Woo sorry it has taken me so long to post anything! I have been so crazy busy since I got here last week I have barely even had time to sleep. I'll just start from the beginning of my trip and try not to make this post too long. So I flew out of Seattle on Thursday evening after a wonderful breakfast with my parents and a short flight from my local airport to Seattle. After a short layover filled with phone calls to family, I boarded my plane and was off to Dubai! I introduced myself to the cabin crew and said I was a new joiner and they were so lovely. They made the 14 hour flight much better by showing me around business and first class and spoiling me with tons of chocolates, espresso, tea and some wine. They also answered any questions and concerns I had about joining and they definitely helped calm my nerves since I was suddenly hit with thoughts of "OMG I am moving halfway across the world where I don't know anybody, I have no idea what I'm getting myself into and I have never lived on my own, what am I doing?!"
Once I arrived at my accommodation Friday evening I met my roommate who is a fellow American and she gave me a ton of helpful advice (and thank goodness she already had wifi set up!!). After a little unpacking I went to sleep and woke up on Saturday and headed to the Dubai mall to wander around and see a little more of Dubai. I was totally shocked when it was raining that morning and it continued to rain for the rest of the week...definitely not the hot desert weather I had heard so much about. The Dubai Mall is absolutely amazing and you almost need a whole weekend to even see half of it. Sadly the next day I would lose my iphone in a taxi getting out at the Mall so my opinion of the place has dropped slightly...but lesson learned, always double check when getting out of a taxi. And yes for my friends reading this who know how obsessed I am with my phone I did spend a few hours crying over it...
On Sunday my training started and once again I was thinking oh my gosh what am I doing this is insane but by the third day I finally felt relaxed, at home and I am really lucky to have amazing batchmates that all get along really well so that definitely helps. I also live next door to 3 girls in my batch which is great too. After a crazy busy induction week learning about the company and what training will be like it was finally the weekend (TGIThursday!) Our training group decided to head to Barasti Beach Thursday night and it was so fun to see people out of the training uniform and looking more like themselves, it was almost hard to recognize some people. The next 2 days were spent on the beaches with my new friends trying to work on our tans. I have to say the beaches here might be my favorite thing. They are AMAZING. Beautiful white sand, clear warm water and a nice breeze so you don't die of heat getting a tan. It's still hard to believe I can go to them whenever I want for the next few years (after the crazy 6 weeks of training of course).
Overall it has been an eye opening experience and I am so happy and thankful I was able to get this job and live out a dream for a few years. I have met some great people who I can tell I will stay friends with for a long time and they've helped make this transition so much easier. Tomorrow I start my SEP training and although I've heard alot about how intense it is I'm excited to start learning and get one step closer to flying and travelling all over the world! Wish me luck! And for any new joiners reading this, yes it is stressful and scary the first few days, don't expect it to be easy right away but after a few days the homesickness will go away little by little and you will get more use to everything. You will meet some amazing people and have alot of fun too so try not to worry too much before you come :)
Goodbye breakfast with my wonderful parents (Yes mom I miss you both)
View from my balcony
My lovely friends before Barasti Beach
Beach day by the Burj Al Arab
Mosque visit
