Going to Sydney (2006)…

It was almost surreal… I had everything planned out. Tuesday was the teleconference with my supervisors. I’d plan the week out depending on what happens at that meeting. But roughly, the week looked like my last week harvesting in the farm, then starting the analysis of the samples… in other words, routine stuff.

That was until that fateful teleconference. While discussing further tests, the topic of going to Sydney, New South Wales was tackled. I was ready to hear that I was going there sometime late this year. But I was wrong… the final decision was that I was supposed to be there the following week! In the university, it’s a requirement of enrolment that I got a student visa. In essence, I could fly off and be there anytime I was required. I felt the earth close in on me because I was in shock. This turned into panic because there was so much needed to be done before I left: samples for analysis, the OJT turnover to a new supervisor, last minute experiments, sample preparations, getting airline tickets… the list went on and on in my head like flashing headlines. And I had only barely a week to prepare!

But as luck would have it, I couldn’t get onto a flight to Sydney until the first week of May. At first, I was elated because there was enough time to prepare stuff, and I could still go to Ilocos with my cousins. I finished all lab work just in time. But as the day drew nearer for my flight, I was getting sadder and sadder because I knew I was going to give up the Ilocos trip… the road trip from Vigan took 12 hours, and there’s a big chance that I’d arrive at home roughly 12 hours before my flight. There’s not enough time to take a rest or even prepare anything else. So, I gave the trip up the day before my cousins and sister left. But I was relieved because by deciding to stay behind, I gained a few days to prepare things and go to the different churches in Manila during the Holy Week.

Finally, the day came for me to depart from Manila. I still went to the lab in the morning to do some last minute packing and to say good bye to officemates. Then I was off the the airport.

At the airport, I hung around the Sampaguita Lounge (which is a bit off from the Transit Lounge) where there was an internet Wi-Fi access and a buffet of food (for a fee). I did some more work; time flew so fast, that I barely started working and it’s time to go to the boarding gate.

I felt really sad about leaving the Philippines, even if it’s just for a few weeks. Primarily because I was going to miss all the family activities planned out for May, and secondarily because the airplane ride was no longer a novelty. I was so excited the first two times I took international flights. But this time, it was no longer new to me. I missed the exciting feeling of riding in a plane. Plus, I was going to miss the house, the car, the cats… aside from my sister and all my relatives.

But once in the plane, all feelings of sadness went away to be replaced by the adrenaline rush of seeing a new place and examining the nooks and crannies of a new city. It was a prospect too hard to not be excited about, so I forgot all about my sadness.

The flight was almost eight hours long. And I just slept for two hours during the whole trip.