Once upon a time...

So many things are going through my mind lately, especially before I go to sleep. I recap the whole day, I think about what might happen tomorrow, what i have to do, if I need to do follow up on any passenger, if I talked to my friends today or when will I get the time to call them and so on. And of course one main thought that is always there in my mind is... where I want to travel next. Working with an airline company is making impossible to keep this thought away.
Then I think of all the placed in the world and I imagine myself there. And somehow the images are not at all new, like I've seen that before, I've been there maybe once, that view looks familiar in a way. In those moments I believe that long time ago, before being a Oana, I definitely was something else, or someone else, maybe who traveled a lot, or maybe I was one of the palm trees from my dream views, or maybe I was an animal that lived somewhere not far.
I remember being little and my folks telling me that I must have been a rabbit in another life, cause my first 2 teeth were too big for my that time dimensions. How cool must have been to be a rabbit, I must have had a blast of a time running around from a place to another, with my small little fluffy tail, eating fresh plants all day and peeing in different colors according to whatever I was eating. Cause you know bunnies pee green when they eat cabbage and orange when they eat carrot :))
Being a frog must have been quite an interesting life for me, because of my big eyes, everyone called me at least one time froggy eyes. I wonder if I really enjoyed eating all those insects, catching them with my tongue, just like frogs do. In this case who needs Chinese food, anyways I probably had more insects than all Chinese people in the world.
What I wonder if I really was a giraffe at some point, cause my long bones would really say this about me. And if I was, it means all Africa was at my feet, right? Life must bee quite amazing to be seen from up in the sky, being able to eat leaves directly from the tree, without a later to get up in it...
I'm now thinking if I was a fish one time, cause whenever I go to the beach I hate staying in the sun for tan, I could be in the water all day, getting all pickled and full of salt. And I dive, and I play, and I swim from one side to another, like a crazy small fish who is just getting used to his habitat.
But since one year, I keep thinking that maybe one time I was an Indian, cause since I got to that place, I felt like keep going and going, and visiting and seeing, and eating and living just like Indians do. So...maybe I was an Indian a life before this one, and I tend to think that I loved my life cause I feel very attracted to that part of the globe, no matter the differences and the difficulties and the dusty roads :P Me, the person who hated bugs in the house, and who was sneezing because of dust, and who was always eating nicely with the fork and used to hate to sweat and stay out in the sun in 30 degrees :)
So here I am, with a whole lot of experience in my subconscious , living in Dubai and being OANA in this life, waiting like crazy to see where is my step going to take me, and my next life, and then the next one and next one and the next one.
Man it's so cool to be alive!

Welcome to Emirates

Welcome to Emirates. This is Oana speaking. How may I help?
Life in call center is not that bad yet, I must say. But still have some more months to go, so the impression might change...right?
Anyways welcome to my world, day by the day the same phrases, the same faces, the same inquiries, but still not yet bored. Why is that? Maybe because I keep "entertaining" the customers, when I can of course, and in the meanwhile I entertain myself while entertaining them.
But the crazies thing is actually how much money people spend on travels. Every time I speak to a customer I try to imagine what would be his job, what kind of social situation he has (and if he is flying Emirates that must be quite good), if he is having a good or bad day, if he has a family or not, if he is really interested in his inquire or just calling to pass the time, cause yes, we have "customers" like that as well :) I've faced till now people who were hoping to "find" me on the phone when they call next time, frustrated people with no time not even to talk on the phone and book their own business flight, people who did not have enough credit on the phone and were expecting me to call them back..., people who are traveling for a living and spending like nothing on one way flight from Europe to Middle East, people who are barging with me to give them a better fare, people who actually know where Romania is and even have friends there :), people with huge families that travel only in business class, people who know exactly what they want when they call to book a flight, people who have no idea why they are calling and many many others. So in this case how can a day be boring, when actually besides the lines that open and end my call, I have situations to which I may respond different every day. And improvise of course in case I don't know something :P Hopefully my calls won't be listened too often :))
Last day I also realized that in my days off, I am kinda getting bored, especially if I am the only one from my friends having off. You can imagine a whole day only sleeping and eating and watching movies and again eating? I couldn't till a few days ago :P
Dubai is still not for me, and this lifestyle is still not for me, so the only thing keeping me here are actually the customers and the daily situations...how fun is that?
Life in call center: quite joyful till now! Next step? Expiry of the first 6 months and then...
MAY THE TRAVELS BEGIN :D:D:D

