Qatar Airways Adegoke Precious Daniel   © Copyright 2024 by Adegoke Precious Daniel

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It was a joyous evening, Favour and her family had just got back from the market to get the final things she'll need for her journey. Favour's flight ticket had been booked for October 5 which was a Saturday, from Lagos to Berlin, Bradenburg Airport in Germany by 6pm. Favour had graduated a year ago and was going to Germany for her Master's degree program in University of Bonn Germany. Everyone had to sleep early because they'll have to wake up as early as 3am to get prepared so as not to miss the flight and the train from Ibadan to Lagos the next morning. As early as 2:30am, Favour was already awake, she was anxious and glad, although there was a little bit of mixed emotions, she'll miss her family as she'll not be seeing them for a while. At 3am Favour's Dad and Mum were already awake to check on her and wake up her siblings. The family had their devotion and set off to their various rooms to get prepared for the journey. Everyone was glad, but the also had their hidden emotions within because Favour will be missed. As at 4am, the whole family was ready including Favour as her and her siblings carried and dragged her luggages to the boot of her Dad's car, off they went to the famous Ibadan train station to board a train going to Lagos that morning. Their house was not really far from the train station so they got there on time the whole family got checked for their journey, they had booked their tickets earlier on their way to the train station. Something usual happened, the train journey was delayed which was strange, Favour and her family were not new to train rides. They were later informed Free few minutes that their journey was delayed because few repairs were being made in the train. The train was booked to leave at 8am but they train eventually took off around 8:30am.

The train experience was seamless, everyone in the train minded their business as usual, familiar people kept conversing with those close to them, while most people were just lost on the screen of their phones, typing, smiling and scrolling, few were listening to music and a few of them just decided to use the same period to sleep. Few hours later, around 11:00am the train got to the Lagos station which could have been 30 minutes earlier if they had not been delayed. Favour and her family were welcomed to the bustling atmosphere of Lagos city as men, women and children moved around to their various destinations. The environment was also filled with people both young and old trying to make a living by selling one thing or the other, from snacks to soft drink and water, handkerchiefs, souvenirs and countless other things. Favour and her family had to be careful with their belongings as this was the famous Lagos and they've heard stories of people unknowingly losing their valuable possessions. They family helped her in moving her luggages to the exit of the train station where they were to meet her fiance.

Favour's fiance was so happy to see her and her family, it had been a while and this was another opportunity to bond with the family. Favour's fiance lived in Lagos so finding their way around Lagos was not going to be an issue. He booked a ride for the family but he had to book two separate rides because each ride could only accommodate four persons and altogether they were right in number, this includes Favour, her dad, her mum, her twin siblings and their last born, her cousin and her fiance. The ride to the Murtala Muhammed International Airport was smooth, unlike other days the traffic was not really an issue this particular day. Favor was in the ride with her twin siblings and her fiance, she used this moment to catch up a bit with her fiance before getting to the airport.

On getting to the airport, favour and her family dropped at terminal 1 not knowing they were to drop at terminal 2 where the boarding and checking will take place for people who booked the Qatar Airways which was the flight she was meant to take. Luckily for Favour and her family they were redirected to terminal 2 with the help of a kind airport attendant. When they got to the entrance, the security personnel asked questions to know those who would be traveling. Favour told him she'll be the one traveling but the security personnel was bothered about the little crowd with her, he then informed her to pick an adult that will go in with her. Favour was a bit bothered about the new information, so she decided to go in with her dad, on making this decision, her fiance stepped in and spoke with the security man for few minutes, after the brief discussion, the security man allowed the whole family in. The whole family were glad and grateful to Favour's fiance for stepping in.

Favour had to go through three different checking process after she got into terminal 2. The first check in was tiresome but her attention was needed at the control room to identify few items in her bags. Since the system detects metals and ceramics, Favour was told to give information about the items in her bag which she use identified as her pots and ceramic plates. She was asked if she had oily items in her bag to but Favour knew to have gone through the rules and regulations of the check in process at the airport, she knew she wasn't to have any oily or liquid substance in her bags which she had adhered to. She successful passed the first checking stage and was directed to the second checking phase. The second checking phase involved the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) of Nigeria which was a necessary check-in phase to avoid the transportation of harmful items and substances. The calm looking officials questioned what she had in her bag and Favour confidently told them it was her food items and her clothing that were there. They were interested in knowing the food items she had in her bag, so Favour told them it was her garri, ewuro(bitter leaf), efirin (scent leaf), egusi, beans, beverages and few snacks. The main official who questioned her was amused and curious to know why she had all this with her, he jokingly asked her if she had uziza leaves with her which she denied because she didn't even know what it was. They also wanted to know if she had any medications with her which she denied too because she had earlier read it in the rules and regulations that no medications will be allowed. She was told to purchase a tag to confirmed that her load had been check by the NDLEA which she did at a cost of 3000 naira which her fiance volunteered to pay. During all this process her fiance was with her but her parents and siblings were lost admiring the beauty of the airport and the activities going on.

