them. The traffic was insane!

 Eventually we reached an open rode, and picked up speed. The wind was blowing, the moon was shinning, and I was smiling and holding on tight to Johny (my knight and shining armor), in a brand new place I had never been before. I'm not exactly sure where we were or how we got there, but I do know that for those few seconds... there was no where else in the entire world I would have rather been.

And that my friends, is peace!

My Non Adventures in Kolkata

Last week I had this post all planned out in my mind. It was going to about my trip to Kolkata, India, and include the extremely touching and inspirational account of my visit to the Mother Theresa Orphanage. It was supposed to be a life changing event, and the retelling of my visit was almost guaranteed to produce a few tears out of you, my faithful blog readers. Unfortunately, I have no such story to tell. My adventures in Kolkata are about as anti climatic as the retelling of the paint drying process. I reached my hotel, closed my eyes for a quick 15 minute power nap, and slept for seven hours straight. I woke up just long enough to realize I had missed out on an entire days worth of activities, ordered and ate some questionable chicken curry via room service, and fell back asleep for another seven hours. Then I left.

I should have known better than to even formulate afternoon plans with my fellow crew members, all the classic signs of exhaustion were there. I fell sound asleep on the twenty minute bus ride from the airport to the hotel, and after being woken up by the captain, I threw my red hat on and haphazardly tossed the white scarf around my head, completely wishing that it was my blanket instead, and stumbled into the hotel lobby. Before I could fully even open my eyes, a bright flash went off and a man with a name tag, indicating he worked for the hotel, was muttering with a thick Indian accent something about capturing memories of a lifetime. It wasn't even until the next day when I received an email from the hotel, and opened up this gem of a photo that I realized not only had I been had walking around with a bright red lipstick stain on the shoulder of my blazer (visual proof of my bus ride snooze), but those little sneaky sneak members of the hotel welcoming staff had managed to place a bright red bindi on my forehead! I legit thought she was adjusting my hat. Sleep deprivation, you won this round!

Half Asleep Kelsey and The Rest Of The Cabin Crew. Photo Courtesy of The Hotel Staff .

This month I was given a schedule that was nearly full of turn around flights (trips that have no layover). I actually haven't minded the large amounts of turn arounds, as it's allowed me to spend more time than usual at home in Dubai.

Last week I flew to Baghdad, Iraq twice. It was actually a nice flight, and all of the passengers were very kind. Many of them were US citizens, doing civilian work in the region. I couldn't help but to have Outkast's song, Bombs Over Baghdad stuck in my mind as we were flying over the tiny country. Luckily, that good ol common sense kicked in, and I decided it would be best for the blond American to refrain from humming this catchy little tune during the flight to the not so land of the free!

So in between my turn around flights, I've been on a mission to accomplish two goals during the month of December. Goal number one: begin training for a half marathon. I have officially signed up to run my first ever half marathon (I've actually signed up for a half before....just didn't run it. Oops). The race is in the U.A.E. in February. I've been training for just about three weeks, and as of today, I've ran 30 miles total, 14 of those this week. So far, training has been injury free, sans the slight shoulder sprain I just encountered from patting myself on the back...

My second December goal has been to get into the holiday spirit. Holidays without my mom are just so stinking hard! Through this really fun grieving process, I've learned that trying to mentally skip out on things like birthdays, anniversaries, and holidays is ineffective, so it is better to just embrace them. Despite living in a Muslim country located in the desert, I've been trying my hardest to celebrate the Christmas season. So far, I've gone ice skating, watched National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, decorated Christmas cupcakes, painted ornaments, hung up my advent calendar, and forced my friends to pose with me for pictures next to anything even remotely Christmasy! I must say, it's beginning to look a lot like....

Paula, Me, Santa, and Sarah at A Resort Lobby In Dubai.

Adventures in Accra

The great Forest Gump said it best, "Life is like a box of chocolates, ya never know what you're gonna get."

Following suit with this philosophy, I think it's safe to say that Friday was like biting into a chocolate covered pepperoni. It wasn't necessarily horrible, but completely unexpected!

Every six months I'm required to be on reserve, meaning that instead of getting a schedule for the full month, I act as a substitute in case another cabin crew member calls in sick or fails to report for their flight. On Friday morning I was assigned to be on standby duty at our headquarters. As soon as I checked in, I was informed that I would be going on a four day trip to Accra. Accawhat?!

I quickly googled Accra, to figure out what part of the world I was actually headed to, and boarded the flight. Off to Ghana I flew!

Mural Painted Inside The Accra Airport

After an eight hour flight, we landed on the coast of Western Africa. Despite being exhausted, I decided to head out with two other crew members and the captain to check out the local beach and possibly go horse back riding. The ride to the ocean was very interesting! At stop signs, men and women, who were peddling various items such as bottles of juice, fresh fruit, and AA batteries, knocked on our taxi cab windows, and begged us to make purchases. I'm all stocked up on AA batteries, so I passed. However, I am still in complete amazement at the amount of weight people are able to balance on their heads!

