back to work

I went on the trip alone. A colleague I usually go with had passed on work this month and was going home for a vacation.

I took an earlier trip. It was windy but the sea was flat and the sky was a clear blue. Another boat run almost parallel to the Baleno Otso before it veered a little to the left to head for Calapan. As the boat grew smaller in the distance I shifted in my seat and started reading.

"There is nothing nicer than doing nothing all day, then having a rest afterwards."

I agree. Take me away from the city any time. Take me away from the noise, the pollution, the congestion and anxiety. Give me space. Give me green trees and blue sky every day.

The boat docked at Abra in under two hours. I was lucky enough to get a ride on a passenger van that had gotten on the boat from Batangas.

I never get tired of the ride to the hospital. It is still a vision to see the clean green of rice paddies in the light of the setting sun. The coconuts frame the paddies in the distance. Only white cows and birds (egrets?) break the green sea.

Small towns always give me a warm and fuzzy feeling as I enter them. I always hope that this feeling of "home" is not replaced by a feeling of stalker creepiness. Small town people can be intrusive. They always know when somebody is new in town. In such a small place everyone knows what you've been up to.

After settling in and giving my dorm room a little clean-up I headed out to the hospital to chat up with the previous group of doctors. I had arrived just in time for a bon voyage party for two of them. After an unhealthy dinner of liempo and crispy pata we spent the rest of the night drinking and howling at each others videoke miscues.

I've never been much of a drinker. Occasions to drink don't come too often either. Recent R&R trips had me drinking more in a month than what I usually drink in a year.

At 2:30 in the morning I turned in earlier than the others. They would all be off in the morning while I was just going to start my work week. I made sure to hydrate and went straight to bed after I washed up.


I woke up early in the morning and run a 6k.



Reading:
Underwater To Get Out of the Rain: A Love Affair With The Sea (Trevor Norton)