Bicycle

     Ever since I was born, I never learned how to ride a bicycle... without the training wheels. 2 thin wheels holding me just doesn't sound right to me. So, I never bothered to learn out of my 22 years of existence in this world.

     However, upon my arrival here in the US, everyone (and I literally mean everyone) I know have been telling me to "Go buy a bike!". 

     I'd love to, you know. Except for one little problem: I do not know how to ride a bike! 

    To them, this incapability is preposterous. Everyone here knows how to ride a two-wheeled vehicle. Except me. 

     In my defense, where I'm from, it's not safe to go biking. At least, not in my neighborhood. So why will I put my life in peril?

     But evidently, here in Sunshine State, bicycles are part of people's daily lives. I'm not surprised, though. The streets have their own bike lanes (we don't have that in my country), the view is spectacular (you wouldn't want to miss it by hiding inside your car), the weather is perfect for biking and my most hated reason: there's no public transportation!!! 

     So it's either you have a car or you walk for more than an hour just to get to places. Period. 

     That's why the other day, as I came home from work, I asked our Thai house mates to teach me how to ride a bicycle. It's against my pride and belief but what the heck... I don't want to walk to and from work for more than an hour every day! So up the bike I go. 

     After just 10 minutes, I was finally able to learn how to ride a bike on my own - sans the training wheels! I am not bragging, I am just proud of my achievement. The Thais said I was a good student because I learned quickly despite my fear of falling off and scraping my skin on the pavement. 

     My only issue now is I don't have a bike. I searched for a pretty one at Walmart's website and I found 2 that I like... Now I just need the time and someone to accompany me on buying one. 

     Wish me luck! I hope I don't fall off and get reprimanded for not wearing a helmet - I have no intentions on buying and wearing one! That's just unfashionable. 

     Hope you had something you achieved this week! :) 

     No matter how hard life is, always have faith. ♥

     A. 

Be Careful What You Wish For...

...because you just might get it all...and then some you don't want.

 

     This sounds very fitting in my situation, if you ask me. You see, for almost an entire year, I have been wishing, praying and preparing for this Work and Travel program that I so wanted to participate in.

 

     It costs a lot of money to get it and one has to go through a lot of nerve wrecking interviews from sponsors, employers, embassy and other people. The process and papers were all long and quite difficult to answer. However, due to my perseverance and determination to get here to the US, I worked my ass off.

 

     Now that I'm here, I'm starting to realize that it's not as fun as I hoped it will be. Maybe if I was actually assigned to a place or location where public transportation existed, I wouldn't be half as miserable as I am now. To add to that, I have to stand up, walk/run around the store, be yelled at by the owner and managers at work for 8-16 hours straight for 5 days a week!

 

     I am not used to this life.

 

     Now I fully appreciate the phrase "Home is where the heart is".

 

     I want to go home. But I can't.

 

     I don't want to waste the thousands of dollars that my parents, relatives and friends spent on this for me. I don't want to go home empty handed.

 

     For once, I want to do something that I won't give up on. No matter how difficult it is. And boy, is it difficult!

 

     It's for the experience, they say. I'll get used to it, they say. It'll get better, they say.

 

     Well, it's not.

 

     I hope and pray that it's June 1 already so I can get out of this place! First of all, to begin with, I hate beaches! So why the hell am I stuck in one for 3 whole months?! The sun, the people, the water, the sand - I HATE IT ALL!

 

     Ride a bike, they say. I DON'T KNOW HOW!

 

     At work, I frequently look up the ceiling just so tears won't fall down my cheeks. So many people tell me how lucky I am to be here...and I am! Not everyone gets to go to America.

 

     But what I don't appreciate is where I am. I am not the kind of girl to be here. I'd appreciate a city. Not a beach.

 

     Taxi/Cabs here are useless. You can't flag down or hail one off the street - you need to call one. And once you do, you need to wait at least 2 hours before the actual cab will pick you up and take you to the place you need to be. How many times have I walked down the sandy, drunk-filled beaches of this area? A lot! I don't enjoy it at all.

