The Philippines

Standing in line, at the airport, still in Wisconsin, hesitant to get on the plane, to the place I haven’t been to in years. Dreading to go back to the heat and humidity, I give the man my passport and boarding ticket, he gives it back, and then I head right into the plane, scared, hoping I’ll have a safe flight. While in the air, I have flashbacks of what I remember what had all happen the last time I was there, hoping that this time will be fun.

Arriving at the airport in this foreign place, I see my family there, waiting to greet my parents and I back “home”. With an attitude, I give them short answers to the questions they ask me. Ignoring my families’ conversations, as we get into the car and were off to our home town called Anda.

After a two hour drive, I’m finally here. I look at my surroundings, everything still looks the same, but different in its’ own unique way. I saw more of my family, everyone had changed so much. My cousins don’t look the same, they’ve grown up. It’s not the same, no more playing games, no fooling around, they were all mature. We’ve been apart for so long that shyness had overcome to everyone of us, and we barely talked.

As I walk into the house, I look at my surroundings, and also went up to the guest room in my grandma’s house to unpack my things. I looked around the room, this was the same room I stayed in five years ago, when I was only eight. In the room, things were still the same. Same furniture, same style, same everything. Wandering around the room, I thought about how the next four weeks were going to be torture.

When I finished unpacking, I left the house, and started exploring this town. I didn’t seem to remember much from the last time I was here. I just had little thoughts in my head telling me that I was not going to have fun. I walked around with curiosity, the Philippines was so tropical, it was beautiful. I was starting to regret the thought I had before, about how my vacation was going to be torture. It was just that I was so young the last time I was here, I did not have appreciation for many things. As I’ve grown, I started seeing the beauty within everything, and not taking every opportunity for granted.

The next several days, I saw and learned many new things, new things I never thought existed. I realized how much I loved this place. For once, I didn’t want to leave a place we went to for vacation. I loved it here so much. I loved driving motorcycle, feeling the breeze every time I would speed up, smelling the fresh air, and seeing the beauty around me. Being around my family, and feeling the warmth within me, that I couldn’t feel back at home.

The days were coming and going fast, and before I knew it, it was time to go. Sadness built up inside of me, and the feeling of letting go and leaving was killing me. I also can’t let go of the thought that I won’t be here until another couple of years. I wanted to stay so bad, and spend the rest of the summer here, but sadly, I was forced to leave.

Driving back to the airport, taking one last gander of my surroundings, thinking that everything will no longer look like this, how I’m actually leaving after only four weeks.

I arrive at the airport, did the usual thing I did before I left to come here, but now I’m going back home. I get on the plane, scared again, scared of falling, crashing, or anything bad happening to me while on the plane. To keep myself entertained I listened to music, watched movies, and started conversations with people my age on the plane to get the thought out that I won’t come back in a while, and missing everything that happened in the last four weeks.

After a 21 hour flight, I’m finally home.