Notice The Tray of Fruit...Impressive
 

After hearing several bad reviews about the quality of the local beach, I had my expectations set quite low, however, I was pleasantly surprised! The ocean is actually part of the Atlantic, so it was kind of cool to see the other side of the ocean that I grew up peeing in visiting! After the full day of flying, our energy levels were relatively low. We all decided that drinking the local beer and looking at the horses would be much more relaxing than actually riding them!

Insert Horse's Ass Joke Here

The next day we did a quick shuttle flight to Abidjan, Ivory Coast, and ended up back in Accra for another night. The entire crew then ventured out to an awesome local seafood restaurant for dinner. It was definitely one of the top five best seafood meals I've ever eaten in my life! Calamari, tuna steak, and lobster...check, check, and check!

 

 

Thankfully, I managed to squeeze back into the ol beige uniform, and landed safely into Dubai yesterday! Now, off to enjoy the next three days, no work style!

Thanksgiving Minus The Turkey

Greetings All!

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! My holiday wasn't bad, just different. Different, in the sense that I've never once ate a Cliff Bar and an apple and called it my Thanksgiving Feast! Despite the lack of turkey, I had a great day visiting the city of London. Obviously, I've already seen quite a bit of London, but it's such a cool city ,and I always find something new to see!

My timing was limited to four hours, so this on this trip I visited two major landmarks: Buckingham Palace and Westminster Abbey.

I had already seen the changing of the guards' ceremony, but unfortunately the first time I didn't have my camera with me. No pictures means it never happened, we've been over this. So yesterday I returned to Buckingham Palace several minutes before eleven in order to get a spot close to the ropes. I was able to record the ending portion of the ceremony, enjoy!

 

After the ceremony, I rushed over to the Westminster Abby where I went on an audio tour of the building. There is no photography allowed inside of the Abbey, so unfortunately I have no pictures of the chapel, but the entire place was gorgeous! I'm not exactly a huge ancient history buff, so admittedly, I skipped around a bit and did not listen to the full history lesson that was provided for each individual nook and cranny. I think I still got the over all picture. It was really cool to get to stand in the exact area where William and Kate were married, Princess Diana's funeral was held, and probably about a million other historicaly significant events that I could recite had I listened to the entire tour.

An Archway Leading Into The Westminster Abbey.

Once the Abbey tour was finished I had just enough time to wander around the city before I needed to catch the train back to my hotel. I love wandering because it always brings me to places I otherwise would never have stumbled upon. Yesterday's cool find was a British Red Cross Charity Store, the USA's equivalent to the Salvation Army. I'm always a huge fan of vintage stores, and this one certainly did not disappoint. Although I didn't make any purchases the gently used, name brand coats, bags, and knick knacks were tempting!

Standing In Front Of The Big Ben

 Hope you all have a great week!

Happy Thanksgiving, Etc.

There's a lot of things I like about my job. I like that I am able to travel the world, and meet people from various backgrounds and cultures. I like that I am able to visit friends and family, that I otherwise would not get to see if it weren't for my job. I like that I have lots of time off, and that it allows me to live in a really cool city.

I don't like being treated like I am some one's servant.

Many of our lovely passengers come from cultures where anyone who works in the service industry is viewed as lower class, and therefore, shows them very little respect. Logically, I know that the reason I always strive to treat McDonald's workers, grocery store clerks, and doctors with the same level of respect is because I was raised in a culture, and, more significantly, in a family where that was taught to me. However, when I am in the midst of being called a trolley pusher and demanded to, "go get me whiskey" the logical part of me goes out the window, and I just get pissed at the level of disrespect and disregard my fellow human beings have for me. I find that this causes my anger and annoyance only to escalate as I rearrange half eaten croissants, leftover bowels of chicken marsala, and  cups filled with remnants of coffee neatly back onto the tray, because, believe it or not people, replicas of the Burj Kalifa actually do not fit back inside the clearance cart! At this point I have to all but place my hand over my mandated bright red, glossy covered lips to keep myself from screaming, "I have a freaking college degree!"

As you can tell, it's very easy for me to become consumed with the frustrating aspects of being a flight attendant, and forget to focus on all the really cool parts of this job. Several days ago I was having dinner with my fellow American friend, Maggie, and we were discussing our job. Like me, she's not exactly passionate about cleaning lavs (airplane toilets), but rather, she views each flight as a networking opportunity, and strives to have a contact in each city where we fly. How cool as that?!

After our discussion, I felt my work related attitude needed some tweaking. On my next flight, which was to Washington DC, I challenged myself to have at least one meaningful conversation with a passenger. I not only engaged in one great conversation, I had at least six! I met an American women who serves as a missionary in Thailand, working with teens who are being held as sex slaves. I cried in the galley with Woody, a 57 year old man who's best friend had just lost his battle with cancer, and told him about loosing my own mother this past year. I exchanged emails with Alca, an Indian woman who works as an engineer at the Pentagon, and I told Justin, a government contractor, who is currently stationed in Afghanistan, that I would pray for his safety. Although exhausted, I actually left both sectors of this trip in a great mood.  I never seize to be amazed by how powerful a conscious change in attitude can be!

I am not pledging to be Chatty Cathy on every single flight, because as much as I am an idealist, I'm also a realist, but I think keeping this goal in mind is a great way to find a little bit more pleasure in the actual work part of my job, which in turn will help me keep my sanity. Here's to not becoming this guy!

