CHRONICLES OF A CABIN CREW

Kiran Kiran lives on the fourth floor and I, on the tenth. We met once on a nice layover in Bangladesh (Dhaka) in 2008, and became inseparable since then…well, not normal inseparable; if our schedules allowed us to see each other two or three times a month, we are happy enough. Being a flight attendant is “a good achievement but not the greatest for any sort of relationships”. She’s just started flying in 2007 but is already planning to do something else and quit soon…I said that the same few years after I started flying, so never trust a cabin crew when they say they want to quit. Flying is so much like cigarettes. If you smoke you’ll completely understand. I don’t, but can’t find a better way to describe the flying addiction at this moment. We have so much in common and from the beginning, we felt comfortable not having to force ourselves to speak in one language only. Thus, we mingle English in the middle of our (Brazilian) Portuguese. She also understands a bit of spontaneous Lebanese dialect automatically add in the middle of the sentence from my side. And I understand a bit of her spontaneous Hindi in the middle of hers. Many words in Arabic are very similar or same as Hindi. Thus it’s easy for me to catch up with the Bollywood movies, even if sometimes English subtitle is not available. Sometimes I keep confirming with her the meaning of some words the entire Bollywood movie…one time she lost patience, “Yes-yes, I’m sure every word that you understand must be of Arabic origin, so stop asking and watch the movie.” Yes! She’s allowed to give me hard-time at any moment and vice versa. People like us just can’t have a full conversation in one language only. Our brain is as trilingual as our curriculums. Kiran was born in Brazil like me. She expatriated to India (motherland of her parents) to continue her studies at the age of 14. We share the same gaps of having a divided mentality due double nationalities. As a matter of fact, I believe that people like us are actually much more open to understand other cultures’ differences –rather understanding so many people’s behavior. The difference gap of ten years between us never interfered. Sometimes, I have the impression she’s much more mature than I. Or maybe she’s much calmer when she speaks (even if she’s angry); giving the impression that she’s so controlled. She’s the suffer-in-silence kind and always says what she means− Aquarian girl! I always say what I mean, but people misunderstand me most of the time, Aries girl! Maybe because there are things we shouldn’t say out loud and I keep struggling to myself ‘Why did I have to comment?’ People say that best friends, sort of look alike. My mother had to agree on that that day, when she met Kiran in Beirut for the first time in July of 2010. “Maybe you were my daughter some previous life.” Back from USA vacation in April of 2010… “Hiiii, when did you come back!?”She happily said when I called her the moment I woke up.“I came back on the 21st around 8 p.m. and slept all day on the 22nd; and woke up around 5 a.m. on the 23rd and rushed to catch my flight to Houston. I was exhausted , sorry I didn’t call you when I arrived but I sort of lost my phone ; I found it again yesterday (in Houston) inside my laptop-case . I video-called my cousin because I thought I had lost it somewhere in California during my last day vacation rushing to pack… anyways, you know me –so damn well organized ; even I ,forget where I keep my staff in order not to lose them sometimes.” “Of course, Dona Florinda!” Dona Florinda is a character from the Mexican show for children named Chaves; a huge success and addiction for the children of the 8O’s and 90’s (our case). She calls me so all the time, making fun of my perpendicular world and comparing me to Dona Florinda. And also because she says I often wear floral ornamented clothes” not mentioning the constant flower clips (various colors and styles) on my hair at any time apart from wearing the cabin crew’s uniform. My mother and my sister totally agree with her. But I kind of like it, because Dona Florinda was always my favorite character. I also like treating my bangles on rolls over night, whenever I’m home. Have you seen my hair on the photo of the back of the cover of my first book “Underneath a flight Attendant”? It was treated with rolls a night before. Rolls are great! I promise you though that I have never gone shopping with them on like Dona Florinda does…intentionally. In this book I thought of showing you one of my famous flower clips that I bought in Bali on the photo of the back cover. You may find it in Malaysia as well. It looks so real that people (strangers…specially doctors and nurses) often ask me, “How do you maintain the flower on hair so fresh?” For every time is the same reply, “It’s artificial, you wanna touch it?” And for every time they do touch it, “Ohhhh!” .Many nurses and friends have been so good to me that I remove the flower from my head and give it out as gratitude…wait till next trip to Indonesia or Malaysia to buy another one. To my recent happiness those flower are so popular now in the USA, Honolulu or Hawaiian flower clips are found at many souvenir shops. Last month I bought a dozen just in case I quit flying for some unexpected reason; you can’t find those clips anywhere else? They are becoming more and more expensive for being a souvenir symbol of those regions. You may find it in the airports of Malaysia, Indonesia and other Pacific Islands at souvenir shops. You may find it in Philippines as well. One time this new Chinese crew asked me with her cute Chinese accent passive voice “What’s nice to buy from Bali?” I replied, “Come with me.” She came along and said she never saw those clips before. She bought few and said “I’ll show this in China!” I thought “LOL! Maybe China will start the fabrication of those too ─ cheaper…but then it would affect the economy of these humble people here who survive on selling clips, it’s not fair!!”