I am 30000 feet above the sea....

---

Seriously how cool is that. How cool is what? Believe it or not I just sent my first email from 30000 feet flying above Spain. Yaminay you hold the honour of being the first recipient of that email.



I arrived at Penn Station promptly just a few minutes before half-past seven in the morning. The morning rush at the station was a little disorientating at first but very soon I had my bearings and I bought a train ticket to Jamaica station on the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR). Anyhow, just to let everyone know the express train to Jamaica is around eight dollars, although I ended up paying nine dollars and fifty cents because I mistakenly bought a ticket thinking that it was peak time. By quarter past eight I was at Jamaica station and from there it was to Terminal 4 using the Air Train service. Check-in was a breeze and going through security was the standard shoe, belt and laptop show.



I must say, they seem to have revamped Terminal 4. It looked more modern and comfortable and there seemed to be quite a few stores where I could easily have spent a few hours browsing, though I would not recommend that anyone buy anything at these stores. I am still curious to find people who buy apparel at these places. Why would you buy a suit at an airport terminal? Or even why would you buy an expensive suitcase inside a terminal. Maybe those two go hand in hand.



I was delighted to find out that the plane that was going to take us all to Dubai - the first leg of my journey - was none other than a Airbus A380. Wow! My first trip in this monster of an airplane. Interestingly, only a hundred people were flying to Dubai this Wednesday, which meant that there were plenty of empty seats and many happy flight attendants. Just an aside, we just entered the Mediterranean and are going to be flying over the island of Ibiza. I met two really lovely and friendly flight attendants. The first one I bumped into while I was standing at the back of the plane stretching my legs. She is from Portugal; from the island of Madeira to be exact. She loves New York City and has been to pretty much all the canonical cities in the world. Next month she will get promoted to the upper floor where the cool people hang out in the first and business class lounges. She also got me enrolled in the frequent flyer program, which might come in handy. I also discovered that right at the back of the plane, the flight attendants have a tiny cabin where they can get a short nap to refresh themselves. It is a very tiny cabin that accommodates about nine fully grown up people. It was funny to see the same flight attendants who were immaculately dressed just an hour or so ago to be emerging out in pajamas and a fleece jacket. Both the gents and the ladies share the cabin together and both wear the same sleeping attire. In a few minutes they were back in their uniforms with not a single hair out of place. I wonder how they do it? Perhaps they wear wigs.



And this where I met the second lovely lady whose name I don't quite remember anymore, but I will ask her when she comes around again. This poor lady, had bleeding nose because the sleeping rooms tend to be very dry. Poor thing was trying stop the bleeding standing next to me. She very politely enquired where I was from, and this how I discovered that she was from Bucharest, Romania and is now based in Dubai. I told her that I was on my way to Italy next week. It turned out that she had lived in Italy for three years. She lived in Palermo which from what I have read a lovely town in the most fascinating island of Sicily. She wants one day buy a house in Sicily and perhaps settle there. What a lovely idea. Go for it lady!



Now, I discovered that for a modest seven dollars and fifty cents one can get online using the Emirates wifi service. I am being a little sarcastic here when I use the term modest, for the allowed amount the data transfer is a mere 15 MB. This is so nineties. But, I was excited to send my first email from 30000 feet. You know, I am pretty sure that in my lifetime - let's assume I live past eighty- we will be able to send emails and be online even when one is in outer space. Actually, it would be so cool if could start a small colony on the moon and have internet access there. This way we can perhaps make tons of data centers on our little friend that adorns our nights.



Enough said for now. I will be back very soon.



2139 hrs EST ---- Somewhere over North Africa.

This has to be one of the most amazing flights I have ever had. The flight crew on this flight are some of the most amazing cabin crew that I have ever met. Their hospitality and warmth will always be a fond memory for me. On two separate occasions, I was treated to a special coffee. One of the flight attendants and I sat together in one of the jump seats and chatted of all the interesting things we have experienced. She gave such amazing tips about Sicily, although she is originally from Romania. She lived in Sicily for three years. I took my first selfie at 38000 feet with some of the crew members. I wish all flights were like this. By the way this flight attendant is really cute!

---