A flight passenger has shared how she became concerned on her flight in Colombia when she was handed a candle by an air hostess.
Jula Vadini was traveling from Bogota, Colombia, to nearby San Jose de Guaviare on December 7 on a short flight when she was handed the candle, which initially made her panic and pray.
Vadini told Newsweek: “I was asleep when the flight attendant woke me up and handed me an electric candle. Seeing that I was confused she helped me turn it on.”
In her clip, which has received more than 24.7 million views since it was posted on December 10, she looks shocked and prays after she is handed the candle, but then realizes the actual reason for it.
What didn’t help the passenger’s level of panic was the turbulence her flight ran into.
“At first, I started to jokingly film myself with the candle, when turbulence hit. The seat belt sign went on, and the pilot started giving security instructions in Spanish. At this point, I thought that the candle was given us for good luck and to pray as we would probably crash. I started to pray!” Vadini said.
“I later realized that I was the only one on the flight who didn’t know about this candle tradition that happens on the 7th December. The candle wasn’t for us to pray before the crash but for us to make a wish. Obviously, I was completely unaware of this, and I only found out when I posted the reel.”
After learning the real reason for the candle, Vadini wrote in the caption of her video: “[It] turns out this is a Colombian tradition on the 7th December! One candle = one wish How wholesome.”
Colombia’s Day of the Little Candles is a national holiday in the country that takes place annually on December 7, the tourism board says, and marks the eve of the Immaculate Conception.
People took to the comments section of the creator’s post to share their reactions.
One Instagram user, @nickchapsas, posted: “Fun fact: The candle is for your soul to pass into the afterlife.”
“I knew immediately when she handed you the candle—this has to be Colombia,” wrote @wickedreef.
User @rollo_read commented: “Turbulence is great, [it] adds a bit of reality to a usually monotonous 5 hours.”
“This is why it’s important to learn the language and possible customs/holidays during your stay in a country you’re visiting,” shared @aaron.saladbar.
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The post Woman Panics as She’s Handed a Candle by Airline Staff Mid-Flight—’Praying’ appeared first on Newsweek.