Lost & found

Usually I never lose things, I take good care of my keys, my phone, my head, however one thing I cannot take care of is my umbrella, so this is the only thing I always lose, no matter how big or fat or colorful it is : ))) But what happened last week made me reconsider my bad memory even in terms of umbrellas, because... I lost my fresh bought I-Phone 4.
Yes, exactly! Right after paying a lot of hundred euros for this sophisticated and fancy item, I found myself in the food court in Emirates Mall without being able to make a call. It was more than weird because I didn't even remember what I did with it, after leaving the beach. So the first option was the cab. I called the cab company "crying my heart out" that I need to find my phone. Of course they would call me as soon as they find something out, however I was very skeptic about this. And because my friends did not let me leave in peace without trying to do more to get it back, I decided that I will call the police and give the ID number of the phone to track it down and bring the "baby" back home.
Therefore after 2 days, the story continued with me thinking about my lost phone every minute of the day&night and calling to the police to ask what is the procedure to get track my item down. And while I was swearing that the line is busy since 20 minutes, a weird number is calling my mobile.
"Hello, did u lose an I-Phone?" You can imagine that my knees felt like jello and my voice started trembling..."Yes! I did!"
SURPRIZE!!! My phone was in Qatar as that moment, with a nice man who found it in the cab, took it with him just in case, cracked the pass-code , found out my number and gave me a call...from Doha-Qatar to Dubai-UAE to tell me that a friend of his will be coming in Dubai, not to worry, and he will send it back to me. How amazing is that?????!!!?!??
So after another 3 days, just as the man said, a friend of his came to Dubai and returned my "baby" to me.
At the moment, me and my "baby" are living happily ever after, trying to learn more about each other and enjoying every song and application together :D
"Si-am incalecat pe-o sa, si v-am spus povestea mea"

Arabian wear

We all know that black and heat never go well together. However it seems this side of the globe is ignoring this fact, because as you can see all over Dubai, Arabian tradition says... Abaya and Niqab.
Since I came here, one of my dreams became this...to wear at least one time the traditional Arabian clothes. And I will succeed eventually, I am sure.
Now about the locals and the black wear. For some it's tradition, for some it's religion, however, all locals (it seems all) have their heads covered. And they look lovely. Or at least some of them. Besides this, under that long black cover, you will be able to see the latest fashion, from all the brands in the world, especially Armani, Gucci and D&G. Just like in sex and the city movie :D
Exotic perfumes with strong essences, big sparkly bags, high heals (a MUST), hairpins, make-up, a cool mobile phone (either Blackberry, either I-Phone) all are part of the modern Arabian wear.
However, the BAG is the most important part of them all, because it is the only article in the Arabian wear that you can see completely. Some women here spend thousands of Dirhams, equal with hundred of Euros, just to have a cool, modern, fashion BAG to go with their wear. If not thousands than at least some good hundred Dirhams, just to be sure that they have the latest fashioned bag.
The purpose of the Abaya and the Niqab is of course to cover the woman's shapes, so that she does not attract the looks on her figure. She can get it off only when she is surrounded by family.
An Egyptian "story teller" told me one evening that the way the locals wear the Niqab is reflecting their social status. As big the hair bun, the higher in the social class...
One thing is amazing in this traditional wear, the fact that some woman cover themselves completely. Meaning that you cannot see not even a little part of skin from the persons body. Some Arab woman cover their face completely and also wear gloves and closed shoes, which must be quite difficult to wear I imagine...
There are the "modern" women that only cover their hair either with a Niqab, either with simple scarves. Them I would personally call "araboaice rebele" :)
I keep thinking if I would be able to live like this, if I would bare this heat combined with this wear, and those are the times when I feel happy I didn't grow up in this part of the world doe, no matter how beautiful the women are and how much money they have.
Fascinating, isn't it?

