Chapter 9: THE LAYOVERS

THE LAYOVERS

After a while, I ignored this unexcited feeling. I tried to be positive and look forward to my upcoming flights. Having a positive mindset can change a lot. Of course being positive the whole time is difficult but I believe that if we lose our positivity we lose everything in life. With this mindset, I awaited my upcoming flights, my first layovers. A layover means that you will stay in the country for at least a day and that’s quite exciting right? My upcoming layovers at that time were: Canada, Morocco, and South Africa

It was finally time to start preparing for my first flight, Montreal Canada. I usually don’t know what to pack for my flight and end up taking too many clothes and shoes. On the other hand, it is important to have enough so you have choices. Canada at that time was very cold and snowy, so I needed to pack my winter coat as well. All set and ready for this 12 hour flight where you, as a flight attendant have 3 hours of rest in the aircraft. I got picked up on time and proceeded to the airport. After a while, we started the boarding and the passengers prepared for the long flight ahead. I immediately spotted this family of four with two cute little kids, a boy and girl. During the flight I spoiled the kids with a lot of snacks and every time I walked by, this little girl wanted to grab my arms and give me a hug. It was a very long but relaxed flight, all the passengers were nice and calm.

Arriving at the hotel we made plans with some of the crew to go for dinner. Within an hour we’d showered, changed and made our way to a restaurant near the hotel. Later that evening I went to the city as well and came back around 23.30h. Not too late because two girls and I had planned to rent a car and go to Quebec City the next day. What a beautiful road trip it was, we shared stories with each other and listened to a lot of music. One of the stories really touched my heart and was about one of the girls wanting to do something different, follow her dreams and live with her husband. Sadly, she was not able to do so now and was actually stuck with this job. Yes, she enjoyed this job somehow but wanted to spend her life with her husband. Arriving in Quebec was beautiful, it’s a city with European and North American influences. For me a very beautiful mixture of architecture. As the time passes by, we enjoyed each other’s company, had dinner and went home. The next day I went to the city in Montreal, which again has this mixture of architecture. A very beautiful, calm and loving city. I really enjoyed this atmosphere. As the three days in Canada flew by, it was time for my next destination: Morocco, Casablanca.

Two days later it was time for my other flight to Casablanca. During the flight, I met this loving and funny crew, who I will never forget. During the flight, we laughed so hard with each other. Also, this flight was quiet with no interesting passengers. Arriving in Casablanca, it was very hot outside and besides that, we had to wait for our supervisors because they wanted to buy some famous oil from the driver. As we were waiting this funny crew member said to me: “Daniel, I cannot believe we are buying products from the back of a car and we are talking about finesse in this company”. At that moment we laughed so hard. Other than that I visited this famous big mosque and had traditional food in a nice restaurant. You do have some nice and modern places in Casablanca but most of it is very old. 

After this flight, I only had 12 hours of rest and then I was off to South Africa Johannesburg. I didn’t sleep properly and wasn’t well rested for this 9-hour flight. Even though I was tired, I was ready for this adventure to South Africa as it was always my dream to visit South Africa. The flight was busy which kept me awake. To be honest I’d rather have a busy flight than a flight where there is nothing to do. Finally, we arrived in Johannesburg where there is this famous safari called Lion Park. Even though I was very tired, I dragged myself to go. This is the most tiring part of the job, where u had a long and exhausting flight but still want to go out and see the country. Arriving at the lion park was disappointing, it was just a very big cage with a couple of lions and cheetahs in it. Not a proper safari, like I had anticipated. Even though the tour was disappointing, we ended up playing with the baby lions, which was so magical. A real dream came true. We ended the day drinking and eating at the Nelson Mandela Square. 

On our way back to the airport, a 1-hour drive, I enjoyed the landscape of beautiful South Africa. We also did the flight briefing on the bus. Sometimes briefings are quick and nothing special, but other times supervisors talk about all the safety and security issues. Sometimes even what to do in an evacuation or medical situation. The moment they start to talk about it, I imagine all these awful things and just hope that nothing will happen on our flight. We arrived at the airport and proceeded to the aircraft. During the service, there was this Arabic kid (5 years old) and as I gave him his meal, he very rudely replied with: “no take this back, I don’t want it and don’t like it”. He even made this ‘take it back’. hand gesture. Imagine... A five year old. At that point, I sarcastically responded with: “you don’t like it? Shall I take it back?”. Like I mentioned before, often there is no need to respond to certain things.  After the service, 3 hours into the flight, we finally sat down and had dinner. While enjoying my meal, speaking to my colleagues and looking out the window, we suddenly heard this loud scream in the cabin…I looked at my colleague and said SHIT.