The third check which was the last check before going into the main airport where she was properly checked in for her flight. The first thing Favour as required to do was to weigh her bags and luggages which she actually had a fore knowledge of. Qatar Airways and some other Airways requested that their passengers should stick to a particular bag weight measurement and quantity which was; two 23kg luggage bag, one 7kg carry-on luggage and one backpack. Favour's backpack and carry-on luggage met with the requirements of the rules of the airways but her luggage bags were 27kg and 25kg each. She has earlier packed food items which included 5 packs of sealed garri, pots and ceramic plates. She dropped a pack of garri, her ceramic plates and a pot. She had to weigh again, repack and weigh again till she met the requirements for the weight of her bags. She was informed that if she needed to go with an extra luggage, she had to see the Airport authorities with a reasonable explanation and a payment of about 140,000 naira. Favour decided to stick with her luggage which was passed for the weight check and were taken to a section where it was sealed by a sealing machine with a nylon, Favour then proceeded to Qatar Airways stand for check in. Checking in ended at 12:30pm and the flight was scheduled for 6pm and checking in starts by 2pm which was a good one for her as it gave her more time for few things. The time was used to catch up with her family and fiance, gist, take pictures and record videos, she also used this period to book her train ticket to Solingen which was her final destination in Germany. During this period they also printed out her train tickets, exchanged about 259,000 naira to 140 euro and also got coins that'll be needed to get trolleys at the Berlin airport to help convey her luggages, she got this tip from a friend living in Germany. Favour and her fiance proceeded to the check in area to meet her family.

At 2pm she joined the queue at the check-in stand where she met on of the check-in attendants who requested for her passport and flight ticket which she happily tendered. Favour's flight was a connecting flight, she had to drop at Doha in Qatar before taking the next flight to Berlin Adegoke Precious Danielfrom Doha Airport. The man checked her ticket and passport and made enquires about her mission in Germany. Favour told him she was going to Germany for her master in plant science, the man was curious about what was so important about plant science that she wanted to further her studies, she was able to briefly enlighten him about the importance of plants. The man was also surprised that she had graduated from the University at a young age and was going for her Master's degree program soon, he commended her efforts, asked her where she had graduated from and she proudly told him she had graduated from FUNAAB. The man teased her about going for her Ph.D program immediately after her masters and she gave a warm smile in return.

Favour went to the next check stand where her passport and ticket was collected again. The lady clicked away on the system before her, she was also given a card which requested she filled basic details about her. After filling the card she submitted and was given two tickets for her trip from Lagos to Doha and Doha to Berlin. Favour's luggages were weighed again and transported to the luggage carrying section. Favour took pictures with her family, it was an emotional moment for them all, Favour's smallest sibling couldn't imagine home without her big sister and burst into tears before giving her a big sister a hug, she couldn't just let go but was dragged by her mum. Favour has to book rides for her family back to the train station in Lagos because her family had to go back Ibadan the same day and didn't want to miss the train.

Favour's fiance stayed back with her for a while, they had a nice moment together before she headed back for the boarding gate, she bid him farewell with a big hug, they both loved the moment, they wished it could go on but she had to go so as not to miss her flight. Favour was checked again after she entered the boarding gate, she was asked to remove her shoes and her backpack and carry-on luggages were scanned and checked. At the next check her passport and tickets were checked again and her destination and mission was asked which she correctly answered the same way she answered the man at the last check in stand. The airport attendant also did well to compliment her hair and wished her a safe trip.

Favour was led to a hall leading to the waiting room that led to the plane, her backpack and carry-on luggage was checked again to prevent people coming in with dangerous items or materials. Her luggage was also weighed and some people were asked to repack their luggage as it was beyond the 7kg scale stated by the rules of the airways. Favour was checked in to the waiting room where she met a guy she had seen earlier on, the had a brief conversation and asked each other about their destinations, he was heading for Doha, it was the same for her but her final stop was Berlin. Favour also met a lady who wanted to make few enquires about the waiting room, Favour could not be of help as this was her first time, the lady also claimed it was her first time and had a brief chat with Favour. The lady was heading to Texas in the U.S and favour also gladly told her her destination.

Some minutes later everyone in the waiting room were asked to go in, their tickets were checked before going in. The guy Favour met earlier on had told her she seat no was on the ticket because she didn't know about this information. Favour was welcomed by the warm smile of the flight attendant who she approached to ask for directions to her seat(D26), the flight attendant gladly directed her to her seat before attending to other passengers. Favour's seat was a three seat coach area and she had just one seat partner who was silent at first. Favor placed her bags are the space meant for bags above her seats before seating down to face a touch screen monitor directly at the back of the seat in front of her, the seat also had an extendable table which Favour made use of later on. Favour admired the plan and the passengers in her coach, it was her first time so it was amusing. She made calls to her parents to inform them that she just located her seat, she also made short videos to keep as memories. Minutes before 6pm when the flight was to take off, fe announcements were made form the passengers to fasten their seat belts and get ready as the flight would take off in few minutes.

