Chapter 7: Survival Mode

A travel ban? What…. Ban? Like you can’t leave the country? I couldn’t believe what I heard.. I couldn’t make sense of it, because being stuck in a country and can’t leave whenever you want is the worst feeling. Whenever I’m planning a vacation or a trip or wherever I go, I always need to have the option to leave whenever I want. But this time, I was thinking of the worst..when will I leave? When will I see my family… It was a horrible feeling and there was nothing I could do in this foreign country, where the law is based on religion…

The ride back was a disaster and a feeling of disbelieve.. I was looking outside the window and thinking. My heartbeat was raising and I couldn’t calm it down, because in these middle eastern countries… there is no such thing as human rights..I was thinking of the worst and called B.N. right away and told her about this issue and that we needed to find a solution. She was very calm and didn’t show much empathy about the travel ban…which was strange… I then asked her about writing a letter to the company that she would deal with all of it the moment I left Doha. However, she was hesitating and didn’t agree. She also mentioned that I should ask D.S. about paying for the damage as well, but I didn’t agree because we invited him on this trip. However I ended up asking him, but he was not willing to pay because he thought there was insurance on the car and everything was covered. Which made sense…

Things…were getting worse.. I really couldn’t take it anymore, as I was devastated about the travel ban. I got home and walked straight to my room, showered real quick and went straight to bed. I was not in the mood and didn’t look at all the messages on my phone. I remember calling a good friend and telling him straight away that I need to hang up and go to bed. Waking up the next day, the same feeling.. I then again called my good friend L.L and asked him to fly over to Doha, because I needed help. I really need help and I need someone here because things are looking worse….

That day I went to visit B.N in the hospital, because not sure if the travel ban was active or just a form of pressure, I needed to act like I cared about B.N. and hope that she wouldn’t do anything else in her power to postpone my departure… I cared…I mean I did… but I really wanted to leave and with this travel ban..the sky had fallen…
Arriving in the hospital, B.N. was again complaining about a lot of pain…something that I’ve noticed, that whenever I was calling with her or in her sight, she had lots of pain.. she was even yelling of pain through the phone...
We then discussed several things and I needed to scan her driver license for the rental detailer. She took her purse, where all her cards are and that’s where I noticed that her Credit Card was in there as well… Remember when she mentioned she didn’t have it with here the day we were renting the car?? 

Ok.. things were getting a little bit odd.. I mean, several red flags have occurred already and wasn’t sure if I’m going crazy or if she was having a hidden agenda…What was also weird was that she mentioned something the lady from the car dealer (her old colleague) said to me, without me even telling her and with her mentioning not speaking to the lady….
A couple of minutes later she went to the restroom and I saw her medical report on her bed. I then quickly opened it and saw that she could have left the hospital two days ago and that she had minor injuries.. WTF…No broken ribs? What…are you serious? I immediately put down the report so she couldn't notice me looking into it.
Red flag…after red flag… this was the moment I realized that in danger everyone has a hidden agenda to save themselves.

And at this moment, My hidden agenda for survival was activated as well. I called several friends who studied law to go through the contract, which we’ve signed with the dealer and to see what was the actual case and status of this whole accident. I mean can they even give a travel ban? Luckily they were on it right away and would inform once they have an answer. After that call, I informed B.N. that I had to leave right away and will come back tomorrow in the morning..
This was the last time I saw her…. but not the last time I heard from her and authorities…..

Reacties

Een reactie posten

Populaire posts van deze blog

Chapter 1: A split-second decision

My life and journey as a cabin crew member of Qatar Airways has come to an end. I submitted my resignation letter in the office and my roster was cleared. Therefore I didn’t have any flights and was waiting for approval on my resignation and deportation date. The moment I left the office, I had this empty feeling, because I went from being super busy to doing completely nothing. Also the thought of not knowing when I would leave, made me a bit nervous.   However, I wanted to make the best out of my last days in Doha. My birthday was coming up, so that was something to look forward to. As I got home, I went straight to bed and slept for a couple of hours. Later that evening, I had dinner plans with my trainer B.N. Remember her from my previous blog? As I was really tired, I overslept and suddenly received lots of phone calls and angry text messages from her. She (a 50+ year old) even messaged my mom to complain about my behavior.  Eventually, I made it to dinner. We sp...
Meer lezen

Chapter 4: The Rescuer Rescued

Again a feeling of defeat, when I heard the rescuer couldn’t reach us. On the other hand, someone knows where we are and can always call for back up, right? But how long would that take? How long before we left this place? As we were waiting, I once again tried to calm B.N. and D.S. down and tried reassuring them everything would be alright. Moments later, B.N. started talking, explaining and instructing what we should say to the police regarding the accident. I wasn’t really sure how the police work in these countries, but I agreed with everything B.N. said. Moments later, the police and ambulance arrived and it was a moment of victory. I remember that one of my family members in Suriname messaged me at that moment. I immediately called and explained that I was in an accident. They were shocked….and curious if everything was ok. I ensured that everyone was ok and that we are now leaving to the hospital. I also mentioned that my friends B.N and D.S were in lots of pain and that we...
Meer lezen

Chapter 8: Days before the Ban

Something I learned during this period of time was that whenever survival mode is activated everyone starts to have a hidden agenda. I believe in this situation, it was worse, because at this point I had known B.N. for only 6months. Therefore, I was not sure what she was capable of. I needed to be selfish at that moment because I had to leave this foreign country as these red flags were contributing to my selfishness.  That same day, I was ignoring all text messages and calls from B.N because I just did not feel like talking to her. On the other hand, I had to play it safe because she was well known in Qatar and most likely had the ‘connections’ in the country. However, I still ignored all communication and went for a nap. I felt tired, sad and somehow still in shock, because that feeling of not being able to leave was still there. The next day was my birthday, but the evening before I went for dinner and drinks with L.L, D.S and another friend W.P to this lovely Jazz bar....
Meer lezen