Attila the Hun

One of my favorite parts of being aboard a cruise ship is seeing the different countries on the name badges of the crew.  Jamaica and the Philippines seem to be the most popular home countries of crew members aboard Caribbean Sea cruises, but dozens of other countries (including the United States) can be spotted.

One evening this week, as we approached a juice and soda dispenser, my wife and I stopped a young Hispanic-looking crew member to ask a question.  To my surprise, his name badge read "Attila Peto / Romania."  Attila answered our query and, for the next 15 minutes, chatted to us about his life and work on the ship.

He told us that he and a twin brother were born 25 years ago in a section of Romania that was formerly part of Hungary.  His explained that his parents named him after the fifth century leader of the Hunnic Empire, Attila.  He said he learned to speak English working for an American hotel chain in his home country, and learned Spanish from a Mexican girlfriend on the crew.

We saw Attila again the next morning during breakfast, manning the coffee station.  He made us lattes, which my wife and I agreed were our best coffees of the cruise.  He was too busy to talk much more with us, but we thanked him for the java and wished him well.

My wife and I are back in our New Jersey home now.  Attila and the hundreds of other crew members from Europe, Asia, Africa, North and South America and parts in between are already working their next cruise, far from their homes and trying to make the world even smaller.