Oh I do declare!
This was probably one of the best Damascus trips I've done (out of the four times I've been there!).
The crew was really nice. We had a purser renowed for his pickiness and tough briefings, but turned out to be nothing but pleasant, and the briefings weren't tough at all, just normalna.
Then there was my homegirl Miriam, my gorgeous Lebanese coursemate, who certainly spiced things up... that girl doesn't stop talking, ever. And just how cheeky can one be but still get away with it? That's Miriam.
Had a lovely day out in Damascus, a beautiful lunch (Mezze) and some shopping.
Oh, and I can't help but have been a bit smitten by one of my colleagues who just joined the company a few weeks ago and worked with the purser and me in Club World on the way out. Ever so sweet. Actually the first time I have a bit of a crush on a colleague to be honest.
Unfortunately that same crewmember had to be left behind in Damascus this morning with an ear-infection. Poor thing.
Must be horrid being left in a hotel on only your third trip.

Oh, and like I said, I couldn't resist the Syrian chocolates. Just had to buy meself a small bag yesterday! I know, shame on me... but if anybody's tasted the truffles from Ghraoui, they'd know what I'm talking about!

Now it's a couple of lazy days off before a stand-by and a short Tbilisi trip (with a 14-hour stopover there).

Happy travels.

As much as I like going to the Islamic Republic, there's one thing I absolutely don't like about being there:
How unbelievably dry my skin gets there. I kid you not, but I find myself using absolute loads of moisturizer, especially on my face... and I wouldn't have no more lips if it weren't for continuous lip-balm applications at 12 minute intervals.

Now, I haven't slept for approximately 40hrs, so I better haul my behind to bed and catch a well deserved beauty sleep. Oh and talking of 'beauty'...
I get major zit breakouts every time I 'visit' my beloved Islamic Republic aswell. Thankfully, there isn't another trip to Teheran on my roster for the next 5 weeks. Although the destination dujour for me nowadays is Damascus, another dangerzone, this time I'm talking about the Chocolatier next to the Reception at the Sheraton. Oh la la. Them milk chocolate truffles are truly Divine.

You're Canada!

People make fun of you a lot, but they're stupid because you've
got a much better life than they do.  In fact, they're probably just jealous.
 You believe in crazy things like human rights and health care and not
dying in the streets, and you end up securing these rights for yourself and
others.  If it weren't for your weird affection for ice hockey, you'd be
the perfect person.
Take
the Country Quiz at the href="http://bluepyramid.org">Blue Pyramid

_____

Canada's fabulous... so I guess that makes me fab too, no?

I've always been convinced I'd look really good with glasses on me face.
Last night I had a dream where I was actually wearing glasses, and I was ever so happy... makes me wonder:
Are glasses the key to happiness?

Friday evening, my housemates and I were invited to a houseparty at number 65 (our house is nr.63).
As there were only 3 of us here last night, Amy, Alex and I trotted out there to meet our neighbours. About bloody time I say... up 'till last night I thought there were only families of Asian origin residing in the area (with their Mercs and BMWs parked all over the place). But at 65 there are more hosties, well, 3 of them and their landlord.
It was a fun evening, of course I managed to stay too long, or until about 4AM! By then there were a few of us sitting on the staircase in a big bundle talking about everything and nothing.
Not as fun as partying and dancing in Addis Ababa, but still allright.

Speaking of Addis, I got my February roster e-mailed to me on Friday.
Tbilisi, Baku and Addis Ababa... and a few standby's is what my month looks like, with the last seven days off on leave, during which I'm contemplating going to New York for a short stay as my mama and lil' bro and sista will be there at the same time... or maybe a short hop to Iceland. Don't know yet.

Damascus calls now... Sunday evening to Tuesday. A short one, which I don't mind, and then Tehran on Friday.


-"What lake are we flying over now?"
-"It's Lake DILIGAF, Madame!"

1 month... that's when I last wrote something on here.
What a lazy hostie I am.

An what a month it's been.

Better to start off from the 'beginning', ie. where I left off last time.

As I remember meself writing Almaty was indeed a break in a pattern of trips that took me around only 3 countries... Syria, Jordan and my beloved Islamic Republic.

Oh, and in case you 'groundlings' were wondering what the term "trip" refers to, it is simply put: When I go to work, I don't go to 'work' as in starting at 8 or 9 AM then finishing off at around 5 PM.
No, when I go to work, I might start the day at around 11:50 AM (yep, our flights have luvly departure times!) and get home something like 3 or even 5 days later!
That, my dears, is a "trip", simply put, a hostie's Work'day'. Allright?

Anyhow, I digress.
Yes, Almaty was nice. Far away, as the flight was only a total of about 9 and a half hours (via Ekaterinburg in the middle of the Russian Ural Mountains), but nice.
Shame I didn't get to see more of the place than I did considering I had loads of time there (it was a 5 day Almaty)...
However that time was 'wisely' spent socialising with the rest of the crew, long nights in the hotel bar, and, a room-party at a Lufthansa crew member's room which went into the early (or late hours depending how you look at it) of the morning.
Fun.

Then was an early X-mas in Moscow after I returned from Kazakhstan, and although I only spent 2 proper days in Mother Russia, it was absolutely worth it, being able to see them (my family) and being able to have a little (although) early Xmas celebration.
I seem to have a nag of spending that Christmas day in countries that "haven't accepted Christ into their hearts and aren't able to join in on the fun"!
2003: Jeddah, Saudi;
2004: Damascus, Syria.

Tehran between Xmas and New Year then... a fun trip with my eccentric coursemate Étáin, a Swedish-speaking Irish girl.

TIP: In Iran it takes approximately 40mins to change a few Euros at a bank.
Lesson learned: Use the little changeshops.

Had a very quiet New Year's 'celebration' with Joona and Matthew in London. Needed that especially since a flight back from Tehran isn't especially easy.

First trip of the new year was then Almaty... this time with my home-girl Miriam, a gorgeous Lebanese girl off my course, and an absolutely brilliant crew.
Actually, that was my first trip as the only male crew-member on-board!
Hey, this definitely isn't Icelandair... where you could probably count the number of male hosties in the company off a single hand!

And that brings us up to today... the day I came back from a 4-day Addis Ababa.
Yes, Ethiopia.
A wonderful place actually. I'm rather ashamed that I didn't even go out and do something 'native'.
Well, if sitting by the pool at the Hilton, sunbathing and having dinner with the crew counts as going 'native', then I'm definitely getting an A for that part of the trip! I guess it doesn't count though.
Well, I had a fantastic time there though.
The crew was absolutely brilliant, 5 of us this time. 3 guys and 2 girls.
And we had a mad time.

The flight back to London was one of the most difficult I've worked on though.
It took us 2 and a half hours to do the lunch service... lets just leave it at that.

Wow, looking back over this it seems my life revolves around 'trips' and flights. Well, fair enough then, as it's true, and to be honest, I don't mind for the time being.
I absolutely love what I'm doing now.

There's a new FotoGallerie on the link-bar which will link you to my "at work" album... to give you an idea what I've been doing over the last few months!




-"Would you like something to drink sir?"
-"No, just water!"