{"id":1967,"date":"2025-01-02T20:41:00","date_gmt":"2025-01-02T19:41:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/filomenamarsiglia.com\/?p=1967"},"modified":"2025-08-24T17:06:12","modified_gmt":"2025-08-24T16:06:12","slug":"escaping-the-seychelles-and-shenanigans-to-reach-canary-islands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filomenamarsiglia.com\/en\/seychelles-en\/escaping-the-seychelles-and-shenanigans-to-reach-canary-islands\/","title":{"rendered":"Escaping the Seychelles and shenanigans to reach the Canary Islands"},"content":{"rendered":"

A year and a half has passed since I boarded that one-way flight to the Seychelles. But these last months here? They’re wildly<\/em> different from what I imagined. Maybe that\u2019s because they include a pandemic, rich and powerful families, work contracts reduced to toilet paper, officials who mysteriously vanish, anger and frustration, suspense, canceled international flights, and others booked at the very last second.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A strange cocktail for someone who doesn\u2019t usually live inside a novel!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But let\u2019s start with the context.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once upon 2020<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"\"\/<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Do you remember what happened back then? I bet you do.
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s a year no one will confuse with any other. It felt like living in a dystopian movie like V for Vendetta<\/em> or 1984,<\/em> but without the cool masks or the inspiring revolution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I had envisioned this Seychelles adventure as a sabbatical\u2014a chance to get my thoughts in order, to decide where to settle down, and how and if to reinvent my career (and hey, what better place to do it than on a paradise island?).
<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The plan?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After leaving the Seychelles, I’ll explore southern Spain, Portugal, and the Canary Islands thoroughly, in this order, from May to November 2020, in a van, and wrap up this journey of inner and outer discovery picking my perfect spot, the one that resonates with me the most and and start a steady new chapter.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That is if everything had gone as planned.<\/h5>\n\n\n\n
\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

May 2020: the goodbye that wasn\u2019t<\/strong><\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

We\u2019re shyly making our way out of the initial lockdown measures. Things seem hopeful, but no flights to Italy yet. My job in guest relations as a translator for Italian tourists is about as useful as air conditioning in Alaska, so I’ve already been told that as soon as flights resume I’ll be one of the passengers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

July 2020: flights are back!<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

I have already made my calls and planned my next moves. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rome. Naples. Calabria. Tuscany. Milan. Madrid. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

With this itinerary I will finally be able to hug my loved ones: they don’t all live in the same place, and I haven’t seen them for a year and a half, others even for two years or more. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The last formalities are missing, and off we go! <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cuqui, my bestie, has already finished her contract, we tried to get put on the same flight but my paperwork is not ready since it involves contract changes: no big deal. I will leave next week<\/strong>. Other collegues and I accompany her to the airport. We hug, ready to see each other again soon. A matter of days<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BEEP BEEP<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Our company phones ring at the same time. It was the SMS ringtone (yes, those phones don’t have WhatsApp). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I read the message. Blink. Then blink again. I wait for my eyes to focus correctly the letters, I must have misread.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I look up hoping to get a better interpretation from my colleagues: their foreheads are furrowed, eyebrows raised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We exchange perplexed glances, silently asking, Do you read what I read?<\/em> Sure, we all speak English, but none of us is a native, maybe we\u2019re misunderstanding something. We hope there\u2019s a nuance we\u2019re missing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The message says:
\u201cFrom the day after tomorrow at 2 PM, staff will no longer be allowed to leave the resort premises and will remain confined inside until further notice.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Weird. There\u2019s no new lockdown or outbreak. Everybody in the world is finally enjoying summer, or trying to, after those months confined at home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Royal hostage situation<\/strong>: paradise interrupted<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A rich family (really rich, not \u201cI collect Ferrari, have Champagne for breakfast and fry with olive oil<\/em>\u201d rich) has booked 5 luxury resorts on the island I am on. Exclusively. For them, their entourage and the staff of the 5 hotels that signed the agreement. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The resort managers, dazzled by the glitter of the buckets of gold coins that were about to submerge them, accepted all the conditions requested by the aforementioned family who, eager to live indefinitely in a place considered without risk of contagion, included:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  • Staff will not leave the resort as long as we are here.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Staff will undergo one PCR test per week.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • The only exceptions are for people required to travel from one resort to another to work, and they will do so only with our private drivers, in special vehicles and under the supervision of our military personnel.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
  • Anyone who leaves the property cannot re-enter (a very important detail, given that we are not in a city full of houses to rent: expats live within<\/em> the property, and refusing means ending up on the street, on a remote island of 150 km\u00b2 with nothing but jungle and ocean).<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n


    So, in less than ten seconds, my status shifts from \u201cI\u2019m going home in a few days\u201d<\/em> to \u201cI’m confined to the resort indefinitely.\u201d<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    There is no need for an Italian translator anymore. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Seychelles laws don’t allow company to employ expats for jobs that can be done by locals (and my job without translation, is basically guest relations). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    My countrymen, still reeling from the collective shock, aren\u2019t planning luxurious holidays on tropical islands. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The reason why they are not putting me on the first available flight, as agreed in the previous months, is not related to any of my skills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    They have already dismissed lots of expats, not renewed contracts, and sent away as many people as possible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The airport is not operational for commercial flights. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Rehiring dismissed staff or training new recruits isn\u2019t practical\u2014the process of obtaining visas and permits would take too long. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The best solution? “Hold hostage” whoever is still here to plug the holes and keep operations running. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Those in the middle of termination proceedings, halfway out the door with plans set elsewhere, are pulled back into the fray. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n


    Since this isn\u2019t the moment to delve into the details of the tirades to leave such a scenario, where I was dealing with people with way more political and economic power than me, in Africa, alone, without legal, financial, or emotional support, I’ll cut short by saying that by the end of October\u2014after a colorful resignation letter and three months of “private lockdown,” \u2014I’m finally holding in my hands a ticket back to Italy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    October 2020<\/strong>: welcome back <\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

    Italy\u2019s rules for arrivals are clear:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n
    • A 14-day quarantine is mandatory for people coming from certain countries (yes, Seychelles is one of those).<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Yes, even if you are coming from three months of private quarantine.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Yes, even you you have an official PCR, mandatory to get on a plane with a stopover in Dubai.<\/li>\n\n\n\n
    • Yes, even if you have 12 unofficial PCR carried out on a weekly basis for the rich client’s peace of mind.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n

      What\u2019s two more weeks at this point?<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

      <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      First stop: mom<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

      I land in Calabria and decide I have enough time to understand better what’s going on in Italy. Since 2013, I\u2019ve been living in houses without TVs and haven\u2019t gotten into the habit of sitting down to watch the news. This combo has likely spared me a long list of stress-related ailments, but given Italy\u2019s rollercoaster of unpredictable decrees this year, I make an exception. Much of my time is now spent catching up on what\u2019s happening in the Bel Paese, where I\u2019ve finally returned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      Every news broadcast boils down to the same bleak message:
      \u201cStep outside, and you\u2019ll either die or kill someone.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      A mental map of friends and family pops into my head like a cloud. I\u2019m no longer on a remote island, and it\u2019s clear that here, even stepping out for a solo night run in the park is considered like a major crime. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n