Cheenky! Online

I can still vividly remember Fr. Dan McNamara’s reaction when I told him I have decided to accept the offer to stay in Africa…first words out of his mouth was “why would you want to do that?!” I had my reasons to tell him : that I think this is a great opportunity for me to learn more about my work, the world and myself; that I feel this is a gift which simply landed on my feet oh so effortlessly; that I feel strongly about experiencing life in Africa while I still can; and that this is something I want to cross off my list of 100 Things to do Before I Die.

Those reasons still remain valid until today but Fr. Dan’s question still rings in my mind every now and then. Especially now that I am IN Africa already – sitting in my living room oblivious of the black guy watching music video across me and working on my laptop with the feel of the scorching summer heat of Soroti, Uganda outside.

“Why would you want to do that?” 

The question becomes more significant when the bouts of homesickness and loneliness kick in. When I feel the need to retreat to the comforts of city life in Manila after seeing the way of life for people here in Africa. When love ones call up to share some difficulties and all you want is to rush back home and give them some great big hug.

It might not feel like it right now, but this is the place I will be calling home for the next 10 months. At least I hope I last that long J 

I made my tearful goodbye to my fiancée, family and friends last April in Manila because I was offered a project being supported by the Norway government. I have officially become an “Overseas Filipino Worker” with the Fredskorpset (Fk) under a project “Peace Communicators Communicating for Peace” and my host organization is Conflict Resolution by Youth (CRY) in Uganda, Africa.

I started the first few hours of year 2007 traveling by
myself to north of Luzon. After spending new
year’s eve with my family in Manila, my dad
brought me to the bus terminal at 4am on the 1st of January so I can also get to spend the first day of the new year with Marco’s family in Baguio. I have
no qualms about traveling alone – I do not exactly prefer it but I don’t mind
doing it either.

But nearly all my solitary travels have been very
challenging this year. The reason? Delayed flights.

Let me start with my Japan travel last March via
Philippine Airlines. After successfully fixing a mechanical failure, we finally
took off from Manila 3 hours from the original
time of departure. 3 hours delay spells 3 big problems for me as well, namely:

Problem #1: I need to change my dollar to Japanese yen and
banks might already be closed when we arrive at some ungodly hour in Japan;

Problem # 2: I will definitely miss my bus schedule to Rokko Island in Kobe;

Problem #3: I do not have any way to contact Marco who is
already there in Rokko Island waiting for me.

Hence, a very stressful negotiation with Japanese airport
employees in Kansai followed as soon as I arrived. I wasn’t gonna let them get
away without taking responsibility for my way to Kobe from the airport since I
missed the last bus going to Rokko Island and I don’t know any other bus routes
to take. Bottomline, I wanted them to pay for my taxi fare (and taxis in Japan cost a fortune, really!). They finally agreed saying they will just reimburse
it on my way back. I had to request Marco to pay for it first (I didn’t have
any Japanese yen with me!), which cost us about US$220. Whew! PAL did reimburse
the taxi expense and upgraded me to Business Class for the flight back to Manila. I guess emailing
customer service does pay off after all.

In April, I was off to Bangkok.
Flight was delayed again but it suited me on the account that I had to unload
some of my stuff from my luggage to minimize the cost of my excess baggage. But
man was it stressful!

This May was the biggest challenge so far. I had to stay for
10 hours of sleepless night inside the Suvarnabhumi Airport because my flight going to Ethiopia was, again, delayed. They only decided to bring us to the airport hotel so we
can be more comfortable at 8am in the morning. My flight was delayed for almost 24 hours before we finally
took off. It was such a relief that I brought one set of clothes in my carry-on
luggage!

I still had to wait for another 7 hours inside the Bole International Airport in Ethiopia for my connecting flight to Entebbe, Uganda. It took
me about 33 hours to reach Uganda from Bangkok.
33 hours! On the last 2-hour flight from Ethiopia to Uganda,
I was already throwing up. Maybe due to the lack of sleep, difference in time
zones, airport food, that distinct smell of Africa and pure exhaustion combined. Or, probably also because of the malaria
prophylaxis I was taking. Or maybe because Addis Ababa is the third highest capital in the world. Whatever it was, I felt weak and never felt sooo…alone during this last stretch of the journey.
But I have to admit it was one hell of an adventure too. Even if I had to share
it with strangers, mostly Africans who are also passengers of the stranded trip
and some Filipinos (yes, there were two Pinoys on the Bangkok-Ethiopia flight –
we really are everywhere! =).

I’m just glad to be in solid ground at this
moment, safe and sound. I will recharge and recover and will definitely look
forward to be off to my next destination again!