It's Home Still

Now back to undesired routines – things I would not surely miss away from home. But for a person who never owns a car, doings like these including the hustle and bustle are joined at the hip – the agony of a commuter.

Once or twice, and now it’s countless times to mind the number of tricycle rides I had in less than a week. It’s been a month and it will take a little longer to endure the torture of the traffic congestion in this mega city.

For as long as I’m in my own domicile, riding a jeepney every single day is not a choice but a must. Again and again, this is when paranoia hits me the most – not knowing who you’re sitting next to – whether an alien with an evil intention or an angel in disguise.

Riding a bus excites me a lot, but it’s a different story in Manila. I don’t have to elaborate the toxicity of the pollutant released into the atmosphere and the stresses it brings to a traveler – it’s self-explanatory – but not the fear of danger from wicked people – it wears someone out even before one gets home.

Thanks to MRT for the option when EDSA is just too much to go through, but it’s not always an excellent mean to take – for even this seemingly comfortable ride can turn someone’s day upside down.   

Despite all these hassles that get on my nerves… this is home still. I may not be a city person who tries hard enough to beat this lifestyle, a huge place I don’t think I belong, but have to endure it for now – for sure a while.

It took five years to come back home – a two-and-a-half-hour flight – hopefully not a plight.

So grateful for the early morning flight because it only took us few minutes by taxi to leave the airport and get home straight and safe – it was a real jackpot.

With or without special reason and occasion – I’m home. With or without daily rides to take – it is home still. As many people profess, “There is no place like home sweet home.” and so my heart does.