Looking Back

A little over two months ago, I sat in my basement and typed my first blog post with nervous fingers.  I had no idea what to expect and was having the hardest time getting over the fact that two months was substantially longer than any time I had ever lived outside of Kansas.  Scenarios, good and bad, ran through my head as I packed for a trip that was too good to be true.  All of these emotions feel so distant now that I am on the backend of my journey.  All of the excitement of international travel may have passed, but the memories of once-in-a-lifetime will stick with me for forever.

I have been back in the States for nearly a week now.  It has been a whirlwind of events as I have unpacked, talked with friends and family, and tried to squeeze all the typical summer activities that I am used to into a seven day period.  On top of all of that, I have dealt with some very serious jet lag.  It has been a busy time, but I have not hesitated to share the stories of my experiences.

I thought that it was going to be easy to recall and share every aspect of my two-month trip to the Philippines.  I have found it more difficult to condense the highlights of the trip into a series of stories to an amount of time that will hold my audience's attention.  As I search for the best stories and greatest lessons that I learned from the Philippines, I realize just how much of an impact my time there had on me.

Of course, my perspective on the world has changed.  While in the Philippines, I was exposed to customs and cultural traits that were foreign to me.  However, I also learned a greater appreciation for things that I didn't have before.  I saw a new level of poverty that I had never been exposed to back in the States.  This in combination with the constant level of friendliness that was ever present in every Filipino that I met has created a greater level of humility within me.  This is only one example of how the Philippines rubbed off on me.

I miss the tropical weather and the sweet smell of the ocean every morning.  Even though I do not miss the 45 min drive to and from work six days a week, I do miss the people that shared this ride with me.  I became so comfortable in Davao that I took for granted the fact that all of my everyday activities would end with my departure.  I miss the spicy chicken that we would have at our favorite local restaurant, Some Place Else, at least once a week.  Coconut juice isn't being sold by 20 different vendors in front of my house and beer is much more expensive than $0.50.  Each of these were so simply and so convenient to me for the past two months, that I forgot how quickly they would disappear once I returned home.

I have caught myself at meals using my spoon as the primary utensil like Filipinos do.  I distributed gifts and smiled as I explained the significance of each trinket.  If pictures are worth 1,000 words, then I have a wealth of words in my 2,500 pictures that I took to remember everything.  All of these are the more apparent things that I have brought back with me.  My stories are also my souvenirs, especially as I share them with those close to me.

I appreciate each of you for reading my blog and sharing in my adventure with me.  This blog was a great way to connect back to family and friends.  It was a open journal that kept an up-to-date account of my trip; I shared the significants points in my trip with you so that you would have a glimpse of my experience.  I also blogged for myself, so that each of these posts were a way I could revisit my time in the Philippines and recall all of the experiences at a later date.

In closing, thank you for visiting this site and joining in the fun with me.  My stories are endless and I could only put the best ones on the blog.  However, if you have the time, I am always willing to share more of my stories in person!

Cheers!