Its been a hard ass week.
Evidence A – I lost both mobile phone and wallet within minutes in separate taxi rides. Doing so grounded me in the Philippines for a week when I was itching to skedaddle on to Cambodia and Laos.
Evidence B – I was robbed. I was robbed coz I was stupid. One of my great traveling super powers is that I can make friends anywhere (the other is that I don’t get motion sickness, so I can read on long rickety chicken bus rides). I was at Starbucks reading when a young man at the table next to me struck up a conversation. Ignored Warning Sign #1, he wasn’t drinking; Starbucks prices are well beyond the reach of everyday Pinoys. Ignored Warning Sign #2, Filipinos, while very social, rarely initiate conversations with strangers. He told me he’s a student at a college nearby (Ignored Warning Sign #3 – Filipino students wear uniforms and he wasn’t in one). We talked, we walked, we had lunch (I paid), we saw Karate Kid (I paid, Jaden Smith can actually act). We had beers. I went to the C.R. (comfort room; charming colloquialism in wide use in the Philippines). When I came back he was gone with my shopping bag. No biggie- $30 worth of stuff – but I felt violated and really, really dumb.
Evidence C: I got robbed again. I went out. I left my wallet on the table. My friend that I’m staying with had some company over. When I came home, about $150 had been taken from my wallet. My iPod is also gone.
So yah, its been a hard ass week. I get down on myself for the stupidity. I get down on the Philippines in general. I contemplate saying Fuck it! and going home.
And then I chat with my friend Jeremy on Facebook. "How's it going?" he asks. I grumble. "So have you found yourself yet?" he continues.
Ah yes. That search.
Me:
I'm right here. I don't know what it means to find urself.
but
I'm happy
wow. Yah, I'm not miserable and tortured like i was 6 weeks ago.
I'm laughing a lot
and smiling a lot and telling stories
again
(even if they don't understand me) hehehehe
And I've been sleeping soundly
every nite
wow
thanks for asking that. I hadn't realized all this until now
Jeremy:
Sounds like mission accomplished.
Me:
Yah.
So I guess I should come home now.
Jeremy:
You'll know when its time
I call Cathay Pacific to inquire about extending my trip by two weeks.
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I can attest to the sleeping soundly. Funny how anxious you seemed when you were running out of your sleeping pills when you first arrived and how jealous I became when you began to fall asleep so easily.
ReplyDeleteWhat is it with Americans and pills? When someone feels 'off,' he'll medicate it.
Ei - thanks for not mentioning my name under Evidence C. I felt as much a fool as you for feeling 'free' to leave my 'trusted friend' alone to use the CR.
Yah, that sucked, but its totally not either of our faults. We got caught slippin', but seriously how the hell would one have predicted that.
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