 

 

So besides being on my quest for niceness, there was also another major point for my journey to Washington, D.C. I met up with my aunt and uncle who live nearby in Virgina! It was great to see them, and equally as great to be in the USA.

 

Me and My Mom's Sister, Nancy in Washington, DC

Speaking of the USA, tomorrow Thanksgiving will be celebrated in the land of the free, and, unfortunately, I will not be there. Considering holidays at the Schutz's are going to be incredibly different this year, I decided to put my own unique spin on Turkey Day, and celebrate in the Pilgrim's homeland of England! I'm planning to set up my largest tepee in front of the Westminster Abbey, declare the land as mine, and invite some English lads over for dinner. A little role reversal, if you will. I kid, I kid....I don't even have a tepee.

 

Happy Thanksgiving, Everyone!



Thoughts From 38,000 Feet

I'm committing a blog first, writing and publishing from 38,000 feet! No, I'm not hiding In the lav, surfing the web, and skipping out on the daily joys of delivering drinks, clearing meal trays, and answering never ending call bells. No sir, I'm actually a passenger today, flying, once again, to Illinois. And people said they'd never see me after I moved overseas!

Today I am flying on Emirates' A380 (think double decker). I am only certified to operate Boeing 777s and smaller Airbus aircrafts, and all the flights that I have taken back to the US, thus far, have just so happened to be on 777s, so this is actually my first time on the A380. So far my favorite feature of this plane is that it is equipped with wifi, therefore I bring you greetings from 38,000 feet! According to the flight tracker, I'm just about halfway to my final destination of this leg of the trip; New York.


I'm a little tired, and let me explain why. On the 4th I flew to Lagos, Nigeria (my first time in Africa, waahoo!!!). What an experience! My first "you're not in Kansas anymore" experience of Africa came as I went through Nigeria's tough customs and borders process...which consisted of signing my name and staff number on a yellow legal pad, and bam I was in!

After that grueling process, the 17 of us crew members were escorted by armed security guards to our hotel shuttle van, and driven safely to our hotel. Although I caught glimpses of women caring large bowels of fruit on their head, children running barefoot through the streets, and spray painted messages written on the side of makeshift houses begging others to please, "Do Not Urinate Here," I was unable to get a full few of the city as we were not allowed to open the curtains inside of the van for safety reasons. Upon reaching the hotel, we were strongly encouraged to not leave the property, again, due to safety reasons. The hotel was surprisingly nice considering the amount of poverty that surrounded it. I caught up on sleep, and enjoyed a traditional nigerian dinner, consisting of lots of meat stews and rice, with the crew at the hotel restauraunt.

On the morning of the 5th, I worked the seven hour flight from Lagos back to Dubai, where we landed at 2:00 A.M. on the 6th. I hurriedly went home, showered, packed, and returned back to the airport to board this 8:00 A.M. flight from Dubai to New York. If all goes as planned, I should be reaching St. Louis, Missouri by 6:00 P.M. tonight! I'm not sure if I've set any type of record for my world travel, but I do know I am exhausted!

Here's to safe travels, and that sleeping aid AKA Bailey's Irish Cream, kicking in....Any. Minute. Now.

Travels Home And Abroad

The above photo is a picture of the map that hangs in my room. I'm challenging myself to spend my money on experiences rather than things, so, unfortunately, this scratch off as your travel map (an awesome gift from sister in law, Jackie) is the only form of decoration that has taken up residency on my barren apartment walls. I feel like I've seen a lot of the world, but judging by all the gold, I still have so much more I have to see!

Travelling is addictive. I've never sought professional help for this issue, as I'm still able to function semi normally on a day to day basis, but it is, without a doubt, a disease. Take heart, it is not contagious, as the majority of my friends nor family, whom I have encouraged so heavily to come visit me, have not shown any symptoms to date, (cough cough). This past month's travels brought me to Zurich (Switzerland), Singapore, Melbourne, and Cairo (Egypt). Next month's travels look equally as promising with trips to Frankfurt (Germany), Lagos (Nigeria), and London all lined up.

Zurich, Switzerland

Although nothing compares to the feeling I get when I first lay my eyes on a famous landmark I've only ever seen in a text book, try a crazy local dish for the first time (and discover I actually like it), or successfully navigate through a city's public transportation system that has no English signage...sometimes I just crave a little slice of normalcy. Thankfully, I have this little corner of the world, in the middle of corn fields and open roads, that to me, is home in every way, shape, and form.

Sure, the people who are physically there change. People I love have passed away, people I love just as equally are born, but the feeling I get when I go home is always the same! Going back to Illinois may not get any new foil scratched off the map, but being there just makes my heart happy!

The actual reason for the trip to Illinois, was for my friend Allison's wedding. Allison and I met our freshman year of college, when we were both placed on the same dorm room floor. We bonded quickly, and have stuck together for six years, throughout lots of ups and downs. Unfortunately, we've had to face some pretty severe downs together during these past few months, loosing my mom in February, and sadly, her dad passing away the Tuesday before her wedding.

