celebraTINg exisTENce: April 2016

24 hours tour of Las Vegas for only $5 with RTC.

From where I currently live, the bus to Las Vegas departs every hour. For two times in the past six days that I was here, I was a minute late for the bus. Hahahahaha.

Ang sakit sakit.

Ginawa ko naman lahat, di pa rin pala sapat sa standards niya.
Tuwang tuwa pa naman ako pagkakita ko sa kanya, di naman pala ko papansinin.
Hinabol ko naman, iniwan pa rin ako.

Wala bang second chances ha, bus? Wala bang konting paghihintay kasi di naman ako perfect ha, bus? Wala bang... hahahaha.

I'm am here alone in a bus stop at an 8 degrees Celsius weather because most people will arrive just 5-10 minutes before the scheduled arrival yet I am stuck here for an hour because I don't want to take risk and return to my apartment. Hahahahahaha. I have immediately adjusted my body clock the night I arrived here in Nevada and yet I haven't totally removed the Filipino time in my system.

Anyhow, if it isn't running late for the bus, it's usually being lost. :)) We were in Las Vegas the other day trying to navigate and find our way to the Filipino Grocery we know at Maryland Parkway but we ended up being lost for two hours.

It's nice to get lost at Vegas if you have the time though since there are a lot of places to see like this one in Wynn and the Fashion Show Mall.

So there's this app called, "The Transit App."

It was obvious that we were lost and a Filipino owner of a beauty parlor approached us and asked where we were heading. (Mga friends, baka totoo na pag tayo e nag-topak at pinag-desisyunang sakupin ang mundo, may chance tayo. I see a lot of Filipinos everywhere I go. It's a great thing especially during times like this when I'm on my own) He told us that we can use his wifi and then download the Transit app so we know which buses to ride. We did and it was a great help! It is the waze of bus commuters. Haha. So when in Las Vegas (or maybe anywhere here in the US), you may download the app so you'd know the codes of the bus you should be taking. Afterall, the bus fare is $5.00 for 24 hours no matter how many times you're riding. Hop on, hop off tour of any place in Nevada with an RTC bus.

And here's my view as I publish this post...

God bless.

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Airport (LAX and LAS) posts will be lengthy so I'd leave that on a day when I have more time and more stable internet connection.

It's my fourth day in the United States today. I'm getting by, trying to get used to the shift in body clock (although this wasn't much of a problem), trying to get used to arriving at an empty apartment without food prepared (food talaga haha. I have three apartment-mates, two are Filipinas whom I have known even before leaving the country but we hadn't bonded that much yet since most of my time now go to processing of my documents e.g social security number which I am waiting for at this moment, will be doing the laundry in the weekends etc.

The bonding time I spent with my friends before leaving and the numerous blog events that I have attended prior to going here, I think, has helped with my adjusting. Well, it isn't easy but it also isn't that hard (yet at this point). The bonding reminded me of how to open myself to potential friends and the blog events taught me how to approach and talk to potential friends. Gets. Whatevs. Kaya ko 'to. Ito na 'yun oh, I will be experiencing living alone for less than 100 days kaya umayos ako. Wag akong ano. Everything will still be the same when I return in the Philippines. HAHAHA.

Anyway, yesterday we went to Seafood City Grocery area and a mall. Seafood City was much like of home since there are a lot of Filipinos there. Nakakamiss din mag-order na ang sasabihin mo eh, "Ate isang Chef's Special. Chinese-stye fried chicken." Saka ang sosyal ng kalamansi rito, lemon juice ang nilalagay sa siomai. Seafood City is the place to go to when you're feeling homesick here in Nevada. Chowking, Jollibee, Red Ribbon and silog meals included.

And then, I was parched and starving while walking in a mall and all of a sudden someone was like, "Anong gusto?" Shocked I said, "Kuyaaaaaaaaaaaa!" He is a Filipino from Cebu city working for a pretzel store and he was offering free tastes. So, we got to eat some and drink some as well. I'm actually surving up to this point with a great help from the Filipino community. They gave us tips and directions and food. Other nationalities have also been very kind, I've met Americans, Spanish and Mexicans who have helped us everytime we lost our way.

