Interesting people on my flight - Los Angeles, Rome

WELL!!!!  FINALLY BACK IN ITALY!!
THAT was an interesting trip....because I love watching people. There were some INCREDIBLE people to see this time, so original, so totally different to those I am used to seeing!
Not only did I SEE some original styles, very colorful, and some who were also quite amusing, but I met some VERY unique people, spoke to some, and heard some stories that were completely new. Travelling is great for this - you can meet people, and each one has their own story.

SAMI
Waiting in a LONG line at the L.A. airport, was a young man, probably about thirty years old. We talked about the length of the line, and I asked him where he came from. He was born in Marakesh, Morocco, but lived in Paris in the past, and spent a lot of time travelling. He had been to Los Angeles now visiting friends, his second time there.
Although he was quite young, he was very well informed about politics. He said he began the day by looking on the net at three different viewpoints, three newspapers, and then chose the articles that interested him. He said that France (as well as Italy) was not doing well at this moment. He said he was surprised also at how "laid back" Los Angeles was, and although quite fun to visit, could not live there. It seemed also to Sami (and myself) that people don't realize how Europe is doing, that Europe is very far from California so, people aren't that knowledgeable about our problems here. But we both agreed that we had a wonderful time here, and my conversation with this young man made the wait in line more enjoyable.

THE WOMAN FROM ALGERIA
Sitting in my same row on the plane was a woman my age from Algeria. At first she was quiet, then she asked me in broken English "You come from..?" We immediately spoke, and I discovered that she knows 8 languages! This can happen in various countries in Europe, people know many languages, because their countries border others, or their lives make it necessary to learn other languages. She had 5 children, three of them married. Some of them live in Los Angeles, and she goes there up to three times a year. Her son sends her a ticket. At a certain point she and I stood up (we were in the bulk head seats, right at the front) and I was stretching, she also was doing some movements to help knees that were a problem to her, especially during the flight. I joked that we could lead the plane in exercises, and this got a pleasant smile and laugh from her.

THE MAN....WITH A PLANT FROM IRAN
THIS was a first for me!! At one point a man was standing, holding a glass, and speaking to the above woman (both of them spoke Farsi). In the glass was a little PLANT!! I curiously asked him what and how he could be holding this and taking a plant...to Iran!! He said that coming INTO the USA you could not take anything like this, but coming OUT of the States, you could. It was aplant from his relative's garden, and he wanted to grow it in Iran!
We talked, and he told me his daughter had just had her first art show in Beverly Hills! What a wonderful thing, I said. At that point he asked me what I did, and when I said I was an artist, he asked for my business card. The exchange of conversation was pleasant, and he said he would show my card to his daughter.

THE TWO WOMEN...IN RED AND WHITE
As soon as I arrived to my seat on the plane, there was a woman in red and white....and with platinum blond hair. And a HAT! A baseball hat, in red. She had made a mistake about her seat, hadn't read carefully, and giggled when her friend (who was a similar version of herself, both dressed the same, as if a team but I don't know what for!), both with the same kind of hair, and both who had undergone surgery or shots for large lips, which made the two even more amusing to see....probably in their middle or late forties, dressing like two teenagers......finally I got my seat. They sat together, each time calling much attention to themselves when they got up, totally glowing in their white pants and red tops, and the attention continued when they arrived at the Amsterdam airport, stopping people who smiled and stared.

THE LEOPARD HAIRED WOMAN
Arriving to the beautiful airport in Amsterdam, the most incredible hair style ever seen on a 60+ year woman. She was seated, probably waiting for her flight. The hair was like this. Short, but long enough on top for a RED AND WHITE striped pattern. The hair was straight, sticking up and dyed, naturally, to form large stripes. On the sides.....a LEOPARD pattern. All around was the design of real leopard skin. I only had a moment to see her, as I was walking with my carryon to get to the next flight, but I noticed that the leopard motif carried over into her shirt or jacket...it too leopard print. Interesting, original, totally UNIQUE!!

After seeing and meeting the above people, and having a long flight from Los Angeles to Amsterdam, I still had a few hours until my next flight to Rome. Luckily in this airport there were marvelous lounges and all types of sofas and chairs to relax in. I found one with music incorporated into speakers, right and left, where one could use a small laptop computer attached to the comfortable chair/sofa, and listen to and watch videos about artists in Holland, or music of various kinds. I chose to watch six short videos of the artists, after falling asleeep with my carryon bagge in front of me, and clutching onto purse and camera case for about an hour.