I am blessed to know the Lam Family. I have never felt anything but love when I am in their home. To Wayne, for giving me one of my very best friends, I will always be grateful! Her wedding was beautiful, and again left me in amazement at the amount of strength and resilience that awesome family possesses!

Getting Ready For Allison's Big Day

Besides the wedding, I spent a lot of the week doing some of my favorite activities that can only be done when I'm at home. Mowing the yard, having impromptu slumber parties with my best friends (why yes, we are 24...), eating way too much food during family dinners, going on Semi rides with my dad, attending a Spartan football game, and cramming blankets and above mentioned best friends into the back of a mini truck for a late night, country drive, were all among the list of shananagans I divulged in while visiting home. The only thing I wanted to do, but didn't get ticked off the list was new born baby cuddling....as my newest family member didn't find it necessary to enter the world until four days after I left. If she weren't sooooo freaking cute, I'd be extremely pissed at her!

 

Taylor Marie...Named After Grandma Gail Marie

I jumped right back into the swing of things after I returned to Dubai, and departed for a six day trip to Singapore and Melbourne. I've already been to both places, but there's still tons to see and do in each city. In Singapore I visited Universal Studious, which was much smaller than the one I've been to in Orlando, but was still super cool. In Melbourne I met up with two of my Disney friends, Erica and Jess for dinner, followed by drinks on a rooftop bar.

Jess, Erica, and I in Melbourne.

And now for the rando of the week....my friend Sara and I attended a Harlem Globetrotters basketball game in Abu Dhabi this week. Never had that one on my bucket list, so I guess I can add it and tick it off all in one!

Obviously, it was a private event!

Hope you all have a great week =)












If There Are No Photos...It Never Happened

Let's face it, most days I change time zones more than I change underwear. There are times when I go to fill in my weekly calendar, to record the events of a past week, and there are entire days that, due to travel, simply never happened. It's weird. Without my iPhone, camera, and weekly planner, I'd be lost! So with no further ado, I present my week in pictures. In my book, if there are no photos, then it never happened!

I hung out with my pal, Georgina, at the Dubai Sailing Club Beach, where her and her parents are members. Yes, we did have to drink with with our pinkies out the entire day!



One of my friends from Fort Lauderdale, Victoria, recently moved to Dubai and also began working for Emirates. It's been super fun to have a familiar face over here! Last week we met up with another American for drinks, and basically just did 'Merican things!

I traveled this week, once again, to the east coast of Australia, this time to the city of Brisbane. Three other crew members and I spent the day exploring the VERY hilly city, via bicycle. Bicycling helmets are strictly enforced in Brisbane, but who wouldn't wanna rock one when you look as cool as me in one?! And as for the sweet basket on the front, I had to ask for that specially!

 

The next day I traveled, for the first time, to Singapore. Another flight attendant and I spent the day walking around the city, which is seriously the cleanest city I've ever been in! We checked out lots of really cool gardens and city landmarks before finally giving into our exhaustion and calling it a day.

In Front Of The Singapore Flyer



 

And yesterday afternoon I arrived safely back into Dubai, where I met up with friends for a late dinner. At least I think I did...we didn't take any pictures :)

 

Have a great week!

It's Pronounced MelBORN...

This week's trip was a bit of a long one! I was gone for a total of five days, visiting Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Melbourne, Australia, back to Kuala Lumpur, and finally heading home to Dubai.

I was extremely exhausted when we reached KL on the first day, however, I forced myself to stay up for several hours in order to have a proper night's rest. Two other flight attendants and I went into the area known as Little China Town, where the roads were lines with street vendors selling everything from fake name brand purses to copy watches. I bought a few Christmas presents and may or may not be the new proud owner of slightly fuzzy versions of  Water For Elephants and Burlesque.

The next day we flew to Melbourne, and after a great night's sleep I met up with Erica and Helen, two of my favorite Disney friends. Side note, layovers are 100 times more fun when I get to meet up with friends, and have my own personal tour guide(s) for the city I am visiting. We started off the day with an awesome brunch at a local pub/cafe. After devouring a delicious avocado and poached egg on sourdough, we walked around the city for a bit. Melbourne is an incredibly artistic community. The alleyways are all filled with awesome graffiti, talented musicians seem to be found on every street corner, and in one specific case we witnessed a man creating living art.....er something artsy like that.

Live Art In Melbourne....Pelicans Dine Free At This All You Can Eat Bread and French Fry Buffet


Our next stop after brunch was to Luna Park, Melbourne's most famous theme park which has been in operation for 100 years! Judging by the amount of jostling that occurred while riding the largest wooden roller coaster in the park, the exact same rides have also been in operation for 100 years. Having the slight fear that the ride could split into two at any given moment, actually made the entire experience that much more fun!

Erica, Helen, and I at the Entrance To Luna Park.
 

The next stop on the Tour de Melbourne was to the St. Kilda Breakwater Wildlife Area, where, word on the street is, some wild penguins make a daily appearance. Apparently ,they were vacationing with the 'roos from Sydney, cause they certainly never showed their little tuxedod selves to us! Regardless, it was a great walk by the sea, and it was a cool view of the city!


