Emily, a Filipina resident of Milan for 20 years, had to stay at the airport hotel as she didn’t have a visa to enter Abu Dhabi. A Pinoy mother travelling with her two-year-old daughter was helped by my husband as she struggled with 6 pieces of luggage on the way to the busy domestic terminal. They too couldn’t get out to Abu Dhabi City but they were provided free meals by the airline staff.
We met another Italian couple, a Filipina from the Visayas [region] and a retired train worker. They joined us at Golden Tulip Al Jazira Resort. Other Westerners were treated just as well. We were like a big family sharing our stories of joys and pain as we coped with our trying situation.
Throughout our long wait, there’s always a Filipino staff member from Etihad to take care of our needs at the hotel aside from the hotel workers!
Rome Ordeal
Finally on the 20th of April, at around 2 am, we received a call from an Etihad staff saying that we should prepare to leave at 4 am for our 9 am flight to Milan. We thought we were dreaming but a few hours later, we were in mid-air approaching Milan but [the plane] was diverted to Rome Airport!
It was a mess there – smoke billowing everywhere from bored Italians and foreigners waiting for flight updates! I thought smoking was banned years ago in Italy but it seemed backward with all the smokers reigning it high and mighty in Rome!
We waited yet again for around seven hours before being taken by bus from Rome to Milan. Our group was led by two fashion-conscious but inefficient Etihad staff. They didn’t have a Rome service so they had to improvise. The two were in our flight as I was seated near them and had glimpses of them canoodling at the back seat of the aeroplane! We had to scramble to let them know our names and how many [there were] in each family to make sure we get seats in the bus. It was not done properly at the airport as we got pushed back by other travellers from different airlines. We just converged at the fast food cafe near the exit of the airport. There were lots of people inside and outside Rome airport!
The Filipinos were helpful with one another. Our group mates from the Golden Tulip tried to help each other in exchanging information on what’s happening. No one, I repeat, NO ONE seemed to know the real score. Lack of communication was the main thing that frustrated us in our trip.
We were never briefed on the actual situation in Rome. It was a most unpleasant experience! My boys had an asthma attack as they struggled not to inhale the smoke from the cigarette puffers at Rome airport!
Only pizzas, the best we’ve tasted so far, saved Rome from being declared a no-go zone for our next adventure!
Great, friendly and helpful Filipino workers, everywhere we go!
The main thing that made the entire ordeal bearable was – yes, your guess was right – the attitude of Filipinos we met!
At Abu Dhabi Domestic Airport, there’s a small crew of Filipino fast food workers who warmly served us great food, lovingly cooked and prepared by another Pinoy cook cum waiter and order taker.
I chatted with them briefly and observed how efficient and honest they were. I thought I lost one of our bags but found them just as I left them near the front counter of their food store!
(to be continued in the September 2010 issue)