A momentary pause

Interlude

 

I look back over the past two weeks. Where have we come from and what have we done? Who have me met? How have we changed in these last two weeks - if at all?

 

I think back to our first day in Manila - clean shaven, pale, clean - and all that downtown grit that seeped into our skin in the first few minutes. I think of our days in Palawan, of Derek, Josie, Dan, Diego, even of Mad Mike. I think of our 36 hour bender in Boracay and our Norwegian friends. I think of Big G in Cebu and all his wonderful friends; I think of Rainer.

 

I see the beaches, the banana trees, the cliffs and sparkling seas of Palawan, I see the beach  - the pollution - of Boracay. I see the chocolate hills of Bohol, Mount Mayon, and the whale sharks of Donsol.

 

I feel the sweat of the Manila streets, the cool water in El Nido, the heat of the sun in Boracay; I feel the freshness of Bohol, the grandeur of Mayon, and the power of the whale sharks.

 

We have changed; at least, I have changed. But as yet, I don't know how, in what way, to whom. The outward manifestation of changes eludes me. All is know is that, as we leave Legaspi to return to Manila, and unknown change is stirring. It is a feeling for now, a tickle of emotion, a pent-up spring, one that that will take us well beyond the congested streets we are about to inhibit.

 

And so begins the Northern Chapter.