Tagged!

I was tagged by someone who prepares delectable meals, Ting-Aling. So here it goes...

20 YEARS AGO I was a gawky girl wearing braces, starting to get conscious of my skinny body. It didn't help either that I was taller than most boys my age. Well, not that I had a lot of chance to meet boys. Read: very strict Mama.

15 YEARS AGO Finally, I was able to mingle with boys after years of studying in an all Catholic girls school. Entering college life was a different world. Pure fun. Lunch along Katipunan Avenue…UAAP games…gimiks. For the first time, my mother locked me out because I failed consecutively to come home within my curfew.

10 YEARS AGO A turning point. I ventured on my own. I left the comforts of my home when most people my age would still live with their parents. I lived alone, in fact 10,000 miles away from home.

I experienced homesickness for the first time and spent my first Christmas away from my family. I was overjoyed to finally see snow, too much snow than I could ever imagined.

It was a year of self discovery. There were more important things that I learned beyond my classes. I learned how to budget and fend for myself. I learned how to operate a washing machine, dishwasher, the vacuum cleaner, and yes cleaned my own bathroom. I gained new friends and learned a lot from people with different cultures, beliefs and lifestyles.

I partied. Roxy, Jillian's, Aria, Border Café were the usual hang out places. We also ended up in places such as the Cantab Lounge, to hear Little Joe Cook play. I was introduced to the concept of Sunday brunch.

I fell in love, badly.

5 YEARS AGO I left the corporate world. Some thought I was nuts to give up a highly paid job. I was still crunching numbers and representing companies but more for micro-finance or development projects. I still visited project sites but sometimes found myself in the tiniest barrios that I hardly knew existed. I discovered the beauty of the Philippines. I was constantly traveling around the country. I met a lot of people from all walks of life.

I was happy with my job.

I loved the song “I will Survive”. And I did.

3 YEARS AGO I was living in London. I graduated. I got a full time job. I had my first Eurorail back packing trip experience with some friends. We missed schedules and chased trains from London, Paris to Perpignon to Barcelona, went all the way South and ended up in Madrid. I swear I will never backpack again after a ruined back.

And oh...I met "a boyish looking guy" in London, at the least expected time and place. Later that year, we spent a lovely two weeks in Tuscany, Italy. After the trip, we just sort of knew...He also flew all the way to Manila, barely a few hours before the onset of the New Year.

LAST YEAR I got married in the Philippines. My family met my husband’s family and a couple of his friends for the first time.

Mid-year, I left London with a heavy heart. On the other hand, I was happy to move to the Netherlands to join my husband, and be a real wife.

THIS YEAR We went home to visit my family. I started my intensive Dutch classes. I met new friends. Still struggling with my Dutch….still questioning things about the Dutch.

YESTERDAY I had a lovely day in Haarlem with my husband. We visited the Bavo Church and Teylers Museum, and after met up with a friend to have drinks at his new pad, just a short minute walk from the centrum. We all went for dinner at Flamboyant, an Indonesian restaurant.. By the time my husband and I reached home, the rain was pouring heavily.

TODAY I woke up late. I just love lazy Sunday afternoons, which is becoming more rare. I was too lazy to do anything. I didn’t even join my husband to swim with his mate. I managed to reply to long overdue emails. I watched several tv programs to commemorate 911.

TOMORROW Do some school work. Send a job application.

NEXT YEAR One thing is for sure, we will be home to visit my family. For the rest, I hope to have been offered a job, get my driver's license, and be more fluent in Dutch.

FIVE YEARS FROM NOW AND SO ON.... A fulfilled wife and mother, if I may say a working mother. Most likely we have moved to another place or who knows moved out of the Netherlands? Perhaps a travel to Africa. Happily married to the same man, and still lovingly holding hands while walking.

Whew, I managed to write this far. I invite you my readers who would like to take time and reflect a few years of your life, so I tag you back.