As my teammates have previously mentioned, we played quite the waiting game when it came to traveling to our final destination for our two month stay. With the bus and boat rides added together, it came out to approximately 27 hours of travel, not counting the 6-7 hours of waiting at the bus station beforehand.But now that it’s all over, we can at last say that we are here, we are safe, nothing was lost, and we are ready to see what God has in store for the Philippines this summer!
About 13 hours into the bus ride, I wake up at 5:40 a.m. It’s light outside already so I can see out the window. I see a sign saying “Daraga”, and another sign saying “Albay.” We were driving through Daraga, Albay, Philippines.
[A little background on me: I was actually born in the Philippines 21 years ago. However, my biological family ended up not being able to financially provide for me and gave me up for adoption. I was adopted by an American family and brought to the United States, where I was raised. Funny thing is, my adoptive mother, however, is actually from the Philippines as well, and was born in the area that we are staying now. Anyways…]
We just drove through the city where I was born at a home. Looking at the houses in Daraga, Albay, they were all so tiny, dirty, some literally made out of sticks/branches or random pieces of scrap metal, all no bigger than the size of an average American living room. Seeing all this was an incredibly humbling experience as I realized that this was where I could’ve grown up. This was the life I could’ve been living.
I could’ve been living in a house where eight or more family members all live and sleep on the dusty floor of one room. I could’ve been waking up, working, and going to bed all in the same outfit day in and day out. I could’ve been slaving in the heat in the rice fields trying to make a few pesos to help provide my family or maybe I would’ve even stayed home from school to help raise some younger siblings.
Instead, I live in a comparatively gigantic house. I have a comfortable bed in my own rather spacey bedroom. When I’m off at college, I have the luxury of my own bed and own bathroom. In both places, I have air conditioning, heat, electricity, clean, running water, too many clothes and shoes in my closet, and so much more. I have the blessed opportunity to get a college education. If I ever ‘need’ food or clothes, I am able to hop in my own car and drive myself to the store to swipe my debit card. When I really contemplate all that I was truly blessed with, I realize I am filthy rich. And yet majority of the time I still get caught up in the whole “first-world-problems” mindset that a lot of us tend to live in. I take for granted so many things that other people would sacrifice so much for even just a minuscule portion.
Starting now, and continuing when I return to the states, I want to truly strive to realize how much I have. I don’t want to take things for granted, and I don’t want to complain about what I don’t think I have. I encourage you to do the same. If you’re reading this, you probably have access to a computer or some type of Internet-capable electronic device. Take the time to be thankful for that. I am filthy rich, and so are you.
