A sleek runway bridge stretching over endless blue, as a plane glides in beneath open skies. Modern engineering meets ocean horizon. 🌤️🏝️

Everyone is strategically standing around the belt: not so close, not so far. For some it’s better at the beginning so it’s a grab-and-go situation; for others, right exactly at the fastest way to the exit, regardless if this means standing on the edge of someone else’s personal space boundary or a corner or in the middle of the hall; and for others, just walking to the opposite side of the crowd makes them feel a little secure. It will come anyway. And if you are lucky enough to stand in front of them like I was, what you get to see is both curious and the other adjective I leave to you (for me it was a little insightful).

The picture looks something like this: everyone’s eyes stare at the little door that will host the suitcase parade, secretly wishing they all had a little bit of Cyclops powers to open it faster. If only! Yes, most of them are checking their phones, but the wait (especially during Christmas season) is as long as looking at water to be boiled: the more you stare, the longer it takes; and sometimes, patience has a limit when you just want to get your things and go home. 

While we all wait, you can hear the indistinct noises of different conversations, maybe a notification from the airport speaker, but nothing special. Until you hear that engine starting. The sound that makes everyone, literally, move forward. All synchronised: heads up. Phones back in the pocket. One step forward. Please let the first luggage be mine! This was a little funny to watch.

It’s kind of like when you play Mario Kart. Or imagine this time it’s a real life Mario Kart. You feel  the weight of your whole body on the car, you feel your feet on the pedals, you feel your hands on the wheel and your fingers holding on tight as if you are about to fly away. You see with the corner of your eye who’s next to you, who’s behind you and most importantly, who’s in front of you. You can breathe the tension. You think of strategies to get by the finish line faster than anyone else, and if it’s as first, then even better. 

No luggages came out and the belt stopped working after 5 seconds.

This made me question about the idiosyncrasy of people. Why we are the way we are. I have to admit (and I say this with no intention to offend anyone) at first I thought: “this is so typical Spanish/Venezuelan people. You wouldn’t see this in Germany”. Then I thought if everyone in this world walks around with a label on their back, maybe without even knowing so. And in that case, do I have one?

In my experience, I have discovered that we are all completely different. We have stereotypes but maybe they are just some sort of guides or maybe they are an unfair characterisation of how some people are. I’ve met Germans who don’t fit in the typical category of a German. Spanish who also seem more Colombians and yes, Germans who are very much like the description you find in the dictionary. So where does that leave us?

I have lived in three countries and met people from everywhere along the way. My two best friends are one from Germany and the other from Argentina. Everyday I learn something new about the people I spend time with and I have to switch off everything I think I know and be on a constant learning mode. 

However, I think sometimes humankind has a problem with the second part of the word. Some people forget about being kind. The world is not just about you or me. It’s about all of us. Idiosyncrasy is a characteristic or a distinctive of an individual. Yes, we are who we are. We were born and raised under different circumstances, but I’m sure we can all be a little more human and a little more kind. Even if our suitcase comes first or last on the belt.

Madrid, 2022

Complex Catitipan, Davao Airport View, Buhangin, Davao City, 8000 Davao del Sur