Expecting the Unexpected

G'day everyone,
This update has been 6 weeks in the making but I finally got there in the end!

It has been quite a hectic month and a half but also a very fun and exciting one. I'm always thinking to myself that there is never a dull moment working in aviation. No two flights are the same as things are continuously changing such as the crew, the weather conditions, the passengers, the destinations etc. You never know what to expect with each flight and just take it as it comes, although you try to prepare as best as you can for any and every situation and learn to expect the unexpected at all times.

My first example of this: I flew into Berlin almost 2 months ago and on the return sector we were delayed 45 minutes due to malfunctions. That was fine and is quite common, however when we finally began boarding passengers a man started having an epileptic fit in his chair. This was quite chaotic as crew were running around trying to assist him but the isles were crowded with passengers and their carry on baggage. Thankfully I was working in the kitchen (which we call the galley) so I didn't need to do anything. I'm not sure I'd know exactly what to do despite all the first aid training we've had. The poor passenger was offloaded which caused more delays, and when we arrived back in Doha we realised that his bag was still in the overhead lockers which was a security issue and caused more headaches.

On a flight to London we had one woman suffer from severe air sickness. Whoever spots an ill passenger first becomes the person in charge of assisting them. I had the pleasure this time. The poor lady was huddled down in the toilet and looked like death. I nearly threw up myself when she handed me her full sickness bag, but I just smiled and thought to myself that this is part of my job. I guess this is the not-so-glamorous part no one really talks or thinks about.

I flew to Kuala twice in 3 days which was really exhausting. On the way there the second time we hit a massive airpocket which was the worst I've felt. We were in the middle of collecting the meal trays and the plane started rocking from left to right. I stopped what I was doing and held onto the overhead rail for support. Suddenly the aircraft dropped, the tail actually fell so we were flying at a huge angle as if we were taking off. A passenger who was in his seat reached over and grabbed both my arms because I nearly hit the roof. Thankfully there was a spare seat beside him so he helped get me into the seat but I wasn't able to put my seatbelt on because we were still falling and I needed to hold onto the arm rests. I started getting a bit worried when the arm rests starting going upwards because my weight was pulling them up. I thought I was going to fly right out of the seat. It eventually ended and we all went out the back to check on each other. One crew was flown from one end of the kitchen to the other, another crew actually hit the roof but wasn't harmed. Another crew was in the middle of serving coffee and poured it over a passenger. We ended up sitting down for 30 minutes after that and not moving. Although we had a lot of passengers looking at us with eyes of terror, so we just calmly reassured them that it happens all the time. The whole ordeal lasted 45 seconds which is quite a long time.

At Kuala International Airport I saw Indias most famous Bollywood celebrity, Sharuhk Khan. He had security around him and was being whisked away. I didn't really pay much attention as Bollywood films aren't my thing. However on a flight I did to India two weeks later he was on my flight. We didn't have any Indian crew on board so no one really cared, however whenever I fly with an Indian I make sure I tell them and they always get excited.

Again on the Kuala flight we had a passenger with swine flu on board. Once we landed security came onto the aircraft right away and put stickers on the arms of passengers that were seated within 5 rows on the person. They were taken away for testing to make sure they didn't have any flu-like symptoms.

I flew to Dammam in Saudi Arabia. Due to the flight times we had to wait 3 hours before we could turn around and fly home. So we slept in the business class seats for 3 hours and woke up 10 minutes before passengers boarded. It's a bit annoying as the flight only lasts an hour but you end up being in uniform for close to 7 hours.

On a flight to Lagos, Nigeria we had a passenger complaining of severe pain in his stomach. We were unable to identify what was wrong with him so we made an announcement for a doctor or nurse on board the aircraft. Both a doctor and a nurse came forward to assist and they diagnosed him with malaria. We gave him what medication we could and made him as comfortable as possible, but at some points he was screaming from the pain. An african lady at one stage came up to him and started doing something, I don't know if she was doing hoodoo or some magic or what but she was trying to cast out demons from the guy. The captain radioed for paramedics upon arrival so they were ready and waiting when we landed.

A few days ago I was in Alexandria, Egypt. We were delayed 20 mins leaving due to mechanical problems with one of the engines. The flight went smoothly but then when we landed we had a problem with one of the tyres. All this black smoke was coming out from behind it (which we could see when we opened the door to let passengers off). The engineer at Saudi grounded the aircraft and said he wouldn't clear us to fly until it was fixed. We had to wait 3 hours in the middle of the night. We ate all the food on board we had left in our crew cart, slept for a while and enjoyed watching planes take off and land. The captain decided to change the tyre so they began the process, but then an hour into that they realised they had brought the wrong sized tyre. So they had to get the correct one which took some time. Then no one could figure out how to use the jack. I jokingly volunteered to show them because they seemed quite clueless. An aircraft maintenance team should really know how to use their tools. We got to watch the whole process unfold which was exciting, but I would preferred to have stayed at home in bed as you don't get paid extra for delays or unexpected things like that. At one point due to miscommunication they brought passengers to the aircraft on the bus and left them standing there with their bags and crying children for 20 minutes. And Egypt is hot so you can imagine how cranky they would've been. They ended up sending the passengers back to the terminal and bringing them back a second time an hour later. Thankfully most of them slept on the way back, however a few of them complained which is understandable.

