A Little After Midnight

Economy Class, Seat 30F

538 miles per hour

When I write in my journal, there’s a good chance I’m alone, wearing sweatpants, and dealing with some overwhelming emotion. Sometimes the emotion is love, sadness, or an obvious combination of the two. Infatuation led me to write my first poem, and betrayal has led me to pen out malicious letters, dare I ever send them. So here I am in sweatpants, journal in hand, and completely overwhelmed with emotion, but tonight my emotion has nothing to do with romance (shocker). Tonight, my emotion is appreciation.

I could write a 50-page thesis on the importance of cultural appreciation. Instead, I will literally ramble for the next few minutes.

So this is my first solo-backpacking trip. I’m very much alone on this airplane, and my appreciation for Latin American culture is flooding my mind like the siumulated flood on the Studio Tour at Univeral Studios . My appreciation is lonely, because usually in this situation I would turn to my mother and whisper something like, “look even the emergency evacuation instructions are in Spanish!” The small details, magnified into mountains.

My theory is, that the best way to appreciate a foreign culture is to fly on said culture’s airline. I mean think about it. You get a total variety of locals together, and observe how they interact with each-other in a confined space. If you were a screenwriter, and you want to make a horror movie about strangers forced into a claustrophobic air-tight room, where could that setting be? An elevator, yes. But I prefer the idea of a foreign jetliner/ twisted social experiment movie. Just with no snakes.

I digress, my newly found cultural appreciation has awarded Avianca Airlines the title of the best freaking airline food in the industry (with Norwegian Air’s meatballs in second place). Avianca is a Columbian an airline, so I had my fingers crossed for some fajitas. Although none of my Latin food favorites were on the menu, the Disantes were out of this world (it’s quiona with sweet sauce and vegetables). Around the world, I think we can all agree that dessert is the most exciting part of a meal. Fusion Gourmet’s Dolcetto ‘Petite Cookies & Cream Wafers’ are my new favorite. Thin fragile wafer cookies shaped like tiny mittens filled with vanilla cream. Obsessed.

I typically avoid asking questions where I could potentially leave my ‘basic Spanish comfort zone.’ My blonde hair sticks out in row 30, and the flight attendants have been kindly addressing me in English. Pointing at my yummy grain salad, I ask a handsome well-groomed flight attendant, “what exactly is this? Quiona?” He nods and smiles, not even noticing my embarassing lack of cultural knowledge.

I’ve been improving my Spanish while reading Avianca’s Travel Magazine here on my flight (Sept. 2017 issue). Avianca’s CEO, Hernán Rincón wrote a beautiful and humbling editorial that included an English translation:

“This month, Pope Francis visits Columbia for the first time, and we at Avianca have been chosen to look after him on his travels. This visit has a special meaning to Columbians, who have recently begun to walk the path to reconciliation that seemed so distant for so long. It is a journey that brings a message of peace and which will undoubtedly sow in everyone’s hearts the seeds of compassion, forgiveness and serving others.

Oh also, a little history about Avianca from my in-flight magazine:

“In 1919, Avianca was founded upon Columbia’s official flag-carrier plane. The airline has been connecting South America to the U.S. since the 1940’s, and began operating it’s first jet 1960, a Boeing 707–120. A billion dollar corporation, Avianca is listed on NY stock exchange.”

Call me a nerd, but I cannot stop reading all of this. Perhaps my lonely solitude is allowing me to fully appreciate the context and beauty of Latin culture. I acknowledge this culture to be something so far from the world I know. The beauty, the humanity, the deliciousness, the wisdom, the progress… And we haven’t even landed for the layover.