who says travelling is fun? it can be quite stressful and i'd say it requires a particular skill when you don't know what lies ahead of you: waiting at airports, meeting someone you don't know, uncertainty of getting lost. in the 11 weeks i have been travelling:
a) i think i'm beginning to perfect the art of waiting and meeting people i don't know.
- first time i arrived guadalajara was in the middle of the night. my school said there'd be someone to pick me up and he'd be flashing a sign with my name on it. after waiting for more than 30mins, i didn't see anyone with a sign. should i call the school? i don't have mexican pesos to call! could they probably have forgotten about me? what if this person came and didn't see me? suddenly, this guy comes up to me and asks if i am ms. cortez. yes, i am! thank God.
- of course, getting picked up is one thing, going to a stranger's house and staying with him for a few days is another. will the taxi driver know how to get there? is my host really at home? what if he gave a wrong address? what if he decided last minute NOT to host me? would we get along well? will the family like me as well? here's the address. i rang the doorbell twice and no one's answering. what if they're already sleeping? just then, the gate opens and i am greeted by jorge who welcomed me with a warm hug!
- on my trip to Boston, i met an Indian lady working in LA who's also travelling. we bumped into each other when she was asking for directions. i said i didn't know and was just a tourist like her. we instantly hit it off and had a grand time touring that we decided to meet again the following day to take a different trail. so i was there on the time and place that we agreed upon. 30 minutes passed and she's not there yet. i sent her SMS and called her mobile only to be greeted by a machine. this time, i thought it was just wise to leave and go about the trail by myself. even if i had to do it alone, i still enjoyed it. later, i received an email explaining why she wasn't there.
- ate cho and i agreed to meet in Hilton at 11am. but she said i should call beforehand because they might be pottering around the streets of san francisco. i didn't think it was necessary to call. i trusted her. so at 11am, i was there. 30 minutes passed. an hour. an hour and a half. maybe i should leave now. i've waited long enough. but where was i to go? i could take the bart and head home. or i could go wander around china town. i decided to get coffee and some biscuits instead. payphones aren't working. how am i gonna reach her? ah maybe i should just go back to the hotel. besides, it's warm and cozy there; they have a power outlet and their wireless signal is strong. i can just spend the day surfing. when it gets dark, i'll get a ride home through bart. i was enjoying my coffee and about to setup my laptop, when a female voice behind me screamed "Sharon!!! i told you to call me!!....." we exchanged pleasantries and i said that as long as she enjoyed her "cable car ride", then i was happy for her. i didn't mind the wait. which was true. i was already warming up to the idea of spending more hours at the hotel.
i have encountered a lot more and the bottom line is that generally, you just have to trust people. true, waiting ups your anxiety level-- what makes waiting stressful is the mind battle: will she come or not? should i wait some more or leave her? but if you learn how to go above this uncertainty, you just have this certain peace.
meeting new people is equally putting butterflies in my tummy: how would i know if that's him? what if he doesn't show up? will our personalities match or clash? what if we run out of things to talk about?
lessons learned: they normally show up. even if in the long run, our personalities do not match, people are still cordial and kind enough. silence is beautiful.
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