Chapter 2: THE ARRIVAL

Before going to the airport, I had the urge to see a particular person (MB). I called MB and asked to come to my apartment right away. MB was the person I fell madly in love with during my time in Amsterdam. I thought I found my soulmate and even experienced that a heart indeed can skip a beat because It happened to me once. MB stated she did like me as well but couldn’t be in a relationship with me, because of religious reasons. This didn’t really stop me, and we kept on seeing each other but why? It was like driving to the graveyard to see my dad and hoping he was waiting for me to have a drink and chat. Sadly… I kept on driving there because love will always win right? Well, I don’t really know… I believe that love only wins if both persons are equally and madly in love with each other and are both willing to fight. The reason why I invited MB to my place was to say my last goodbye. Even though it was very hard for me, I had to turn the page and set myself free. I think part of the reason why we hold on to something so tight, is because we fear something so great won't happen twice. Moments before leaving, I looked MB in the eyes and said my goodbye and set the love for this person free with the hope that every ending is a new beginning.

My brother and some of my good friends came to my apartment to bring me to the airport. We laughed with each other and it was time for me to go to the gate. I greet all of them and told them that I would see them soon. My good friend, who advised me through the whole process came with me all the way to the gate. It was time… I had to board and really leave for this journey. I had this empty feeling and constantly thinking If I made the right decision. I even cried a couple times. But when looking at the crew, I saw myself doing the job and that gave me hope and excitement. Every new beginning is scary but if we don’t get out of our comfort zone we miss all the fun and never get to know who we really are and what we are capable of. Arriving in the middle east and proceeding to immigration, the first thing I saw was this angry overweight looking officer showing off his ‘power’. All of them looked like that, just like the documentaries they sometimes show on discovery channel etc. I passed immigration, collected my bags, met other new coming crew (Exchange facebook) and got picked up by the company.

I arrived at my accommodation. A gated campus with 8 buildings, where u must swipe in and out to enter each building. A lady was waiting for me and brought me to my room and explained everything about the apartment. She then took my medical forms, my passport to complete my arrival and made me sign some documents for the company. Not having my passport in a foreign country is a strange feeling. The apartment has two bedrooms (including shower and toilet), a living room and kitchen. Luckily, I had the ‘A-ROOM’ where I don’t need to leave my room to go shower or use the toilet. (B-room needs to walk through the Livingroom). The A-room also has a mirror, a desk, a coach and a bed (one person). Yup.. Nothing special..but bigger than my apartment in Amsterdam.

I called my good friend and mom to tell them that I arrived safely, but the call wasn’t going through. I had no idea why at that moment my signal was not going through because there was WIFI. Eventually, I went to bed at 4.00am and woke up a couple hours later. When I woke up, it kicked in that I was really in another country and again this empty feeling came. Laying in bed and no idea what to do now, I decided to contact the new crew and asked them to meet. I eventually made plans with KD (new crew) from Morocco. We went to the city and the mall. Very nice and huge mall. We talked a lot, shared some stories and then he told me that ‘Whatsapp call’ is blocked in middle east countries and it all made sense. Even pornographic sites are blocked. I downloaded another application to call my family and it worked perfectly. As it was getting late, we went to our accommodations.

Arriving at the apartment, I unpacked my stuff and rearranged the room a little bit. I was talking on the phone with family and friends. Then I began to arrange my documents, which I had to sign for the lady. Suddenly my heart stopped and I dropped the phone. I couldn’t believe what I was reading and hoped that it wasn’t my signature on the paper. But it was, and it was stated very clearly: ‘during the training period (2 months) you only have 90minutes a day to leave the accommodation’. At that moment I just realized that I willingly signed to be ‘locked up’ abroad for two months…