Minutes into the flight, Favour picked a movie on her screen to see, it was this moment her seat partner spoke up, asked about her welfare and Favour did well to respond politely. Her partner asked if she was with a charging cord, she affirmed and shared with him, try had a brief conversation before they both went back to what they were doing. Her seat partner was friendly and handsome with a cool voice but she couldn't think about it because she was already taken. Announcements were made to put all phones and devices on airplane mode before wired headsets were distributed to every passenger with a bag that contained; socks, a toothbrush, a toothpaste, a face shield for those that'll love to use it while sleeping and an ear shield to protect the ears from noise. Favour was already happy with the headset and the blanket and pillow she met on her seat, she continued with her movie and was caught up in the moment.

An hour into the flight, a flight attendant came with drinks and requested what Favour would love to take, Favour requested for apple juice and water to quench her thirst. About an hour after the drinks were passed, food was passed around and Favour had to !ale enquires about the particular food they had, although they had a list of foods like rice, pasta and noodles, Favour decided to go for the noodles. On opening the noodles it gave a sweet alluring scent which compelled Favour to dig in, to her disappointment, it didn't taste light the noodles she was used to in Nigeria but she had not option than to finish it because she was really hungry.

After 9 hours they landed at the Doha Airport in Qatar where a bus conveyed them from the plane tracks to the main airport where she located the gate for her next flight to Berlin. She met with an attendant that directed her to the right place (Gate C24). When she got into the waiting room she plugged in her phone to charge and used the opportunity to admire Doha and most especially the airport. Favour had been advised not to sleep so she stayed awake although it was around 2am she tried reaching out to her fiance and family, though they were asleep they were glad to speak with her. She updated them on her journey and also reached out to her friend and her brother in Kigali, Rwanda who she had a video call with to check on him and gist him about her journey. Her flight to Berlin was by 8:30am, few minutes to the said time, she was directed to the plane and checked in. Her seat was three seats coach area and this time she had two seat partners, she briefly greeted them and had a chat with them. The routine in this same plane was not different from the last flight but this time she didn't request for noodles and she used the restroom, the journey was a 6 hours journey to Berlin so it wasn't as long as the flight from Lagos to Doha.

The plane touched down at Berlin and Favour and other passengers were conveyed to the main airport with a transport bus. She went through immigration check where she was asked of her destination and mission, her means of survival; am account to show she could readily take care if herself without being a liability in Germany, she passed their checks and was warmly welcomed to Germany. Favour went to the section for claiming luggages to claim hers, there she met an African lady from Rwanda, they had a brief chat but they were both at the wrong end of the bag claiming section, they luckily located the Qatar Airways bag claiming section, paid to get trolleys to transport their bags with coins and went back to claim their luggages. Few minutes later they got their bags but the lady had to nid her farewell because she already had someone waiting for her at the entrance to the airport. Favour was earlier told to go to the train station to board the train she had earlier booked for 6pm that day, with the help of the trolley and the elevator she got to the underground train station and returned the trolleys. She then called home and her fiance to inform them that she had gotten to Berlin safely and was about going to the train station to take her train for Solingen.

Favour had a stressful experience at the train station because her luggages were heavy and she couldn't carry them alone, she had to move the luggages one by one which was tiring but she never gave up and there was no trolley to help her easily convey her luggages to the train stand. Berlin to Solingen was a 5hrs journey with the train, unfortunately for Favour she didn't know how things were done in Germany, she thought it was Nigeria and missed her train because she didn't know her train was meant for two different locations, she saw the time frame which was the same with hers but didn't see her desired destination. The train had 32 coaches, coach 1-17 was the trip meant for Solingen and coach 18-32 was meant for the destination which she saw and felt was not her ride.

When Favour discovered what had happened she called her friend that was meant to pick her at Solingen, her friend linked her up with another friend in Berlin who directed her on how to book another train to his own location. It wasn't easy conveying her luggages to the new twain stand for her next journey, she asked for directions and missed the way few times before meeting an African who turned out to be a Nigerian. She explained her situation to him and he willingly helped her, she was so grateful she had met him and thanked him countless times to which the man just smiled. He helped her convey her load to her train and also helped in getting instructions from the train station officials because they didn't understand English but he understood German. He saw her off to the train stand bid her farewell and went off. Favour reached out to the person coming to pick her in Berlin that she had taken off and also to come meet her earlier to help her with her luggages which he did. Favour stayed with the man and his family that night, she was warmly welcomed and treated to meal of rice and stew with chicken. Favour made sure she reached tonner family and fiance that night before retiring to bed because it had been a stressful evening for her.

The next morning, Favour got ready and was taken to the train station where she would take the train going to Solingen which was her final destination. She was helped by the man's lovely wife who took her to the train station and helped her with her luggages before bidding her farewell

I reached out to Babalola Favour who had earlier travelled to Germany to share her experience with me.  This is her story. Babalola is a graduate of The University of Agriculture Abeokuta. She graduated with a first class honours from the Department of Pure and Applied Botany. Favour is a passionate, focused, diligent and God fearing lady with a mission to explore the possibilities and hidden secrets of life and plants in general. Favour lived most of her life in Ibadan, Nigeria but presently resides in Solingen, Germany where she is undertaking her Masters degree program in the Department of Plant Science at the University of Bonn, Germany. Favour is blessed to have supporting parents, 4 wonderful siblings and amazing friends.