I have traveled to some countries and often have had a situation where I needed help starting from losing my passport and money, missing my last train, getting lost or even just some small problems. Fortunately, there were always people who helped me when I was in that situation although they did not know me at all. I guess, we get what we give. What goes around, comes around.
I was traveling to Brussels from Geneva on March 25th when I had one of the worst moments of my life. It was a short flight, only one hour and ten minutes. As soon as I arrived there, I went to the toilet and checked my makeup (women check their make up most of the time). I spent ten minutes there before going to get my luggage. I waited for my luggage for ten minutes and decided to go out and looked for the bus that I was supposed to take to go to the place where I would stay.
Before I walked out, I checked my small bag where I kept my laptop, purse, passport and makeup. I got a heart attack (I know I might be exaggerating using this word). I could not find my white purse where I kept all my cards; student card, debit card, master card and all kind of cards I had, my money around 500 euros and the most important is my passport. I was very panicked and shaking. I ran back to the toilet and checked if I left it there. But I could not find anything. I told Tom about it. He told me not to be panicked (which I am sure he was panicked too) and asked me to check with the customer service at the airport. I walked to the customer service few meters from the exit – arrival gate. There were few people waiting in line. I waited for few minutes before my turn to talk to the airport customer service agent.
“ hi, my name is Nurdahlia Lataima, and I lost my small white purse in the toilet (I was sure I lost it there when I had to take out my make-up bag) I have everything there, I do not care about my money or all important cards I have there, I only care about my passport because I will not be able to go anywhere with it, did someone happen to drop it here?”. When I talked to her, I could hear my voice was breaking as I was going to cry. She smiled at me and said;
“so you are the owner of this purse (she pulled out a white purse). We have announced it couple of minutes ago, you did not hear the announcement?”
“ oh My God!!! Thank you very much, thank you! I did not hear any announcement. I was panicked and did not pay attention to it. How do I thank you for saving my life?” I asked her with some tears in my eyes. I felt happy and grateful that the purse is with her.
“ I did not do anything, two women came and brought your purse here, but they already left. You are very lucky that they are very honest people.”
I asked her if those two women who brought my purse leave their contact so I could thank them for saving my life. Unfortunately, they did not leave anything. Liz, the customer agent who talked to me asked me to check if I have everything in my purse. I checked it and did not find anything missing there. I finally left her with a smile after thanking her more than ten times.
When I was in that situation, I could not breathe, I could not think, I could not do anything. I was speechless and shocked. It was the worst experience I have ever had when I was in Europe for the last one year and eight months.
Another experience I had while travel around Europe was in Prague and Rome. They are connected to each other, at least that is what I think.
I was traveling to Prague in May 2018. Spending four days there and headed to Rome for my next destination. While I was walking to the airport gate, I saw a man was standing in front of the bus/tram ticket machine. Suddenly I remembered that I have 2 metro and bus tickets which I have not used. I talked to myself “you are going to Rome, you will not need these tickets, it is better if you give it to him because he may need it”. I looked at the man who was few meters away from me.
I walked towards him and greeted him and asked if he is new in Prague. He said that he just arrived a couple of minutes ago and had been trying to buy the ticket for a few minutes but since he could not understand the language, it was difficult for him to get the ticket. I smiled and said “do not worry, it happens to everybody. Happened to me last few days the first time I landed here”. While talking to him, I checked my purse and took out those two tickets that I did not use at all. “I have two tickets which I have not used. You can use them for 2 days for the bus, tram, and metro around Prague”. He looked at me and I could see his surprising eyes. “wow! You are very kind, thank you very much, how much should I pay you.”. I told him that I give him the ticket not because I want him to pay me but because I will go to Rome and I will not need the ticket anymore.
After I gave him the ticket, I showed him how the machine works so he gets to know how to buy the tickets from there. Before I left him, he shook my hands and looked at me with a smile “what can I do to pay for your kindness?”. I smiled and said, “if next time in the future you see someone who needs help, please think about me and help them”. He smiled and thanked me.
I did not know his name; I gave him the ticket because I always believe in kindness. If we are kind to people, people will be kind to us as well. We might not get the same kind of kindness from the same people but we surely will get it back. God has his own way to give us back what we have planted.