 

     I want to fly off to California already to meet up with my family! It's so hard waking up every morning knowing that you'll be wearing a miserable neon yellow green shirt to work, stand up all day and walk to and from work for an hour!

 

     I don't know why I'm here. I wish I'd know.

 

     I got my wish, alright. Wrapped up in a package that I do not understand.

 

    I want to leave Panama City Beach.

 

     A.

Hey!

     Yay! I have just received a package from my Uncle in Utah...and now, I have a laptop! I know it's not that big a deal to some of you but...when you're far from home and there's not much to see around the place you're at, you are going to want a computer where you can watch, download, type, save and do things that not even smartphones can completely satisfy.

 

     However, this is completely eating me alive. Seriously. I keep pressing the wrong things with the cursor because Windows 8 is not that friendly... in comparison with Windows 7, that is.

 

     Aside from this new laptop, something else came in today: new roommates. They're 2 girls from Thailand. Which is nice since we instantly have something to talk about since I was in their country just late last year. It's really funny because they haven't been here in our apartment for more than 5 minutes and already, they went up to our neighbors and knocked on their doors to borrow vacuum cleaners to clean our home's carpet.

 

     You might be wondering why I didn't bother doing that since I've been living here for more 1 week and 3 days already but I have an excuse! Not just because I'm lazy but also because I want to transfer to a different apartment -- one that is closer to my work location.

 

     During my first day at work, I had to walk for more than an hour just to get home! The bus or trolley in this area is so scarce! And the taxis/cabs? They take forever to arrive after you call them. You can't just flag or wave them down like in the big cities... So it's more difficult.

 

     To add to that, spring breakers are all over the area! So many drunk people. Not to mention half naked people are walking around...acting all drunk and jerky and bitchy. But... to put it in their words, they're simply having fun. Which, I obviously do not get.

 

     No photos today, though. I haven't transferred my photos from my iPhone yet. And the laptop's empty for now.

 

     Talk to you all tomorrow! ;)

 

     A.

Panama City Beach

Okay. I've been here for 3 days and I'm too scared to come out of the apartment. First of all, it's really cold outside! Yes, it's sunny...but the breeze is freezing. I don't get how people are still able to go to the beach and swim! Oh well...maybe I'm just not used to the cold weather.

Anyway, it's getting lonely up here. I'm sad most of the time...thus, I take less photos. There isn't anything for me to do. The bus stop (if there's any at all) is too far from the apartment I'm living in! Walking isn't really my thing...especially on this kind of weather. Well, I got my wish though... I'm here in America. Wish I knew someone around here though. Someone I can call a "friend" and go out to eat with and share stories with. But I don't have that.

Spring break is next week. Many have been telling me that people (especially young people) will crowd in from different places to go here and party all day and night. It's not really my thing...but I can't avoid it.

I pray and hope that it doesn't stay sad and lonely for me here. Otherwise, I'd go crazy. Time difference sucks! Wish I can talk to my friends back at home.

A.

Bye Philippines!

March 4, 2013, I hopped on a plane at 8am to America.

Well, not America straight ahead... I had to ride 5 different connecting flights to reach my destination which is Panama City Beach, Florida.

My sisters and grandfather drove me to the airport. If I hadn't been running late, I could've stayed longer to take a photo with them. But... I wasn't able to. Which makes me really sad now. I won't be seeing them for more than 3 months. And that's kind of a BIG deal for me. I haven't been away from them for that long even during the time that I was living in a dormitory up at UPLB.

Anyway, I'm now using Blogger App on my iPhone. So i don't know how this will look like on the page, but this'll have to do for the meantime. I'm gonna get my laptop tomorrow so maybe then I can fix it up.

I miss you all! I miss Philippines! Even if i've only been gone for 3 days.
A.