Life in an Instant

This wasn't a trip I ever wanted to take, at least under these circumstances. It was hard to find reasons to smile amidst the sad moments, so the ones I got I took photos of. Most of these involving the odd meals and odd places I had said meals. I had to get used to Filipino traditions on the fly. As well as sign language when English wasn't getting me by.

Our arrival in the Philippines was bittersweet. While my mom was excited about being back in her birth country and I to be in my first non-North American country, it was short lived when we remembered why we were there in the first place. The ride home was even worse as we were struck with the heavy, irrational feeling of guilt for leaving grandma behind. Thankfully, Manila's airport had free WiFi and that meant I had access to Instagram. Oh, Instagram, what a wonderful mindless distraction you can be.

When I got back, Jeff and the boys had all gotten into or back into Magic: The Gathering. And gather we did. The first full night I was back, the boys gathered around the coffee table for some Magic actions, and the girls dump a magic satchel of goodies to share with everyone while working on a puzzle. The next night or so, I forced Jeff and the guys to take me to Target and Walmart in the middle of the night to get my own deck. Now I'm sucked it. *shakes head* #nerdgirlproblems?

1. A magical gathering of friends
2. My mom and I waiting for the plane in Manila to be ready to board.
3. My mom and I losing our minds waiting an hour to get in the boarding area to wait another hour to actually board.
4. My typical breakfast at BSA Tower Manila. The only choices we were given were orange juice or coffee, or rice or toast. My stomach was not ok with this.
5. You see that little ball of a KFC wrapper? That was rice! It was so weird and cool.
6. The courtyard at the funeral chapel.
7. My cousin, Christine, took me to Greenbelt mall the first day we arrived. Little CPK action. It's sad that their CPK was better than the one we used to have here in town.
8. JOLLIBEE!
9. Me trying foreign McDonald's cheeseburgers after the wake the second night.
10. Rollin' in Pesos.
11. Arriving (safely) in the Manila airport and looking for luggage.
12. The Coach store in SFO was closed by the time we arrived. No Coach for me that day 🙁
13. Standing in line to check in bagage. I was the whitest person on the plane.
14. I hated this ride to the airport. I refused to get in a car with this kid ever again.