A taste of Tanzania

Life can be very fun sometimes, but other times it can be quite difficult. Some stories make you laugh, some stories make you cry, essential is to listen to them, maybe they will come handy at one point...
Tanzania, an African country, situated in East Africa bordered by Kenya, Congo, Zambia and other exotic countries, as you can read on Wikipedia.
Long time ago, in 1840, Zanzibar, a separated land next to Tanganyika, was the capital of...Oman. In 1964 the 2, Zanzibar and Tanganyika united their "forces" and became The Republic of Tanzania, as we all know it nowadays, with the capital in Dodoma and Dar es Salaam the biggest city (a city where Emirates flies by the way :P) Resulting from this story that Oman and other Arabic countries are now hosting a lot of "Swahili" people :) One of them being...A.
A was born in Tanzania (duh) but is now living in Dubai. When he was 1 and a half years old he moved in UK at his grandma, and after another almost 2 years of staying in UK, which he barely remembers, he moved in Dubai where he is living since then. He is 35 years old and is my colleague in Emirates. Being crazy curious about Africa and what amazing things that part of the globe hides, A started telling and telling stories that actually made me want to write about him.
The vegetation in Tanzania is savanna style of course, with green borders in Arusha and Moshi. The country is proud of its amazing national park, Serengeti, that is famous for it's annual migration of wildebeest and zebras, and of course with Kilimanjaro, the "little shining mountain".
Quite interesting till now, right? Well guess what, there is more to come.
A studied in Rostov, Mother Russia, for 7 years, so he is taking calls in the call center in English and Russian. His mother, sister, brother, aunt and other family members work with Emirates and Dnata, so he joined the group. But A's life became "windy" before starting this experience.
Credit cards, a sin on earth and one of the biggest temptations after women probably =)) Well, imagine having a credit card and going wild with it, what do you think might happen? A spent 46 days in prison in Dubai, for using a credit card and not paying the bank back. Banks are always nice with you and caring until the moment you open a credit account and start "eating" their money. After that, hell starts and your pink little world becomes dark. As dark as a jail cell. But fortunately, the prison in Dubai is not that bad as I've been said :P McDonald's, KFC and lots lots of friends. This was prison life for A, a "cool" place as he categorizes it. But the funny part is how he got there. One day, being tired of the bank's warnings and letters after letters, A went to the police department and said "I came to give myself in". The police men started laughing and asked him why...
In the hostel in Russia, A met lots of people from all over the world, however, one of the most memorable moments was with Sri Lankans. The girls called him for food one evening, but something felt kinda wrong since the very beginning. Being hungry and eager to taste the delicious beef with rice, A started enjoying his dish without asking what it actually is. At one point he found himself stared with big eyes by his hosts. Finally the moment was ruined by a Russian girl who started screaming when he saw him eating and ran out of the room. In the end, a Korean guy put an end to the whole charade, asking A if he knows what he's eating so eager. Can u guess? A DOG... The last piece was the hardest to swallow, making A always from then onward asking about the food he is about to eat...
~A Chinese once had 2 pets, a cat and a turtle. And because the cat was sick, the Chinese decided: "No problem, I chop and eat it..."~

Did you know.. (part 3)

* Alcohol. A forbidden word on this side of the globe. Or at least in UAE. But I’ve heard Saudi Arabia is the same, even worse, and many other countries from Middle East. Just so you understand, in order to buy drinks, as in alcoholic drinks, you need to have a permit. With the permit you go in special liquor shop and you purchase whatever you desire. Of course I do not have an alcohol permit here, but from time to time we are having a drink. Where is that? In the clubs and bars where we hang out in weekends. Some of them serve, some of them don’t. And of course the ones that serve are full all the time =)) Now if you want to drink at home and you go in Carrefour hoping to buy some beers or a good wine to come with the tasteless Pakistan veil ;)))), you will never find them my friend. NEVER :P You will find all the beers in the world (well almost all) but non alcoholic, which will always fool you for the first time you see them.

