Malta: The Meeting

The week long meeting turned out to be a super success. It was a fantastic opportunity to meet others, swap ideas and standardize much of what we already do.

I have no doubt that despite timezones, we will all continue to be each others primary resource and support system.

Really grateful for the opportunity!

Malta: The Arrival & Excitement

I passed the time quite easily with movies on board. After the two (yes, two) Bollywood movies I watch, I felt like they really pulled on my heartstrings like no other. <I watched Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara & Yeh Jawani Hai Dewani>

When Nuncio (the driver) picked me up, I was giddy with excitement. As we drove from Malta International to my hotel, I felt like I was in the midst of a story book. The only way I can describe it (from what I know) is that it looked like Greece meets Egypt.

Checked in at hotel and couldn't wait to take a long, hot shower. Tiredness began to come over me, but I forced myself to get dressed and go out. Went to an Italian restaurant around the corner, but unfortunately found the people to be quite unfriendly. Came back to the hotel ready for bed. Best to get an early night and wake up fresh in the morning!

Malta: Seven hours in "Do Buy"

Thankfully, I sat next to two fairly pleasant gentleman on the flight from Cape Town to Dubai. We arriving in the UAE in the wee hours of the morning. I forgot to mention that I met a young lady called Geraldine at the boarding gate. She was from Holland and had been traveling for the past few weeks. We planned to have a drink and bite to eat together. We somehow lost each other in the midst of the crowd of passengers flocking all over at the airport - especially around the food court. Anyway - I ended up doing my own thing.

I was adamant that I needed to walk. And walk I did! It was in the final stretch of the transit that I was beginning to lose steam. I was in transit for seven hours. We were going to fly through Cypurs. Stop over to drop off and pick up new passengers for about an hour...

Then the final stretch. What I've been waiting for...

Malta: The journey begins

I had been so busy preparing for my LOA (leave of absence) that I hadn't really given myself time to become excited about my first trip to Malta.

Contrary to many other trips I've been on and had sleepless nights the night before departure, I slept quite easily this time. I woke up in the morning feeling a bit out of sorts...almost emotional.

There's an Academic Year Coordinators Meeting, and since I'M an AYC, it was a great surprise to know that I would be traveling before the end of 2013. I don't hide the fact that I am grateful. SO grateful to have a job. In the past I have been quite expressive about my very dark phase of trying to find work when I came back from South Korea. The only thing that got me out of that funk was gratitude.

I began in December 2011. Five or six months later, I started getting more responsibilities. Seven months after I started, I was offered a promotion. I assumed the position in January 2013 and in July it was announced that I would be the first AYC to travel to Malta for this meeting.

As many would know, living alone comes with many responsibilities - as little as trying to remember to turn off all plugs and the geyser when traveling for a couple of weeks or more. I did all this - with the help of many lists!

At precisely 10:00, I was on my way to CPT International. A million thoughts running through my mind, but mostly my mental checklist hoping that I hadn't forgotten anything. Before long, I was seated and ready to take to the skies.

Next stop: Dubai or rather "Do Buy" ;)