The Girls and I....And Melbourne, Boats, and Water

Before we all parted ways, we ended the day by sipping some apple cider, and splitting a basket of french fries at a riverfront pub. Yum! It was a great day of site seeing, and was SO fun to catch up with Erica and Helen after nearly two years of separation!

 

The last day of the trip was spent back in Malaysia. I had been warned throughout my entire trip to be careful in Kuala Lumpur, as a common crime trend there involves motor cyclist speeding by the sidewalks, grabbing purses (often dragging the purse holder as well), and then speeding away. This girl is NOT a fan of becoming a statistic, so when another crew member and I decided to go on a short walk to see the famous Twin Towers, I was careful to bring only as many accessories as I could stuff into my bra. I knew all those years of practicing with socks would pay off one day!  

 

Fitting Two of the World's Largest Towers and Myself  Into The Same Picture...NOT An Easy Task

We landed back into Dubai yesterday afternoon, and I think it's safe to say this five day trip wore me out! I laid down at 5:30 p.m. for a short cat nap...and woke up bright eyed and bushy tailed at 6 A.M. this morning. Well, I'm off to gather more nuts and berries....

 

Have a great week, everyone! 

Russian Roulette and Safe Skydiving

After spending a grand total of 24 hours in the city of Moscow, Russia one sentence pretty much sums up my experience, "Moscow...where the weather and people are cold!"

Now, maybe that's a bit of a generalization, but compared with the friendly faces I had just encountered in Germany last week, the majority of passersby on the street just seemed downright angry. Maybe it was because they were cold. I would have been more than happy to ask them what they were all so upset about, however, English is not widely spoken in their neck of the woods, and they definitely weren't too happy about me speaking it to them with my speedy northern American accent. Despite the overall lack of smiling faces and English signage, I still ventured out into the city with the crew and attempted to take in the local sites.

I use the word attempted because after taking a ten minute shuttle bus and completing a thirty minute walk, we approached the famous Red Square, only to the discover that a sold out festival was taking place inside the area. This resulted in our only views of the Cathedral of Saint Basil the Blessed, a landmark that I've always thought of as the real life Candy Land, coming from slight glimpses I was able to catch from slits in the tall barricades. Unfortunately, the only photo I have of the cathedral comes from a dinky post card, courtesy of the hotel gift shop. Here's hoping for better luck next time...



The Amazing Photo I SHOULD Have Taken In Front of St. Basil's Cathedral

Although we never made it inside the actual Red Square, we were still able to see the surrounding area, which was filled with loads of really cool historical landmarks and buildings with amazing architecture. Naturally, I did my fair share of whining about the cold, however, it was actually nice to stand outside in September without sweating, unlike some places (ya, Dubai, I'm talking about YOU)!

Outside The Red Square (St. Basil's in the distant background).

I landed back into Dubai late last night, and after a quick sleep, I met up with my friend Rajeev for another adventure. Today's quest led us to iFly, an indoor skydiving simulator. I've actually already been real life skydiving back in 2010, so perhaps I did this whole thing in reverse order, but, as I'm sure you've probably noticed, I've always been a little unconventional! It was somewhat similar to skydiving, as in I had the same amount of saliva being violently flung all over my eyelids, and in both experiences the wind just perfectly caught my already chubby cheeks, giving the illusion that my face was, in fact, just as wide as it was long! Real life skydiving had a much cooler free falling feeling, however, it also came with the slight chance that I could die. The skydiving simulator felt more like I was just standing in front of the world's most powerful fan, however, it was in a fairly controlled and safe environment. Life is all about give and take, folks. :)

Inside the Skydiving Simulator

"Life is an adventure, not a predicament." -James Broughton



Have a great week!

I've Come From A Land Down Under

G'day Mate! Just returned home from one of my best layovers to date: Sydney, Australia! Visiting Australia has always been a dream of mine, but in recent years it has become more of a priority since meeting one of my best friends while interning at Walt Disney World, Dean, who was born, raised, and currently lives in Sydney.

Dean, being the awesome friend that he is, took off an entire day of work upon hearing the news that I'd be gracing his city with my presence, and planned a jam packed day of adventure and site seeing. We started off our day with breakfast at a cute little cafe close to my hotel. As all world travelers know, days of non stop adventure are only successful if you begin them with a carb overload. Therefore I had no other choice, but to indulge in one of the world's largest slices of banana bread known to mankind. Yep, it was delicious!

After breakfast we headed down to the Sydney Harbour Bridge, where we stood and admired the 440 feet high structure safely from the ground...and then decided to connect a bunch of harnesses onto ourselves and scurry to the top of the bridge that is famously nicknamed "The Coathanger." Before I continue, let me explain a little something...I have a very real fear of heights, now I know, I know, what a ridiculous statement for someone who spends the majority of her time well above 30,000 feet. For whatever reason, airplanes don't bother me, it's roofs, cliffs, the clear plastic step out box on the observation deck of the Sears Tower, and things with ledges I could fall off of that freak me out! And yes, bridges just so happen to fit into this category as well.