* And if alcohol is something rare here, there is one thing that would make you love Dubai. The petrol price of course =)) Can you just imagine how cheap is the petrol in this country? Probably not. Well I’ll illuminate this aspect. As per what I know, in Romania a full tank would be around 60-70 Euro, for the average car let’s say. Well hold your horses, cause in Dubai a full tank is around 15 Euro for the same average car. Don’t you just love that?

* The weekend as you already know is including Friday and Saturday here. Well anyways it’s better than in India, where Tuesday was my only day off in a week. So the previous weekend, being the last weekend with our trainer cause Monday we had the final assessment, we went out for some beers and entertainment. We visited Irish Village, a cool Irish bar & restaurant with good music and very nice atmosphere, where we had some beers of course, then we had a nice dinner at McDonalds (which is by the way not that good as home or other European countries) After so much fuss we went at a hotel’s restaurant, next to the airport, where Emirates staff apparently had discount, and we played pool and had some more beers of course. But on the way to our final destination, while “flying” on the highway, a flash burned our eyes. Can you imagine what that was? Yeees, the most awaited technology in radars, an automatic flash radar that makes the local authorities so rich. Our colleague told us that it is impossible not to get a fine here, cause you have these huge highways, all waiting for you to go wild, and you have only 100 km/h speed limit... It is so unfair. If you go in Dubai, most of the highways have flash radar, and they always get what they are “looking for” :P So speeding in Dubai is normal, but it’s expensive also.

* This crazy city has no warm places except the malls, definitely. Therefore since we came here, one of the biggest issues is that...we have NO cold water... Morning, afternoon, evening, night, either for washing dishes, showering, or baths, the water from the sink is at least 20 degrees, making our showers and morning freshening so hard to get. I must say in India was the same, but at least at night the water was cool, so officially, here is worse =))

Working for Emirates

Just so you all know Emirates Airline is part of Emirates Group, a huge, if not the biggest, company in UAE, the airline industry being actually the jewel of this “titan”. When you drive around in Dubai you will see lots of buildings pertaining to Emirates, in all city areas. Of course the Headquarters (HDQS) is located right next to the airport, terminal 3 to be more precise which is by the way exclusive for emirates flights, and you can easily recognize it thanks to its immensity and luxurious aspect.

When you walk in any Emirates building the first thing that will welcome you is precisely this, the luxury. All covered in marble, inside and outside, the places are big, very very clean shining all they ways, nice smelling and of course very chill (about 20 degrees indoor, if not even less :P ) You can easily get lost in them, but fortunately you have guidance on every corridor, either from receptions either from signs that will tell you which way is were.

I already have 1 month in the company, God only knows when the month passed that fast cause I didn’t even felt it, and I must say that it is a dream company. Who wouldn’t want to work in such an environment? And I am saying this not only because of its aspect, but because of its quality in...well, EVERYTHING. From a new joiner’s pint of view I must say that we were welcomed in a very hospitable way, with traditional Arabic coffee and sweets, with Arabic history and music, with a city & safari tour and nice and helpful people. No bad looks, no stress, no shouting, no superiority, just smiling faces giving a whole bunch of information, very aware that half of it will be forgotten quite soon :P

The training is programmed for 1 month and a half, after which I will start live “on the floor” as we call it here, meaning I will start getting phone calls and actually doing everything I’ve learned till now. Definitely I am paid in the meanwhile, I am waking up every 6 in the morning and I am cooking my lunch every day. So... a normal day job this training, what can I say. After 6 months the night shifts are most probably to start, therefore I need to enjoy everything I can until that time, cause I’ve heard that will be painful in some ways : )) But coming back to the training, the interesting thing that we have been told since the very beginning is to be proactive (AIESEC style) For everything that we are saying, asking, wondering out loud, we are getting marked, noted, in a good or a bad way. “Everything that you say can and will be used”...in this case either against you either for your benefit :D My batch has 3 nice trainers, one from India and 2 from the Philippines who are there for us with all the information that we require and even that we do not require. I feel very lucky I can say, cause I’ve heard one of them is the best there is :D

