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| View From My Front Door |
September 24th marked my 2 month anniversary of moving to Dubai and I couldn't be happier with my decision. I had no idea what I was getting myself into when I decided to accept a flight attendant job in Dubai and move to the other side of the world but I'm glad I took a leap of faith and went for it. The last two months have been a complete rollercoaster of emotions for me, but lets start from the beginning.
On July 24th 2014 I landed in the sweltering heat of Dubai with 50kg of my belongings, exhaustion from my 20+ hours of travel time with no sleep, and a dream. That dream was to travel the world...and get paid for it! As you all know I love to travel (that's what my blog is all about afteral!) but I'm sure you also all know how hard it is to work a "job" and save for one lousy 2 week holiday, maybe, if you can manage to afford it after all your bills. Now I can say that dream is a reality living here in Dubai as a flight attendant for the worlds most international flight company.
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| My amazing batch 2558 |
For the past two months I have been training at Aviation College to become a certified flight attendant. I can't lie, it was absolutely mental and hard. Probably the hardest thing I've had to do in a very long time. But the saying is true "if you want something different, you have to do something different," aka you can't keep doing the same thing over and over and expect a different result, you have to change something in your life to make that happen. Training lasted for basically 2 months from beginning to end ranging from all things safety and security, medical training, image and uniform and everything in between. I hit a few walls in the beginning. Being 27 and going back to school after all these years, and not just any school but one that should be a solid 3-4 month program crammed into 7 short weeks and 1 induction week, was a bit much to take in. Put that on top of moving to the desert and a completely new way of living and you're set up for a mental breakdown. I was waking up at 4am and 5:30am most days and going to bed at 10pm-11pm at night. It was CRAZY! I didn't have any major breakdown myself because I'm well adjusted to traveling and living far away from home but I did have a blowup on image and uniform day. During lunch I had found out a friend of mine had be suddenly killed in a car accident and my world was shattered. I had to take most of the afternoon off from training and just stay in a private room at the college to cry. I can only assume there was also a lot of stress coming out in those tears cause it was intense. The days following I was also pretty out of it and not quite there but I managed to make it through with talking to friends from home. Also I had many new friends at training college who helped me through by letting me lean on them and to them I say a big THANK YOU! It was a long and hard process but I've now made it to the other side and I'm fully licensed as a flight attendant!
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| Last day at Aviation College |
Living in Dubai is and isn't exactly what I expected. The obvious things are there like how hot it is, the amazingly gigantic buildings and the sand but it not exactly what I thought it would be. The buildings are quite spread out so even though it looks close it's still a solid 30 min walk to that building "just over there." Right now it's too hot to walk most places but come fall/winter I'll be walking all over. The buildings are quite a sight I have to say, the architecture here is fun and creative which I really appreciate. Many of the hotels have amazing clubs and restaurants that we all go to because we get major discounts at them which is a life saver, and money saver! Even though the UAE is a Muslim country here in Dubai there is still many places you can drink alcohol like in the hotels and resorts. To buy any from a store you need to have a license which is fairly cheap and good for a year. I don't have one yet but I'm going to get one eventually but you don't need it to drink at the hotels and resorts which all of the clubs and bars are attached to. Maybe because it's summer that it's not exactly what I thought it we be because no one likes being outside for too long. I hope come winter the city will become more alive with things to do outside because I'm going crazy being inside all the time. The cost of living is up and down. Because of my job I get a lot of discounts on practically everything which makes it very affordable. If I didn't have that, things would get pricey. Some things are completely cheap in my standards like taxi's and any form of transportation but other things like fruits and veg are completely ridiculous like $7 Canadian for a cucumber or $15 for a head of kale.
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| My Building |
My accommodations are exactly what I was hoping for! I'm the envy of everyone who finds out where I live. My building is on the main street Sheikh Zayed Rd which is the main drag for downtown and the club scene. I'm also on the 21st floor facing the ocean with a view of the "World" from my bedroom window, which also has an en suite might I add. I absolutely love where I live and I'm so very grateful to have it. The rooms in my place are huge, we have 5 bathrooms, a massive living room and kitchen and also a dishwasher which most people don't have. I'm in heaven every time I wake up for sure.
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| View of the sunset from my place |
Now that I've finished training and started flying it's much easier to live in Dubai because I'm away so much. Before the heat and being inside was getting to me but now my adventurous curiosity is being satisfied with new destinations all over the world that aren't so hot and I can explore. I have to say overall I'm very happy with my decision to move to Dubai. I can tell it's a city that has a lot to offer and a lot I still have yet to discover which I'm excited about come more fall/winter time. I'm also over the moon with where I live and can't wait to start turning it into a home with decorations from all over the world and my own personal touches. I feel like I'm going to be able to be very happy here for a very long time to come and that excites me. I haven't settled down in a "home" for quite some time so it's a nice change for me.
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| The Burj Khalifa |
Since I've started flying I've been on my 2 induction flights and just got my first roster for the month of October! My first flight was a layover to Singapore which I'll write all about in my next post and my second was just a quick turnaround to Hyderabad, India. Take a peek at my
Travel Bragging page to find out where I'm going in the month of October!
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