So after arriving at the bridge climbing facility, Dean and I were issued grey full body suits (grey in order to camouflage ourselves with the bridge, and minimize distractions to drivers on the bridge), and instructed to remove jewelery, hair pins, and anything else that could do some serious damage if dropped from the top of the bridge onto innocent pedestrians below. Usually, one bridge climbing leader takes up groups of twelve people at a time, however, since Dean and I are international celebrities were the only ones who registered for the 9:40 A.M. session, our small but mighty group consisted of just the two of us.

The climb was not nearly as scary as I had planned it out to be in my head! We were hooked to safety harnesses throughout the entire trek, and actually spent much more time walking on an enclosed slope than actually climbing up steep stairs. Despite the strong winds that greeted us at the top, the view of Sydney was incridible. We were able to see the entire harbor, the Sydney Opera House, and most importantly, the building where Dean works! Fear of heights, you are dead to me!

After our climb, it was time to refuel again, so we grabbed a quick lunch at a local Australian pub before taking a short ferry ride across the harbor, and ended up at Wild Life Sydney, a zoo featuring a wide array of native Australian creatures. We saw wallabies, wombats, crocodiles, and my personal favorite, Koalas. Unfortunately, the Kangaroo exhibit was temporarily closed for "refurbishments." Suspiciously enough, the gift shop was running a special on Kangaroo jerky.... The best part of Wild Life Sydney? Being able to speak Steve Irwin style for an entire two hours! Right, Dean?

After hanging out with the koalas, who just so happened to be in the midst of their mating season (with every lustful stare I went into a slight panic that Sir Treehugger was about to leap off his branch and have his way with my golden locks), we drove down to the famous Bondhi Beach. It's currently winter in Australia, but that didn't stop up from ending our fabulous day with ice cream cones on the beach =)

September cover of Knock Knees Weekly

The only thing on the Sydney Itinerary that did not get crossed off was me taking Dean's car for a whirl on the left side of the road. Although he was completely willing to turn over the keys (I really have no idea why), I decided that due to rush hour traffic coupled with the fact that I'm not exactly a great driver on the right side of the road, I'd go ahead and skip that little activity. All in all, first trip to Australia=a success!

 

And now a word from Grief Watch 2012. This past week marked the sixth month anniversary since we lost mom. If found, please return to...I kid, I kid. It wasn't a horrible day, but I noticed, and she was on my mind more than usual that day. Part of me is really proud of how well we've all done in the past six months. Part of me is just really, really sad that six months have passed since I woke up to an email from my mom. The email was in response to me telling her I had lost the slip of paper that had my current address written on it. She shared with me this vital information that, being the great mom was was, she had filed away. She then wrote, "Little girl, didn't I ever teach you to memorize your own address? Have a good day, pumpkin!"

Always the care taker.

 

Part of me is mad, but a bigger part than that is just really grateful. Grateful for all the mom love I do have in my life, like my aunts and my mom's close friends who continue to send me emails to check on me. And my friends' moms from all over the world, many of whom I've never met, sending me sweet notes, homemade pillows, tea sets, angel necklaces, and most recently an authentic Australian bracelet (thanks, Mrs. Morgan), just to let me know they are thinking of me. I'm grateful for all my friends and family who let me cry and reminisce as much as I want to. Grateful for all the signs that my mom continues to give me, just to let me still know she's around, like my hotel room number I was assigned on the night of her six month anniversary, 1415 (her cell phone was ***-***-3114, mine was ***-***-3115). Overall, the past six months have made me realize just how cool it was that I got to spend 24 years being raised by someone who seeped kindness, loved everyone, and just overall excelled at life, and despite how many more "six months" go by, I STILL get the priviledge of calling her my mom! And for that, I think I will be forever grateful!

 

Have a great week!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 





Germany Take One

As I write this post on the backside of a Dusseldorf city map, while sitting on a random park bench a few miles from my hotel, I think it's safe to say that I have never felt like I belonged in a foreign country as much as I have here in Germany.I know, I know my family has been residing in the land  of the free for well over 100 years now. However, I do know we still have cousins over here because I've seen at least 50 people who look exactly like my brother Chad and me. A couple people that I saw so closely resembled us that I actually waited until they finished their beer, and secretively stuck their DNA covered mug into my purse in order to use for future testing... I kid, I kid. But seriously, everywhere I look, blond hair, blue eyed tall people! It feels like I'm at a family reunion over here!

The best way to describe Germany is that it's quaint. The local food, the cobblestone streets lined with pubs, the kind and friendly people (minus the hormone enraged, slightly drunk 20 something lad  I encountered last night who "casually" bumped into me and did a full blow ass grab. He was too friendly...), it's just simple here, and I love it!

I was luckily placed on this trip with a German captain who is very familiar with the Dusseldorf area. Last night he offered to take the crew out for dinner, drinks, and a short tour of the the city. Since guten tag is the extent of my German language, I jumped at the opportunity to see the city with a local. As our hotel is located quite a ways from any city center, we hopped on the metro, then the subway, and finally reached an area known as old town Dusseldorf. As we were climbing the stairs from the subway, we heard loud music pumping out of the nearby pubs, and upon reaching street level, it appeared that a huge street party festival was taking place. Much to my surprise the captain informed me that, nope, it was just a typical Wednesday night for these Germans!



