OFW Journals (OFW Stories on the News) and Some OFW Employment, Career & Business Tips

A Rainy Dry Season

The trip to Manila was over, and I had returned to Zambales. I was relieved to finally be back. I had accomplished most of what I wanted to get done in Manila, but unfortunately I also got myself into debt in order to pay off the dual citizenship papers. Life operates in cycles. A sinusoidal curve can be drawn for almost any life situation, although sometimes the graph of the volatile stock market is more fitting. Everything goes through ups and downs, but what makes something promising is if it possesses an overall progressing trend. Even though I thought the week would be suwerte or lucky because of my birthday, I knew I was wrong since I already felt the notion that I had hit another major down-slope in Manila; I just hoped that despite the plummet I would still be on an overall positive trend.

I arrived at the house in Zambales early in the evening. There was a notice on the door stating that we had our electricity cut off after being unable to pay the recent bills. I sighed and continued on into the house. I tried lighting some candles using the gas stove, but all it could give me was a few coughing bouts of sparks. I was out of electricity and now out of gas too. Fortunately, I still had some matches, so I was able to light the candles. I went outside for a bit and sat on the doorstep, trying to regain my composure and wondering what could be next.

I heard something making noise in the talahib. It seemed to be halfway between a croak and a groan, like it was hurt. There I found one of my chickens. I noticed all my other chickens were gone. This one in the talahib, in his prime, was the alpha rooster. But now he was nothing like he used to be. He was partly paralyzed and could barely get up. His body was wounded, and his comb was tattered. The color of his feathers was now a dull gray when it used to be a vibrant white with golden highlights. I wondered what could have happened. Perhaps my chickens were stolen, an animal killed and attacked them, or the laborers nearby constructing a new home had them for dinner (the whole week).

My son’s cry from inside brought me back into the house. Apparently, he had suckled his mother dry of milk and was still hungry. As I prepared him a bottle of milk formula, I discovered that the can of formula was just about out as well.

The tension was building in the home as my partner and I quarreled extensively, even regarding the smallest of things. I cooked meals by manually making a fire, and I would continue to do so for the following days. The experience was gradually building more and more meaning to the saying “When it rains, it pours.” Although I can’t remember what exactly spurred the act, I ended up cutting and then shaving all my hair off., just like a rooster’s comb is cut off to prepare him for sabong or a cockfight. With all that had recently happened, I was finding myself in a pit that was comparable to my state in Champorado.

As I chopped open some coconuts one evening, I began to rethink and question my situation once again. The golden coconut is just so hard to come by.

I’m in a state now where I live in between modern civilization and the natural world. I’ve realized that it’s hard to live without modern civilization, as modern civilization has belongings that I need. And I’ve also realized that within the natural world lies the answers to questions that I have.

First and foremost, my first family (my parents and sister) lives in modern civilization (in the U.S.). I need, miss, and love my first family. Not only that, I owe it to my parents to spend as much time with them as I can as they are the ones who have given me life and have sacrificed their lives for the sake of mine. Also, I now have a new family (my partner and son).

I still am unsure about my purpose, however this website seems to be a major instrument in finding it. And I am pleased with how maintaining this website utilizes a large combination of my skills.

I am still attracted to the Philippines with its colorful culture, laidback lifestyle, and tropical provincial lands. Its culture and lifestyle provide an appeal that doesn’t seem to be found anywhere else, and its tropical provincial lands are not only beautiful and refreshing but they are also ideal grounds for healing and getting back to better health. It is much more expensive to try and get healthy in the U.S., and certain produce and products are lesser in quality (freshness, mineral/vitamin content, rare regional specialization, etc.) in the U.S. or are just not readily available there. However, the Philippines does have a lot of problems that can be very unpleasant in certain areas. As a young nomad, I am able to endure such problems. However, others (many others) are not as tolerant and they cannot be blamed. The Philippines has major problems. You basically have to be rich to be able to ignore and minimize “brushing shoulders” with the problems. And you also basically have to be rich to gain power. So there’s a couple of reasons to get rich. The key is to be able to get enough people rich in the Philippines that are able to attain power and still maintain a mindset to improve the nation and help the people. Unfortunately, most of the time, something happens along the way to richness that these people forget where they came from and resort to ignoring and minimizing “brushing shoulders” with the problems, thus aggravating the problematic situation.

The meaning of life is still undefined. However, in order to discover the meaning to life, I think it is appropriate to first determine how to extend life (lifespan). We fear death for a reason, so it‘s only natural to find ways to prolong life. I have this current belief that it is possible to live for a significantly longer time than we live today. In fact, I have this notion that it is possible to live forever (disregarding accidental causes of death). With the maintenance of an ideal diet and ideal habits, it is certainly possible. I even think that it’s possible for those who have had bad habits or have been ill in the past due to our wondrous ability to heal. This is one of the things that I often spend time thinking about and analyzing. In the past three years, I’ve spent countless hours reading theories, data, scientific experiments, case studies, and other research papers regarding health. And I perform trial and error on myself as well, trying different foods, exercises, habits, routines, etc.

What caused me to begin such a zealous effort in health was an ailment of mine that doctors in the U.S. managed to mistreat. In fact, most doctors anywhere tend to mistreat. Doctors are trained to cure symptoms by utilizing modern medical technology and artificial medicines. And they do it very well. They prescribe medicines and usually cure the symptoms. Unfortunately, although the initial symptoms may have disappeared, this practice can and usually will produce a new set of symptoms of a different illness, which may appear immediately or some time after. Go to the doctor again, and he/she will prescribe you another different kind of medicine or set of medicines, which cure the current symptoms but produce a whole new different set of symptoms. Basically, this cycle continues until the patient’s body slowly (or quickly) degrades. If one has been on such medication for so long or have taken so much, one will find that Pandora’s box has been opened. All sorts of health complications will arise and even the original illness you tried to cure may return and may return much stronger, as I figured out personally. I was young and I trusted that doctors knew what they were doing (most people think this as well). But was I wrong. It’s a shame that so much money is spent by uninformed people for ineffective medicines and doctors. My ailment(s) and this experience of mine with modern medicines and doctors opened my mind to the world of health and to think on my own. Thankfully, nature has bestowed upon us the chance(s) to fix our mistakes. Fortunately, we have the ability to heal. For almost every case (or perhaps all cases, I currently don‘t have the knowledge to rightfully say), I believe as long as you’re breathing there’s hope.

However, not all products of modern civilization are bad. I myself am thankful for modern technology. For example, if it was not for modern technology, my mother and I probably would not have made it alive as my mother gave birth to me by caesarian-section. The key is to utilize the good products and get rid of the bad. Modern civilization has the potential of destroying the whole world and all of life with it. But if we make the right decisions now, we can prevent that and make it work for us in a beneficial manner. In fact, some of the good products of modern civilization may prove to be major instruments in the understanding of life.

And so I live in between modern civilization and the natural world. I hope to find success in the Philippines, success that will provide me enough income to fly back and forth to the U.S. so that I can spend time with my parents and so that they can meet their grandson. I hope to make progress in shedding more light on the unknowns of life. I hope to heal the Philippines and the world or influence those that can. I hope “Coconuter” lives on. I hope I can find the golden coconut.

source http://coconuter.blogspot.com/2007/02/rainy-dry-season.html