Pit Stop

When I was younger, I used to wonder how it would feel to experience Manila as just another stop along the journey, and not as THE destination. I could hardly comprehend the reality of people actually living further up North (if, say, someone from Pampanga had just taken a trip to Batangas) or down South (a Bicolano coming home from Baguio). Because in my case, Manila has always been home.

Not that I don't like the city - I love Metro Manila and all its grimy splendor. But today I just realized that my body reacts the same way, without fail, every time I return to the city of my birth, no matter if I'm planing in from Paris or Hong Kong, or getting off the bus from Abra or Sorsogon. I just got off the ship from Cagayan de Oro, and today I'm once again experiencing the malady of Manila: I'm sick.

Must be the air or the pollution or I don't know what. Maybe I have SARS. It's a familiar annoyance, but only now do I realize that the onset of this scratchy throat, dry cough, itchy nose, and over-all cranky disposition is brought about by the mere fact of coming home. To Manila. Which I dearly love, in case you didn't hear me the first time. But man, it sure is nice to dream of a little ranch in cooler climes, a horse, a 4x4...and someone to share all these gifts from God with. Yuck, I really must be sick.

The good thing about all this is that this time Manila is actually just a pit stop...unless I die from meningo tomorrow morning, we're off to explore the North this time. May God bless our trip - and may we bring Him greater glory as He sends us out to the farthest corners of the earth.