this post was first published here: https://medium.com/@rosie.ignacz/16-hours-at-an-airport-8ddbb46a270b

Student Spotlight: Rosie Ignacz

16 hours at an airport…

with a happy ending

The other day I waited 16 hours to get from one place to another. It never happened to me before, however even as a flight attendant, this was something that really tested my limits.
The first about 8 hours went relatively quickly. Seeing the screen showing more and more delays with 2 hours increments was something I got used to. I positioned myself near a charging plug, sat on a seat, cushioned myself with my scarf and coat and bought some snacks to get me through. I noticed a young girl nearby who also sat alone. We trusted each other with our luggage when needed a toilet break. After about 8 hours of wait, we just got another 3 hours delay on the screen. From experience, I knew this wasn’t a good sign, and started thinking and researching what were my other options… I found another flight departing in a few hours towards my location, and decided to do something about the situation. I was sure my original flight would get cancelled eventually. My waiting buddy saw that I was packing up and asked me what were my plans, so I presented her with my idea, and she was ready to join. It all kinda made sense. We went outside of the terminal and got to customer services, where we were able to change our flight to the one that wasn’t so delayed.

This is where things turn worse…
After about an hour I noticed that our original flight was on it’s way towards us, but the one we just changed onto wasn’t yet. A bad sign considering we just got even more delayed. Without going into much more detail… our original flight arrived eventually, but we weren’t able to board it anymore. After a bad decision, many tears and begging the gate staff to let us on… we found ourselves with an extra 6 hours delay. Not only was I upset for myself, but I felt responsible for this young girl’s “bad luck” too.

During all this time my travel buddy managed to remain calm and reassured me in incredible ways. She encouraged me to find the positives, such as the fact that we met, and got to know each other. She was such an inspiration to me with all her 26 years. By referencing the film Terminal, made me laugh while tears streamed down my face.
I slowly got to know that she was from Ukraine, lived in Portugal and her family recently escaped to Amsterdam. Hearing her stories, seeing her maturity and the way she handled such a stressful situation truly put things into perspective. My breath kept me going for the first 12 hours, but for the last 6 I needed a strong release of emotions, tears and sitting with my pain was necessary. Then this real-life angel showed me what truly matters and we got to our happy ending by getting to the destination. I have never boarded a plane with such a huge smile on my face thanks to Yuliana… So I dedicate this blog post to her. You are a true inspiration. And Lisbon Airport T2, I hope not to see you anytime soon.

About Rosie

Rosie Ignacz is a Breathing Space Breathwork Facilitator

You can follow her here.