Cavite

Hello all!
So I am here. After getting into Ninoy Aquino airport on Saturday night (after 18 hours worth of travel) I was greeted at the airport by Mr. Ferrer (my coworker Lana's Dad). I had brought some stuff over for her sister and he was so kind to come meet me at the aiport. Thank God he was there because navigating the airport is a little tricky. Especially once you get finished with baggage claim and go outside to see a sea of people, most of them not holding signs with your name on it. But luckily there are letters underneath the ceiling so that you can find your family a little bit easier. And apparently there's more traffic than usual because everybody is coming home for the holidays.

So I found Grandma Erly (my grandma's sister-in-law) and I was greeted with a big hug and a kiss, but I think she was a little weary of Mr. Ferrer, I guess i should have told her about that part before I left. Whoops, but after a little explanation from Mr. Ferrer it was ok, and we all waited for Grandma Erly's driver, Rey to come pick us up. The ride to Cavite is about half an hour, and it took us through a town called Bacoor, and then we ended up in Ligtong, which is the name of the city my family is from. Everybody is preparing for Christmas, with lights up everywhere, of all different colors, and these star lights that kind of look like pinatas, but without the candy inside of them.

So I've been spending most of my time at Grandma Erly's house, but I did get to go to see Lola Bosing (grandma's sister) and we hugged and kissed when I got to her house. And I can't even express the sense of happiness I feel to see the house where my Dad was born, and my aunts and uncles too. Yesterday I went upstairs, where Lola Bosing can't go anymore because of her weak knees and it was like stepping into part of a museum (in a good way). There were all kinds of books from who knows when, and a couple of bedrooms that I'm assuming is where all the kids were born. I tried to step so carefully, because I thought the floor might fall out underneath me, but I was both nervous and elated at the same time. It's really interesting walking down the street and thinking of my Dad as a little kid walking down the same streets, and what it must have looked like back then.

Even though it's the first time I'm here, when I touched down it reminded me of some of the other places I've been. The heat makes me feel like it's Jamaica, the smells often remind me of Cuba and Ghana, but it's distinctly different, and home and not home at the same time.

My thoughts are kind of scattered, because it's the first time I've been able to express myself in English for awhile. Grandma Erly and Grandma Bosing both speak broken English, and of course my tagalog is terrible, but I'm learning little by little, especially with Luz's (Grandma Erly's maid) help. I guess I should have studied all those tagalog books a little bit better before I left, oh well, from scratch is better anwyay, right?? I'll come back fluent. (Ha!).

Well, my time's running out, and I have so much to tell, but I'll have to save it for the next blog. Tessa and Alisa will be joining me tomorrow, and then Paolo will join us on Saturday. So the adventure will continue... Until then, bye!