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.