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!