Today I came from Vienna, Austria. During our descent as we were approaching the runway the captain aborted the landing and ascended again. He made an announcement telling passengers that there was a lot of traffic and that we had to turn back and come in a second time when it was a bit less congested. That was partially true, but what happened is the control tower kept changing the runway landing information, so as he was preparing to land they gave him the final information, but we were flying to fast to make it on the first attempt so we turned back to land a second time. It's no big deal, as crew you know things like this happen and don't get worried at all. You're in really good hands and don't ever feel like you're not safe.

So as you can see no two flights are alike. You never know what's going to happen so all you can do is just be ready for anything and well rested so you're thinking clearly.

This past month I've had some amazing layovers. Hong Kong was fantastic. I saw 'A Symphyony of Lights' which is a light display they have every night in the city. You look across the bay and the buildings light up in time to music, all different colors, shapes and sizes. It's the largest sound and light show in the world and has over 44 buildings participating. I also caught a 5.7km long cable car up a mountain which had an amazing view of Hong Kong. We went in a premium cabin which has a glass bottom so you can see everything below you, which is a little scary. It was all good fun until they increased the typhoon alert level and had to shut down the cable car for 5 minutes. We were stranded in mid air looking down trying to suss out exactly where we'd land if we fell. The wind was very strong and the car was rocking on the wire. It didn't help the an Aussie tourist sitting next to me mentioned that a car fell off and they had only just finished their maintenance and reopened it. I'm not sure if he was pulling my leg or not but he did seem genuine. The most afraid person was an asian guy who was holding onto the side and honestly looked like he was going to cry. We made it safely which was a relief but they closed the ride down after they got everyone off. Due to the typhoon alert we nearly had our flight cancelled, but we managed to get out of there safely. Once we made it to the top we took a walk to this massive budda statue they have. It's enormous and took over 200 steps to get to the top. It was full of tourists and had a fantastic view from the top looking out at Hong Kong.

I went into town in Kuala to get my hair cut. They do the most amazing head massages and it barely costs a thing! While there they had a big sign saying that they were trying to enter the guinness world records book for the most number of haircuts in one day at the shopping mall. I was so excited to be a part of that but then read that it was the following day. Unfortunately for me I had a morning flight so I couldn't go and help make it into the world records book, which is something I've always though would be cool. Maybe next time....
I went to the Worlds biggest indoor themepark while in Kuala. It's on the top floors of a shopping centre which I wasn't expecting. They have some pretty cool rollercoaster rides so we had fun on those, but the dodgem cars were by far the best! Shopping is also ridiculously cheap. I picked up two bags for $4 and some dresses for $20. It doesn't get any better than that!
The following day I went into the city again and saw the Petronas towers. I have seen photos of it but my most vivid memory of it was from the movie Entrapment with Catherine Zeta Jones and Sean Connery. I wanted to cross the walkway between the buildings but it was closed, so instead I went up the Menara KL Tower. I was most impressed by the view from the top. You could see absolutely everything from the suburbs to the moutains in the distance. I'll try and post a photo.

Nigeria was an interesting experience. It's not a very safe country so to get between the airport and hotel we have a police car escort us. They also tint the windows of our cars so that people on the outside cannot see in. There have been terrible instances in the past which all the crew have heard about, but I won't repeat them. Thankfully they do their bit to keep us safe, and we're not allowed to leave the hotel at all. One first officer left the hotel to go to the supermarket which is a 2 minute walk from the hotel. On his way back he ran into trouble and ended up returning to the hotel wearing only his underwear!

I found a church in Doha which is great. I went along one day not knowing what to expect but really enjoyed it. The people are so nice and welcoming so I've hung out with them a few times already. The only problem is trying to get Fridays off regularly, but hopefully I can work something out with rostering so I can keep going. They're really a close knit bunch because most of the people my age are here working away from their families, so they have kind of become one big family to make this place feel like home. It's great and I'm really glad I've met them. A few work for Qatar as either cabin crew or pilots, but quite a few also have other jobs. They meet on a Friday because Qatari's have Fridays and Saturdays as their weekend.

