Often during normal and sometimes tedious passing of our existence, we imagine to go away, to escape or just to make a nice trip, if anything, better, during the winter period. Yes, your eyes I see in airports when it happens to me, fortunately, often, to take these "monsters" flying, talking about this: escapism, hope, new life adventure. Not this time.
This time the eyes of the people I met (deep eyes, different eyes, eyes scattered) spoke of fear of abandonment, "who made me do it" ... yes are the eyes of five thousand passengers, from all part of the world, stuck at the airport Ataturk in Istanbul from Epiphany.
I met Italian whitish who had as final destinations equatorial destination, I met Italians who returned, much darker, the same goals; I crossed oriental looks like only hope that they had to return home because there were accompanying their babies; I could see women (of any color) tighten if their pups after hours of waiting exhausted; I saw men defend their family, in every way, challenging gaze grim new Ottomans; I saw young couples hugging and enjoy their intimacy even among such despair; I saw the most beautiful eyes, those of children. They have no nationality, have no color, they do not belong but to hope, beauty, love .. their eyes spoke only of that.
Are, we are still here, in Istanbul, the old town which has always been the bridge between the East and the West ... The Byzantium charm submerged by snow will remain in my imagination forever .. like, I think this experience! Yes, because I think this city is just like the Bosporus, geographically teach: a connecting line between the peoples who today are too often divided by issues, political, religious or simply sports. What he taught this extraordinary weather event is that, in the end, everyone, absolutely everyone, we need each other .. Nature knows, she is never wrong, so, sometimes, it helps us to remember! Is because aside from the eyes of this experience I will remember the mani..mani coming together as a sign of hope, hands that come in prayer, hands with other hands have tried to help even those who only hours before was a passenger that occupied the next seat. Finally the strongest memory is for those throughout this emergency has endeavored to make all the hardships less important ... the Ataturk airport staff that together with that of Turkish Airlines has worked (still does) continuously to try to resize what Nature in a few hours had failed to do. Of course you could do better, to be sure the organization was just diligent, certainly many things (file exhausting, non-existent communications, little basic kindness) could be routed differently, but, I wonder, we are certain that in other parts of the world do not would be the same hardships? I say no.
Istanbul, 10 January 2017, 16.45. A passenger in transit for only two hours from January 6, 2027 from 19.30 hours.