Our group of six gathered in one of the outside seating areas, and the captain educated us on German beer drinking protocol. Basically, the servers come around with large trays filled with glasses of the local brew. If he sees your glass is empty, he'll replace it immediately and mark a tally on your coaster in order to keep track of your tab. When you've finished drinking, you simply place your coaster on top of your glass to notify the waiter that you are no longer drinking. Kinda nifty, eh?

Keeping Track of The Tab...German Style



Disclaimer: This girl is not a beer drinker, but I am a trooper! I tried one gulp of the dark disgusting liquid, and politely informed the waiter that I'd be sticking to my white wine.

The food was delicious! I had a schnitzel (think fried pork chop), but our entire group shared the generous portions. By the end of the evening I had tried, schnitzel with fried egg on top, fish fillet, sausage and mashed potatoes in a mushroom sauce, and creamed sour kraut. Yum! After we finished our meal, we wondered down by the river front, which reminded me slightly of the lake front in Chicago (minus all the bums). Around 1:30 AM local time, our exhausted tour group called it a day, and headed back to our hotel.

I am always one for an adventure, even if its a solo quest, however I am a realist. I had most of today free, which would have been ideal for hoping on the train and exploring more of the city. However, I am aware that I have a slight history of getting lost. It's not my fault, it's genetic.

Many moons ago, on a trip out of state trip to visit my aunt, my mom and I decided go on a shot walk around my aunt's block. Four hours and many miles later, we ended up at some poor soul's house, hot and slightly dehydrated in middle of no where Virginia, begging to use some random family' phone, and asking if there was any way they could spare a cold glass of lemonade to us weary travelers. Due to lacking a sense of direction, combined with all German signage and a non negotiable evening departure time, I opted to stick close to the hotel today.

There is not a ton of things to see and do in the area near the hotel we stay in, so after my morning workout at the hotel gym and my Starbucks coffee, I grabbed an area map and headed out on my own. As it turned out, the area is residential and there is not much more to see or do, but I had a great two hour walk checking out German houses and exchanging well wishes with fellow walkers, bicyclists, and joggers. Alas, ending up in this park :)

Yes, I did have a random passerby take this picture. It's cool though, we're cousins...probably.



And now for a random fact: I've always known my last name "Schutz" was very German, but for most of my life, I wasn't sure what it actually meant. Several months ago I was swim suit shopping in London, and as I was pulling up my bikini bottoms, I saw a clear plastic liner that read first in English "Sanitary Protection." It then listed, what appeared to be the same verbiage in several other languages. I immediately noticed blah blah blah Schutz. It was a 50/50 shot on whether my proud, bold, and strong family name meant sanitary or protection. I went with protection, and as the German speaking captain confirmed, I was correct! Wheh, Kelsey Sanitary...just doesn't have the same ring to it. Here's ther real kicker, APPARENTLY my family has been mispronouncing our last name for years! Schtuz (shoots) is actually Schutz (shuts) due to the lack of double dots over the U. I feel like my entire life has been a lie! I'll truly understand if you no longer consider me to be a credible individual and quit following my adventures on this here blog...Shuts and Scores.

Til next time folks,

Kelsey (if that's even my real name ) Schutz, Schütz, Shuts????

I Gradumacated!

This week's big event was my graduation ceremony. After successfully completing six months within the Emirates company, flight attendants are no longer considered to be on probationary status, and are promoted just one level above the very bottom of the totem pole.

As a result of some unforeseen circumstances (thanks, mom), I was unable to graduate with the group of friends I had been with since day one of Kelsey's life in Dubai. So, I was partially unexcited about the graduation ceremony because I only knew about 10 of the 150 people who were graduating with me. I also felt like the big "to do" was a bit unnecessary for a simple degree in tea and coffee.

The big day finally came this week, and it was actually nice to catch up the group I had finished my last week of training with. The best part of the day, however, was when my friend Rajeev surprised me by showing up at the graduation ceremony, even after I had assured all of my friends that their presence at the ceremony was 100% unnecessary. Despite my best attempts at not being super emotional, I legit almost teared up when I saw his happy self snapping pictures in the audience, just like a proud little parent!

As per usual, I have no idea what my future holds...career wise, relationship wise, living location, where I will eat dinner tonight, etc. And even though I think the whole graduation process was a bit silly,  I couldn't help but feel a little proud as my name was called and I strutted across the stage for my five seconds of glory. I felt proud that in just a little six months I was able to move overseas knowing no one, start a new job, make new friends, mourn the loss of my mom, and travel all over the globe without completely letting my cheese slip off the cracker. So call me crazy, but I think that is something to celebrate, at least a little bit. And we did....with cake :)





Yours Truly,

Kelsey Schutz, Bachelors of Tea and Coffee

And It's Been A Month...

Karim Ramadan!

For most of my adult life I've probably glanced at my Hallmark calendar and noticed that printed on a specific date during one of the summer months were three simple words, First Of Ramadan. Never in my life had I paid those words attention, mostly because I had no idea what Ramadan was. This year, however, as I'm living in a Muslim country, July 20th rolled around and sh** got real! They took away my Starbucks during daylight hours!