What am I doing in short words? Of course the main things are the ticket bookings for different locations where Emirates fly, and even for code share flights (meaning flights of Emirates operated by other airlines) Besides this, ticketing (so I will be getting lots of money from the people :D ), counseling people in their different flight/holiday requests and other things as such. It may not seem much, but for one person to remember this quantity of information, it’s a lot, believe me. Actually I am very eager to start taking the calls, I am sure I will be quite good at this =))

Therefore if anyone interested in a nice holiday in the Maldives, or maybe New York, or even in New Zeeland, give me a call, I’ll do my best to make your holiday a blast, with Emirates of course ;)))

Did you know... (part 2)

Just 3 stories about life in Dubai this time, but many more to come :)

* Last night we went in a club named Barasti. Actually going in the club is probably the only thing you can do here in weekend at night. And here comes the funny part of it all, the closing time. If in Romania I was used to leave a party at minimum 4 in the morning, in Dubai all clubs close at 2,30... I don’t really know the reason but it’s very annoying. When you get in the mood, bang music off, light off and everyone has to leave. Silly thing, isn’t it?

* Besides this, of course people do not kiss here. I barely see from time to time couples holding hand in public, but kissing, definitely NOT. Well, actually in India was the same, but comparing the number of foreigners from Dubai with the number of foreigners in my ex home town in India, it should have made a difference. But no. It seems even tourists respect this local rule in public, they do not make out at all. Which is quite good from my point of view. Well maybe not as strict as it is here, but still. Most of all, I’ve heard, only heard not seen with my eyes, that there is a certain authority in UAE that is in charge of these show offs in public, so if someone see you doing this on the streets, or wearing to short clothes or transparent or any how indecent, you get a fine. Therefore no short skirts for me :P

* I am sure everyone knows the Islamic rule which says that Muslim women have to walk covered, some only hair, others only face, but anyways covered. I am curious how many know what is a woman like this wearing under that long, hot, black robe? Guess what? From Gucci, till Louis Vuiton, from Armani to Chanel and many many others, the Islamic woman have an amazing passion for clothing, especially shoes and bags, because these are the items that you can see coming from under the robe, which is actually called...abaya. And the unmissing parts of the look, gold jewelers and the phone, which is either Blackberry or I Phone. I was asking an Egyptian woman one day how they can bare the scarf on the head in 45 degrees. Don’t they sweat like crazy? Well it seems they don’t, because they are doing this since they were little and the body got used to it. Amazing, huh?

More fascinating things about UAE in the next episode :P

Did you know... (part 1)

Some things about Dubai that are not very well known for people around the world.

* The entire city of Dubai hosts 195 nationalities from all over the globe. Working in different companies, in different fields, or just in vacation, with or without their families or friends, people come in Dubai seeking for things they did not find in their home countries, with the idea that they will have maybe a better life, or just to make a change, or to have a great holiday. And amazingly get all that. The city provides such conditions so that people can have a normal life, above the poverty limit. Therefore no poor people on the streets, no dust and no garbage (except for some small areas).

* Besides the garbage and dust, one thing you do not see on the streets of Dubai are dogs. These animals do not seem to exist in this area except in people’s houses, as in owned dogs. Our trainer sais cats are everywhere, but since I came here I saw only 2, one on a beach and one in my building at the doormen. * And actually today, on my way to the city, I saw in a neighborhood 2 cats next to a shop, eating like crazy. So a total of 4 cats in one month... Man I miss animals :X

* Emirates Group itself is the home company of 165 nationalities, brand no. 270 in the world with the most eco friendly aircrafts in the airline industry.

* Besides the 195 nationalities within Dubai, not remembering the exact number, more than 60% or the people living in Dubai are Indians, so imagine the amount of spices on the shops, of course never comparing with Bombay or any other city in India : )

* An amazing thing in the city are the highways, that have between 2 and 6 lines on each side. Just to have a clear impression, imagine the highways that connect Hungary to Austria. Those you find within Dubai, but much better kept. And of course if you have highways you have speed, so the maximum speed limit within some of these highways is 120 km...IN THE CITY.

* By the way I didn’t hear not even 1 car horn since I came here, these people are very peaceful when it comes to driving, even if they speed. Every car on its line, not like in India :P, every cab chauffeur wearing uniform, all civilized and in place.

