In the Philippines, adversity is met with a smile, joking, lots of laughing. I’ll never forget the bus ride from hell, when we were passing over the mountain in Palawan. It had been raining incessantly and the road was a long stretch of mud baths. As the bus rounded hairpin curves overlooking steep hillsides, there were places where the wheels hit deep holes and the bus almost tipped over. I thought we were going off the side of the mountain as the tires slid toward the edge. The Filipinos riding would just laugh when that happened, as if we were on an amusement park ride, rather than on a bus fearing for our lives. I haven’t learned to laugh in the face of death yet, but after being here and letting the attitudes sink in, I’m smiling much more.
AUTOTOMY
The Art of Losing My Tail
"A spartan life, simple in its creature comforts, allows for the complexity of your passions."
--Paraphrased quote from the X Files,
Season 4, Episode 18: Max,
Original Air Date: 23 March 1997
yes you are smiling a lot more than i remembered, even in our short acquaintance. Don’t be mad but when working with you on BOB your sighs earned you the very harmless nickname “sighing Ron”.
I hope you are as happy as you look in the pictures, and that your smiles will travel with you. :)
Comment by carmen — January 30, 2009 @ 3:06 am