Ok, ok so it's a little bit more meaningful than that. Ramadan is the 30 days each year in which Muslims observe strict fasting from sunrise to sunset. It is supposed to make them better understand suffering and become more peaceful. Personally it makes me grouchy, as NO ONE is allowed to drink or eat in public during daylight hours. Restaurants, such as my beloved Starbucks, located next door to my building, are open for take away only. People watching while sipping my Starbucks is the whole reason I pay for their overpriced coffee in the first place!

The upside to Ramadan is Iftar, the evening meal where Muslims break their fast. Obviously I'm not fasting, but it's kind of like a huge party when all the restaurants open and everyone is out on the streets again. It's been interesting to experience, and once again I'm learning something new about the Arab culture.

LA Layover Take 20

The week before my leave started I went to Los Angeles for yet another layover. Two of my friends from Spirit flew out to spend the two days with me. We had a great time catching up, eating too much, and biking the 40 mile route to Santa Monica.

The Journey Home

As soon as my flight landed from LA, I rushed to my apartment where I unpacked, repacked, showered and headed back to the airport. From Dubai I flew to Kuwait City, a place I was very thankful I did not get stranded! After Kuwait I flew to Washington DC in business class on United (flat bed seats, ahhhh). Once I landed in DC, I was slightly panicked as the sole United flight to STL was oversold. The gate agent was even bargaining with passengers to give up their seat in exchange for future flight vouchers. Just as I had pretty much decided I was stuck in DC for the day, my name was called for the approved standby list. Still NOT sure how that happened! When you find a penny, heads up on the sidewalk, do you ask why it's there or take it and run? Exactly!

10 Days, Illinois Style 

From the moment my dad picked me up from the airport, my visit home was jam packed. I had planned it that way, as there were so many people I wanted to see and things I wanted to do, I didn't want to waste a single minute! I had a huge cookout with family and friends (complete with a hayride and fireworks), watched Ice Age III at the drive in with my crazy nieces and friends, ate an amazing homemade spaghetti meal at my Aunt Traci's, went on bike rides and runs, cooked a ton (for my party of one standards at least), ran in a 10k race, attended Allison's baccalaureate party in Chicago, went boating, and tried to soak up as much family and friend time as possible in between. It was a GREAT visit home, just unlike any other visit home that I had ever had before.

I've been living away from home for the past six years, so I would pretty much say I have the whole coming back home for visits routine down pat. Big meals will be had, friends will be over, and a week long party will commence.

My mom's been gone five and a half months. As Forest Gump would say, "She's on vacation!" I miss our Skype conversations, waking up to her morning emails, and receiving random pieces of mail from her terribly, but I have had five months to get used to the sucky sucky truth that those things are no longer a part of my life here in Dubai.

What I have not had time to get used to is walking into my mom's dream house...and her not being there. Waking up every morning, and not hearing her cheery, "Mornin', Princess." No one cackling loudly as Dad and I watch late night reruns of King of Queens. Pulling into the driveway after midnight and all the lights in the house being turned off, as she is no longer up late working on one of her many miscellaneous projects. I've not had five months to adjust to her no longer being in the house, the house that she always made my home.

It was awesome to be surrounded by family and friends, and it was wonderful to be back for over a week, but it was hard. Really, really hard. I have faith that next time will be a little bit easier, and the time after that, just a little bit easier than the time before. This time though, I just really missed my mom. And I'm not quite sure how Heaven works, but I'm almost certain, she missed me too.

Mom and I Boating-Summer of 1990

"A child on a farm sees a plane fly overhead and dreams of a faraway place. A traveler on the plane sees the farmhouse, and dreams of home." -Carl Burns

My mom, an avid newspaper clipper, had this quote taped to the inside cover of her 1999 planner.

Meanwhile In Dubai

I've been back in Dubai for four days now, and as nice as it was to be home, it's honestly nice to be back...which is a good sign, I think. So far I have done one flight to Cairo, Egypt, three loads of laundry, lots of sleeping, caught up with friends, and today I crossed a big one off the ol Dubai Bucket List....indoor snow skiing! Tis good to get back to a normal routine :)

Since I Last Wrote I....

Watched my very first Euro Cup! Go Spain...or was it Italy that won???

Traveled to the Island of Seychelles, and despite the rainy weather, enjoyed my own private porch that was just steps away from the ocean.

Took part in Monday Night Madness, all you can eat and drink, at one of our favorite Irish pub's in Dubai, Fibber McGee's!

Went boating with my friend Georgina and two Emirates pilots, and actually skied for the first time. I've probably tried skiing at least 10 times before, so I was beyond excited to finally stand up. I think the buoyancy of the sea water definitely worked in my favor!

Traveled back to the land of tea and crumpets and watched one of my very favorite musicals, Chicago, on London's West End (the Broadway of London). It was SOOOO good! My mom and I both loved theatre, and had actually gone to see this show in Springfield several years ago. I did not tear up during the opening number of All That Jazz....ok fine I did.  

After that week of fun, I'm now lying in the comfort of my own bed, with no plans of getting up anytime soon. I vaguely remember signing up to run a 10k, that is now just a little over two weeks away. Maybe if I think real hard about running, I'll be mentally training, which is supposedly half the battle...right? 

RIGHT!!!!