The next day, I was in Rome, I was in a very difficult situation. The place where I stayed (Airbnb) was 45 minutes by train to the center of Rome. I went to visit the center of the city and spent almost nine hours at the city center just to go around the city: visiting Trevi fountain, Colosseum, and some sites around Rome. At 9 PM I decided to have dinner at a typical Italian restaurant. I took out my phone and checked the train to go back to the city where I stayed. I was shocked when I saw that the last train from Rome to Anguillara (the city where I stayed in Airbnb) is at 9.20. I only had 20 minutes before the train leaves and I had to take a bus from the city center to the train station which takes about 10 minutes. I was so confused and decided to send What’s App messages to my Airbnb host. I told them that I would miss my last train because I did not realize that the train to their city only ran until 9.20 P.M. They tried to help me by giving suggestions to take the bus to another city and take the train from there. I had 30 minutes and had to make sure that I arrived at the train station as soon as possible because that would be my last chance. I waited for the bus number 70 which was supposed to arrive at 9:05 however, the bus did not come. I ordered Uber and set the restaurant as my pick up site. The Uber which I ordered was 4 minutes away from me. I waited for 10 minutes. The screen on my phone showed that the Uber was in front of me, I tried to find the car but did not get anything. I had to run in every corner of the street around the restaurant to find the Uber driver but he was not there. I decided to cancel it and called a taxi. By the time I called the taxi, I only had 10 minutes left before the last train leaves. I asked the driver how long would it take time for him to take to Valle Aurelia train station, he said that it would take 15-20 minutes. I almost had tears on my eyes when he said that. I told myself that I would be able to handle this. I called my host and explained my situation again to them. I prayed on my heart that God will help me. My Airbnb host, Mr. Jani told me to take the taxi to another city, it will take 15 minutes to arrive there, he said his phone battery was low, so he cut the call without saying if I will take the train there or bus. He just told me to go to Corso di Francia.
I did what he told me, took a taxi to Corso di Francia. It was 15 minutes’ journey. I was very exhausted and worried at the same time. I tried to talk to the taxi driver and asked if he could help me. I asked if he could lend his phone (my phone battery was empty) so I could make a call to Mr. Jani to ask what I should do once I arrive in Corso di Francia, fortunately, the driver was nice and lent me his phone. I called Mr. Jani that I am at the Corso Francia. He asked me to give the phone to the taxi driver. They were talking in Italian for a couple of minutes. Once they hung up, the driver talked to me “he wanted me to take you here, and they will pick you up from here”. I was so speechless to hear what he said. I asked him how far is Anguillara Sabazia from Corso di Francia. He said that it would take about 49 or 50 minutes by car. I paid the taxi driver and gave him some tip because he let me use his phone.
While I was waiting for Mr. Jani and his wife, Sussie, I got tears on my eyes to find out that they will come and pick me up and I even only talked to them for 2 times because I stayed at their house while I was in Rome.
I waited for them for 20 to 30 minutes and started to think about what to do for this wonderful family as another way of saying thank you. I came up with an idea of cooking dinner (Indonesian food) for them tomorrow evening. With this idea, at least I could show them that I am grateful and happy to have them as my host and thanking them for being so kind to me.
They finally came to the station where I was waiting. They said hello to me with those positive energies. I got into the car and saw Jordano (their baby) was sleeping. We drove back home and spent time talking about Italy and Indonesia. I also told them about the dining plan and they were so excited to hear that. I felt really happy just to know that they were looking forward to it.
I am grateful that my mom has taught me, my brother and sister to be kind to other people and help them when they need it. She used to say “ when you are kind to people, the universe has its own way to show kindness back to you, no matter where you are and what difficult situation you have” just like how God will help you in every difficult situation as long as you don’t give up in seeking for help and trying your best.
I was lucky that there were still honest and kind people in this world. People who do not only think about themselves but also others. Whoever you are, I would like to thank you for being honest and kind no matter what kind of actions you do. Thank you. I hope reading this post will make you realize that whatever you do for other people, big or small, it means a lot to other people. Thank you for being kind and honest.
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