Vienna is gorgeous. I have 3 flights this month and all in the last week and a half. There isn't a whole lot to do there if you don't like opera and classical music. The crew wanted to sleep so I ended up going to Ikea with the captains and looked around there. It's enormous and looks a lot like the one in Richmond, except everything is written in German. On the flight back the captain said I could come to the flight deck and take photos. I took some awesome pics of Kuwait from up high. He showed me how to extract and retract the aircraft wheels, how to radio for help if I ever needed to, how to determine if all the doors are locked or not, where the cargo hold is and lots of really other interesting things. I'm really interested in learning about their job so when they see someone is keen and excited about what they do they love showing you things. The captain wanted to let me sit in the cockpit for landing but I wasn't able to in the end as I was put in charge of economy for the flight and needed to guard my door for landing. Plus they airline is quite strict with who can and can't be in the cockpit during takeoff and landing. So because I wasn't able to sit there he grabbed my camera and took a dozen photos from the cockpit while landing the plane. The photos are incredible as you can see everything! He even took photos of the runway from the sky once they had lined the aircraft up. I have the same flight next week with him so that will be good fun.

Ramadan started a few days ago which is going to be an interesting experience living in the Gulf. All the muslims fast so we're not allowed to eat in public during the day, we're not even allowed to drink water in their sight. Everything is closed. And I mean EVERYTHING! Supermarkets open late at night for a few hours so if you're flying during the night and have the day off tough luck! They're only allowed to eat once the sun has gone down so I imagine during day flights they're going to be quite cranky when we're serving food to non-muslim passengers on board. There will be a big celebration once it ends in a months time so I'm keen to see how large it is, I know in Melbourne they hire out a whole park with rides and food. It's almost like a mini-moomba, so I imagine it'll be much larger in Qatar. I heard they have a laser display but I'm not sure exactly what it is. Sounds impressive though!

I went to Kathmandu in Nepal. The city is quite busy and hectic with lots of people, traffic and noise. The houses seem to be all over the place in no real order and it's very crowded. We arrived on a festival which is called 'Ladies day'. It's a day where all the ladies fast for their men to show their love and devotion. They dress up in bright coloured clothes and dance in the streets together while singing.
We stay at a hotel in Nepal which all the crew say is haunted. There are so many rumours that go around with cabin crew, not just with Qatar but Emirates and Saudi who also stay there. The hotel apparently used to be a hospital so their are these old stories of crew seeing ghosts, having things moved in their rooms while their asleep, waking up somewhere in the room where they didn't lie down to sleep, and hearing children cry at night. It creeped quite a lot of crew out so some of the girls slept in the same room. I on the other hand was rather tired and had no time for ghost stories, so I went straight to bed and slept the whole night safe and sound. In the morning I went out with a girl from my training batch and the first officer. We were driven out of the city into rural areas which was great getting to see. They have such different lives to us so seeing it was yet another eye opener. The locals in the villages are afraid to go out at night because there are leopards in the area that prey at night. They have to stay indoors because people do get attacked by them. I can't imagine living with such fear!
We drove up a mountain to get a view of the Himalayas but it was very foggy so we couldn't see it. I have another flight there next month so hopefully I'll have better luck next time. The view was still amazing though and well worth the drive, however on the way home I noticed that I had all this blood on my leg. My friend also had blood but on her toe and next to her show was a leech! I always expected leeches to hurt but I didn't feel a thing, but it's still yukky thinking about it. I'm sure if I saw it on my leg I would've screamed!

I was able to go to Rome over 3 days. Four of us went out together, and the weather was extremely hot. We had to buy umbrellas that they sell on the streets to stop ourselves from getting burnt. I piled on the sunscreen and we drank litres of water. Rome really is an ancient city. It is full of history and old buildings and ruins that just draw you in. I honestly think I could spend years in Rome and not get bored. I have never seen anything quite like it and it almost feels as if you're walking down the street as if it were 100's of years ago, minus the cars and camera snapping tourists of course. I went into the Colosseum and was blown away by it. It is an enormous arena which is so old and well build. It looks exactly the same as the photos I've seen except bigger. It's hard to imagine that gladiators used to fight there, and quite sad to think about it. You can see where they were locked up, and then where they'd fight, and also where people would stand around and watch. I always imagined that if I saw the Colosseum that it would be a little eerie because of it's history but it was more remarkable seeing it than anything.
I was also able to see the Trevi Fountain. It was so crowded with tourists but well worth the walk to get there. It's rather difficult to describe so I'll post photos, but they just don't seem to do the fountain justice. It's architecturally brilliant and quite remarkable to see it in the middle of a quite area in the city.

Thanks again everyone for your prayers, emails and letters. It really does help me get through days when I'm sitting at home bored because all my friends are flying wondering what I'm missing out on back home. Life sure does keep going so I can't wait to come home and see all the changes that have taken place.

I made a short film clip with some footage I've taken of my travels thus far. If you're interested in watching it you can view it at this link.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAyxzEej5cQ

Love and miss you all,
Amber

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