* Dubai Mall is the mall with the biggest nos. of shops in the world, and inside you can find the biggest indoor aquarium if I well understand. It is simply amazing. When you stand outside the mall, in front of Burj Khalifa, the lovely Dubai Dancing Fountain will cheer you sense, with its unique capacity of actually dancing...

* I suppose that I don’t have to mention that Burj Khalifa is the major attraction in the city, being the tallest building in the world, of more than 820 m high. Inside you cannot find much, just hotels, restaurants, among these the Armani hotel (which I don’t want to know how much expensive it is) and others :P The building tour costs 100 Dhs if you book in advance, or if you just go to see it without booking it costs 400 Dhs.

* Vegetation is totally missing in this city, except some areas where there are some improvised parks, barely staying green thanks to a good irrigation system. The rest is all sand and specific desert plants, half green half yellow. I am craving for a forest you guys...heeelp!!!!!

To be continued...

Life in Dubai, the beginning

It’s been more than 2 weeks since I moved in the luxurious Dubai, one of the cities with the fastest growth in the world (if not the fastest) For those who do not know I am working with Emirates Group, in Emirates Airline as a customer sales and service agent. All this meaning I am in call centre, attending Emirates calls in English and Spanish. How it is till now? I am proud to say GOOD =)), but not in work yet, in trainings, cause Emirates is well known as the company who teaches its new joiners all about airline industry. So yes, I am attending free classes, more than that, I am getting paid for them, a basic salary. Till now it’s all been amazing, the company is very serious, with lots of focus on people, both inside and outside Emirates (as in employees and of course customers), very much different that any work I have experienced till now.

And here comes the long awaited part, the actual “dubaian” life for me. I came here with the idea that everything is at least 2 times more expensive than in Romania. But as we all know, the stories are most of the times different than reality. So in conclusion NO, life in Dubai is not that much expensive as expected. But taking in consideration that they cannot grow parcel and carrots here, they do not have cows everywhere or fruit trees, all is imported, so not very cheap either. I am doing my weekly shopping in Carrefour :D, where amazingly you can find ANYTHING, even Romanian cookies as we noticed this week. The currency here is AED-Arab Emirates Dirham (Dhs), where 1 Euro=5 Dhs and 1 Dollar=4 Dhs (approximately) So to make it clear, a kilo of carrots is about 4,5 Dhs, 1 liter of milk is at least 4 Dhs, 1 kilo of Indian grapes is at least 13 Dhs, 1 kilo of cheese about 30 Dhs, and of course meat is expensive, starting 20-25 Dhs depending on the type and the country. Fortunately my life here is based on fruit like grapes, apples, melons and many others, cause of the heat, so I don’t really eat anything else except chicken from time to time, beans and eggs.

One crazy thing in this crazy city is definitely the heat and climate. I am experiencing since I came here at least 30 degrees every day, sometimes even 40 (and summer is not even here yet), I am going at the beach, but still NO TAN. The sun is so powerful but it seems it does not like me very much, cause I am still white =)) Well I have time to get some tan, who knows how many years I’ll spend here :P

But you know, besides all these, there is not much to do or see in Dubai, reason for which I don’t realy like the city. Besides being enormous, it has no attractions, no vegetation except some irrigated almost dry flowers on the highway sides. Burj al Arab and its beach, Burj Khalifa-the tallest building in the world and the Malls are the best things you can do in Dubai. Of course you can visit the spice market and the gold market, you can go on the sea with the boat, you can fly with the balloon or go for a safari, but that’s about it. I am starting to wonder what will I do after 6 months of living here? I will have nothing new to see... Therefore I will save some place for later, in order not to get bored ;)))

Well this would be it for now about Dubai, hopefully I will be able to keep this blog “hot” during my stay here :P But one thing is for sure, comparing with my last work experience from India, here I am already missing home and friends, and it’s not even been one month. I truly hope I will manage, otherwise, guys, I’ll be coming home early...again :P

Till next time, one small quotation from the locals “People who produce good results feel good about themselves.” (Atilla the Hun) Think about it...