We have lift off!

Dish dasha, traditional Arabic dress, and my next Halloween costume.
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Ya that’s right, I flew! The long wait is over! At 7:10 this morning, or @ 7:10 last night your time, I was crew on a flight to Damascus, Syria. Really not that interesting as I didn’t exit the plain, but it looked nice…exactly like Dubai actually. The flight took of at 7:10, but I need to be there at 5:40 for the briefing. Which meant I had to be out front of my place at 4:35 for transportation to the airport. I will spare you the boring details of preparation. The plain, for all those interested, was an A320-200. An older plane, designed for shorter halls. The flight was about 3.5 hours there and just under 3 on the way back. We served breakfast and lunch on the return. The plane was loaded on the way there and half full on the way back.

Is that the Sheik? No, just ME!
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Points of interest. There was something that caught me off guard. Right before take off and landing on the way there a gentleman, unidentified and on descript, shouted out something in Hindi and a large number of passengers, the majority of the plane were Hindu Indian, responded simultaneously in a three word prayer. It caught me off guard and scared me a little. The other point of interest was all the cleaners that board the plane in Syria requested playing cards and coffee crystals… Ok the cards make sense I think, Muslim country, cards are not allowed, and thus we were not allowed to issue them. As for the coffee, your guess is as good as mine.

Hello Syria!

Surprisingly comfortable.
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There is a saying around the airline that states that you WILL gain a stone (English reference for weight, I believe to be around 12 lbs?) in weight in the first year you work for the company. Thus the reason we are encouraged to work out and why they issue the uniforms a size or to large. Well after the flight I can see why. After serving the meal we were invited to help ourselves to what was left, not to mention the pantry of food allocated on the plane intended for us, as crew. Sandwiches, fruit platters, chocolate bars, yogurt, just to mention a few. And after service all our down time is spent in the galley surrounded by food.

Dam I make it look good!
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Which leads to the next rant: the sheer a mount of waste that goes on in the airline industry. There is ZERO in the way of recycling, reducing, or reusing. And the waste! If it isn’t used it is tossed! The white plates and cups that the food is served in is washed, but everything else is tossed. The plastic cups, a cupboard’s worth, tossed. All the meals not eaten, tossed, all the juice boxes that were open, tossed. And it is not just the waste. The cans, tetra packs, newspapers, pillow covers, and water bottles chucked out! Oh the humanity of seeing all the waste! I hope that the catering company finds a place for the food. I am going to see what I can do about the waste. Find someway to convince the airline that there is a better way to deal with the situation.

Well good news and bad, I forgot my camera when I left this morning, but I have include some photos of me in a Dish-dash instead. And the beard is common among Arabic men, so I left it on for the photos, it is the result of not working for a week.

Tomorrow I am off to Istanbul, with a camera… I hope.