I started writing a series of blog posts on my trip to the Philippines a few months ago but, like most of my best intentions with this blog, I let that project fall by the wayside. In fairness to myself, I began that endeavor right as my time in Korea was winding down, so a lot of things were put on hold because of the move. Maybe it would make more sense to forget it all together, but I have fun writing about the trip and I’m hoping some of it will be interesting to read, so I’m going to press on.
I left off in my last Bohol installment with the end of a tropical Christmas under the stars. The next day was the first full day on the island and Kassie, Megan and I decided that, after the utterly hellish week we had had at school and the two days of stimulating but exhausting travel, all we wanted was a day of lounging on the beach.
The first order of business, however, was breakfast. As we quickly learned, every meal at the resort was going to be a bit of a blissful ordeal. The food was all made to order, so there was no such thing as “grabbing a quick bite to eat.” We settled into a routine of ordering a small feast of eggs, toast, fried rice, mango juice and spam (yes, spam. It wasn’t ideal but it wasn’t terrible either.). Then we’d crank up a worn cassette tape of Norah Jones’ “Come Away With Me” (there was no CD player) and wait for our food as the breeze blew in. I realize that this all sounds very cheesy but I swear, I am not exaggerating. This was our vacation.
After breakfast, we headed to the beach to set ourselves up for the rest of the morning and afternoon. The plan was to read, nap and quite probably burn in the sun for the remainder of the day. That’s not exactly how things panned out, in a good way.
We soon noticed several groups of teenagers playing in the water and on the cliffs nearby. It wasn’t long before they began inching toward us in small clusters. Eventually one of the girls broke the silence and introduced herself and so began several new friendships.
The group consisted of girls and guys, but the girls did most of the talking while the guys stayed in the water. They did, however, give Kassie some tips on where to buy cool sunglasses at a cheap price.
The ones who did talk to us were full of questions about where we came from and said they wanted to practice their English with us. The girls were really bright and friendly and soon we were talking about American novels and movies that we all enjoyed.
One girl announced that she wants to go to America “to catch a foreign-ger,” meaning marry an American man and live in the States. She was serious but trying to be funny, and her delivery was humorous but all three of us encouraged her to go to the States but do it on her own terms, as a student or for a job, rather than simply getting married and hoping for the best.
Maybe some such marriages are about love, but this also strikes me as a dangerous and risky ploy that could lead them into bad or abusive relationships. I know that some women don’t see another way to get to the States or to another country where there are more opportunities for them, but I still didn’t feel comfortable encouraging it.
Conversation eventually wound down and we snapped some pictures and exchanged Facebook information so we could stay in touch (we are all still Facebook friends to this day). Before saying our goodbyes, the girls gave us the affectionate nickname of até, which means sister, if I remember correctly.
The thing that has stayed with me about them is their spirit. They were so happy, lively, open and relaxed. It was refreshing, and inspiring. And they were only the first of such people we would meet throughout the week.