AUTOTOMY

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.

Day is an emotive concept, not temporal. I no longer wear a watch. I no longer know what day of the week it is, or even what month. Every day is a Friday, Saturday or Sunday, depending on mood.