It’s been one of the most bizarrest weeks
of my life. I had it all planned out. I was feeling more prepared than I had in
years: say goodbye to mom and hello to Hong Kong and then proceed to find my flightless
way to 
I was doing well too. On day one I’d
already visited immigration and the maritime authorities - I had leads of all
sorts and life was good as it glistened under the sparkly city sky. I handed a
friend my camera as we watched the sun drop down into the bustle, I clambered
up a little building and leaped into the air as he clicked away and I clicked
to the ground in a ball of pain.
I’m still trying to work out why exactly I
can’t walk – it seems to be a bit of a combination of a sprained ankle and
maybe a hairline fracture and… well, whatever it is, it’s messed up my head
mostly! And there’s no medical explanation for that!
I spent day 2 limping between boat/ yatch/
maritime clubs and busses speaking to any and everyone and plastering notices
on whichever sign boards would accept. It wasn’t looking good though; monsoon
season has hit and even cargo ships have been rerouted!
…It was weird standing back where I’d
hugged mum goodbye only 3 days earlier. I didn’t belong there. I felt like my
lunch was going to escape my body. I looked nervously from person to person
around me, why were they all so calm?
An hour later I finally found the front of
the queue. I was shaking. “I’m sorry ma’am, but unless that bear is boxed, we
cannot allow it to board” I should have run away right then, but I didn’t… “May
I see your return ticket please?” “Return ticket?” You can't enter the Philipines without an exit ticket. I tried to subtly photoshop
one on my laptop but I was a wreck and after an hour of standing I was about to
fall over in a ball of pain so, almost
in tears, I followed Nini across the airport and allowed her to book and cancel
me a return flight to the cheapest destination possible and she telephoned a
colleague to check my bag in and another to get Teddy through customs and then
she acted as my crutch as we ran to departures where I caught a train across
terminals and heard “final call for Miss Adeena…” and then I boarded a bus and
a plane and the doors shut and just like that 8 months of flight freeness [and
my soul] were destroyed.
The flight was pretty at least.
Two and a half hours was just long enough
to calm me down again and when I touched down I was a happy smiling me again –
even if it was raining and I was still disabled (They even tried to get me into
a wheel chair).
And that’s how I became a Pilipino.
From there it was a staggering 6 jeepneys
to Cebu Guesthouse (I might have taken a flight, but taxis are still against my
religion) where, even though all the stores were shut, I was lucky enough to
meet an American with a broken leg and painkillers and I slept.
 |
| A Jeepney |
I woke up to find I had a dorm mate. She’d
arrived at 3am after breaking her leg… Bringing 75% of the guesthouse to ‘disabled’…
She, being a physio, told me that I should get a good 3 or 4 days of solid rest
in and I’d probably be alright. But if I was going to rest, I was going to do
it in a hammock…
It’s supposed to only be 3 hours to a
little paradise called Loboc. And as I was leaving I found an American heading
the same way and together we took a wrong jeepney and then the right one and
then a ferry and then a trikee and then another jeepney and we were only a few
kilometers away when the wheel blew and the driver lost control and we crashed
into the sandy curb where our jeepney was laid to rest.
 |
| A Trikee |
It was a VERY long walk that may have
involved me falling a couple of times into pools of stagnant mud and I may have
a very dirty teddy, and a very swollen ankle and it may have taken us 4 and a
half hours longer than it should have but I now have a hammock and
beautifulness all around and that makes me happy. 
 |
| The washing of the Teddy the Fourth |
Anyway, I’m afraid I’ve made many many
mistakes of late and I think life’s trying to get me to slow down a little so,
before I venture onward to Borneo [to become a vegetarian, etc], I’m going to
rest and heal and absorb beautifulness (wow, I sound like a hippy) and then a
whole new type of adventure continues. Life is brilliant, even when it hurts.
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