Good to be Home

February 28, 2008

Photo by the author

21 Aug 2006 6:14 AM - SO GOOD TO BE HOME.

I came back a few days ago and boy do I ever hate waiting in airports, especially when you have to sleep in one. But on to the brighter things in life. My trip was great. Different, of course, since the first time I went back. I mean I was 14 then, and now I’m 21. Seven years can make a big difference. My family is ten times bigger than I remember, and of course older but not really career-oriented. At least not my sisters. They all tease me about my accent and I know I’m different, but I think I’m going to be different anywhere I go in life.

So where do I start? I wish I could explain to everyone just how different it is there and how truly appreciative I am of what I have here in Canada. First of all, we’re lucky to have hot, running water available in the form of a shower. Oh, with the wonderful bathtub option and nice little bathroom. We’re lucky to have toilet seats, with the exclusive knob specifically for an automatic flush and copious amounts of toilet paper. These few things I’ve mentioned are very hard to come by in the Philippines when you are just an average Joe, making less than $1 CAN per hour. Well the toilet thing… I think they just don’t have proper sewage/drainage… at least not where my family is - in Lapu-Lapu, Cebu.

Can you imagine not knowing how to use a washer or dryer? Or a real stove? Or a vaccuum? Or a lawn mower? Because they sure don’t. At least not the majority. But oh the houses, and the tropical forests and the beaches and the food and the ladies, and the simplicity.. It’s like a dream. Houses are nothing like here obviously. At first glance most of them look like shacks, but they are oh so quaint on the inside. If you’ve got the money you’ll have a big one, with a real bathroom and a large locked gate to surround the whole exterior with barbed wire around the top. What? People break into houses here all the time don’t they? Palm trees, mango trees, jackfruit trees, bamboo trees… everywhere. I even got to see a real mahogany forest. Beautiful deep, red trees that can almost reach the sky… and tons of rice fields. TONS. Come to think of it, I’m addicted to rice, but I think all true Asians are.

Speaking of rice… the food! FOOD galore! Filipinos sure love to eat… I can vouch for that. Every day someone makes a trip to the merkado (the market) to buy the days worth of food, so everything is fresh. They don’t really have freezers there. Breakfast in the morning can be mangoes, rice, pancit (a stir-fry like noodle dish), sticky-rice (a sweet, sticky rice almost dessert like), sab-a (bananas that specifically have to be cooked to eat), a pork dish, some fish, a veggie dish.. some toast… I could go on! And this is just breakfast! Picture lunch, dinner and snacks in between just like that. I love food.

The beaches… oh I could cry. I was made to live on a beach and never, ever leave. Palm trees lining the beaches. A fresh breeze constantly going through your hair. The heat seems to disappear. All problems seem to disapper. White sands covered in seashells, green, green, green, blue water with white frothy waves spilling over your ankles covering your little toes in sand. With a San Miguel Light in hand. Mmmm beer. (When converted to CAN dollars, beer is extremely cheap: less than a dollar.) If you can try not to swallow the salt water, you can try and swim around one of the islands like my cousins and I tried to do. Very beautiful to do, however, it resulted in us getting lost and these filipino fishermen helping us find our way back.

There is so much I love about my home country… but while I was there I couldn’t help but feel empty. My family is there, but my friends aren’t. My roots are there, but my life is here.. I don’t think I’ve wanted to share something with my friends so much as I wanted to share this experience with them. I mean I could definitely get used to it after a while and I mean I miss it so much there already, but I saw this commercial once that said “Home is where your friends are” and I don’t think that could be anymore true.

About the author:Mailyne Kilantang Briggs is a 22 year old female student, born in the Philippines and raised in Canada. Two years ago she travelled back home and when she returned she was inspired to write about it.
To learn more, please visit Maddflipped