i love you........ goodbye

Due to the global economic crisis, many people have been trying to find a job outside their homeland in hopes that they could escape and find greener pastures in another country. Many leave their families behind and begin treading on unfamiliar territory.

I wanted to write about this because I recently, and I'm saying five minutes ago, met a lab technician who is on her second week in the Kingdom. Denise (not her real name) is in her late twenties and fresh out of her honeymoon when she left the Philippines. Yup, you read that right... she just got married two months ago. Her husband is currently running a business back home.

She tells me of how different and restricted this country is. Being exposed to lesser conservative countries as well, I could empathize with her. But, instead of feeding her dismay towards this country, I told her to think positive about her situation. I mean, she's working for a company hospital and living in an American-like community. Majority of her clients are bilingual and open-minded. And all commodities are cheap. =)

I understand that she's still under a lot of culture shock and I told her that if she's lonely and got time, she could always pass by my office for some short conversations. It's hard to be away from the ones you love especially being in Dhahran where everything seems better if you had someone to share the experience with.

My hopes go out to her husband, inshallah he remains faithful to his marital vows. I have heard of many stories about husbands going crazy once their wife leaves to work overseas. Not only Filipino men, but men in general. At the same time, Denise should also be careful because some men in this country are so darn charming that she could just get swept away unintentionally. Again, many sagas of love are told, good and bad... so Denise, listen up!

It's so heroic what these people do for the ones they love. Look beyond the sins they've committed and there you see a huge heart willing to sacrifice everything for the ones they love. Although my family didn't exactly go through that process, since baba is from here, mom had her dose and she says that it's never easy to leave mother land and trust destiny. So I kinda understand the dynamics of this family process.

I'm talking about overseas workers globally. So to everyone who left and did the same thing mom did years and years ago... I'm so proud of you.