Spanish People Are Very Emotional

There is a hurricane in Barcelona. I can see it from my plane window. We’ve been hovering over the city for an hour already. The turbulence is insane. I feel like I’m on a roller coaster. People around me scream every time lightning strikes. 

I am trying to keep calm and not to show any emotions. I know that an airplane is the safest vehicle and that electrostatic discharges cannot cause any harm to it. I am here alone, but that is how I’ve been taught to act in any situation. We, Russians, are known to keep all our feelings to ourselves.

Spanish people around me are panicking: they stand up, check where the nearest emergency exit is, take medicine and gaze into the windows. Everyone’s talking, calming each other down, sharing water.

The captain makes some announcements in Spanish, I can’t comprehend everything, but I can easily guess the tone of the notifications by the reaction of my Spanish co-travelers. They express everything they feel. I do not understand how they do it, yet I wish I could be like them. There is a sense of community among people who’ve never met before. They are holding hands even though they are strangers.

A guy next to me takes my hand and places it into his with a smile. I wonder if he can read my mind or can see my frightened face which I cannot hide no matter how hard I try. And at that moment I wanted to tell him how I felt, I wanted to tell him everything. I’ve never trusted a stranger that much in my life before. Him being so feeling made me want to open up. And after talking to him I felt a relief that I haven’t experienced in a long time.

We landed safely. After exchanging traditional dos besos with my newest friend I stepped outside of that plane with a realization that I should try not to hide my emotions all the time. That is something I would like to learn from Spanish people. I know I will never be at such ease as they can be, but I’ll try to overstep my personal barriers that I carry within my culture. I believe it can simply make my life easier.