Eyes Toward Home
#178: Tie a Yellow Ribbon?
The countdown begins. (Have I started a previous blog entry with this? I'm losing my creativity.) In my powdered-power-drink-drugged mind, I've skipped my finals and flown straight to the Philippines. I have to remind myself time and time again that there are still three weeks, 4 major papers and 4 final exams between me and my home. Everytime the cold autumn wind makes me shiver, I drift off to the land of sticky air and suffocating humidity. Ah, I so look forward to going to the Philippines.
Of course at around that time of the year, there will be floods here and there because of poor infrastructure planning, building and contract-monitoring. There will be monstrous traffic jams because of the absence of discipline, absence of implementers, absence of additional roads. The highway will be a sea of red lights. But I will be driving a car - once more in control of where I'm going.
I hope my friends are still eager to see me as I am eager to see them. I suppose I've accepted the fact that to some degree (maybe to a large degree), some of them have started filling the space I used to occupy with other friends and other things to do. I am no longer Cathy's Friday date. Elna's partner in silliness. Justine's tea-mate. Rachel's chika-mate. Jenny's lunch and career talk buddy. Teejae's evening-in-the-office-drop-in-yak-partner. Lee's evil stepsister. Manolito's duchess of kikaydom.... and so on...
I guess all I'm really after in my two-week visit is a sliver of their time, a serving of the past, a slice what we still have... a moment for them - for me to remember what it's like to be back home.
Makes me remember this old song.
"Tie a yellow ribbon round the old oak tree... it's been 6 long months... do you still want me?.."
posted by VivaGlam! at 1:31 PM
3 Comments:
Hey Gladys! We want you, we want you! Come home already. :)
You should read Jim Paredes' blog (writing on air or haringliwanag.pansitan.net). He talks about his historic move to Sydney and his reasons for leaving. He also talks about how his heart will always belong to this traffic-ridden, pot-holed and flood-infested country of ours and how he will eventually come home. ("There may be potholes in the street where I live but they ‘speak’ to me in a way that a flawless highway in a developed foreign country cannot.").
Much love,
Justine
11:13 AM
it's been 6 long months... do you still want me?.."
Oo naman, in fairness... :D
some of them have started filling the space I used to occupy with other friends and other things to do.
Ang drama mo mare! Di bagay... :p
Mahirap punan ang lugar mo(naks drama din). Only you can figuratively slap me with such brutal honesty, that I realize the things that mean a big deal to me are actually kind of trivial. Na mi-miss ko na nga comments mo eh.
Four weeks ba kamo? Sana nakahanap na ako nang bahay niyan. So you can see how your juvenile friend is growing up. If not naman sana makalipat ako immediately after you get back to Aus. Covered naman ng zipeedee ang Greenhills, magpapakabit ako para magskype na tayo. :D
2:18 PM
Hey Jus! So excited to see you and your baby...err... your tummy! (Ok, that didn't sound right.) Yes, I was able to read his essay on that. But you know what, a lot of my relatives and friends have said the same thing - they want to come back one day. Then they hit some point of no return and living in the Philippines again becomes unthinkable. Hmm.
Hey Teej,
Feeling mo naman taong bato ako? (Although yes, most of my friends have that mental image of me.) "Slap me with brutal honesty." Hey, my honesty is meant to be more loving than brutal. :)
C u soon!
12:07 PM
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