Hoping for a more courageous me. I can do this. Diba diba.:))

Will be posting more touristy posts and guides soon. Have just been so busy processing papers and getting lost since I got here that I don't have a lot of pictures yet... Huhu. Also, I'd love to have a laptop by now. So hard to post using my phone.

God bless us.:)

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Numinous (Latin) - 1. an experience that makes you fearful, fascinated, awed yet attracted 2. the powerful, personal feeling of being overwhelmed and inspired.

As I am constructing this, I twelve hours away from my first intercontinental flight. I am excited but I also feel scared of leaving the Philippines alone. You see, the farthest that I've been away from home was when we went to Singapore and Malaysia and that was only for five days and the only time that I was able to travel alone was a day in Puerto Princesa, Palawan. Even if I've always wanted to "explore the world," the thought that I am finally having the chance to live alone in a foreign country still intimidates me.

If there's one thing that I should excel at this point is my ability to continue replacing the fear of the unknown wih the excitement for the greater things that are yet to come. Paka-positive lang!!!

---

When this gets posted, I am in the US already. SUPPOSEDLY, I have met new people have embraced these new people, together with the new challenges and new life chapter that I have started to embark. It's not like I'll be staying for long though, in fact, I'll only be staying for less than 100 days. HAHAHA. So, ang arte ko lang ba? Basta, I should learn how to be comfortable in the uncomfortable!!! The next two months will all be about changing for the better and appreciating myself more.

For this journey, I am claiming that:

1. I have the opportunity to see a lot of places and experience a lot of things. I am staying in the west part but I hope that I can get as far as New York.

2. I can budget my money wisely. WISELY. WISELY. WISELY.

3. I can do everything... everything through Christ Who strengthens me. If homesickness or loneliness kicks in, I only have to remember that I'm still in the first phase of "the" plan so I should be courageous. HAHA.

Woooo thankful for the opportunity talaga, this is only the first of the many times that I'll experience living abroad. The beginning definitely didn't go as planned pero I'm claiming that the next days will all be in my favor. I know my experiences will be awesome. I know the sacrifices will all be worth it! Pero while I'm away, I'll continue praying for the safety of those I left in the Philippines. Hihi. Don't miss me too much, Pinas! Uuwi naman ako!

I've bought an e-copy of Donald Miller's book, Through Painted Deserts; Light, God, and the Beauty on the Open Road. Hehe. Sabi ko kasi before, should I find myself in a long haul flight, I'll read it while in the plane. HEHEHEHE! AKALAIN NATIN 'YON!!! TAPOS NAAAAAAAAAA. SANA NABASA KO UNG BUONG BOOK. HAHA

And so my prayer is that your story will have involved some leaving and some coming home, some summer and some winter, some roses blooming out like children in a play. My hope is your story will be about changing, about getting something beautiful born inside of you about learning to love a woman or a man, about learning to love a child, about moving yourself around water, around mountains, around friends, about learning to love others more than we love ourselves, about learning oneness as a way of understanding God. We get one story, you and I, and one story alone. God has established the elements, the setting and the climax and the resolution. It would be a crime not to venture out, wouldn't it?

It might be time for you to go. It might be time to change, to shine out.

I want to repeat one word for you:
Leave.

Roll the word around on your tongue for a bit. It is a beautiful word, isn't it? So strong and forceful, the way you have always wanted to be. And you will not be alone. You have never been alone. Don't worry. Everything will still be here when you get back. It is you who will have changed.

This is not the trip I was referring to when I posted my December So Brave in 2014 but I was given a more exciting trip kaya keri! At dun sa place na isa, I'll go there din naman before the year ends. Hehe.

PS If you're from the US or have been in the US, do you have any tips and suggestions for me? Responses will be very very very very much appreciated.

I'll update this blog as of often as I can to document my whole trip. I'll hope that you'll continue to be here with me as well.

Tintin So Brave!!!!!!!
Tintin So Blessed!!!!!!! HAHA. EDI WOW.

May God bless us more in our journeys. :)
One of my life's experience where it is more or Him and less of me, surprise me po!:)

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Question #1: How to stay calm when our life's a mess?

Offer all your problems to God. :))) Sobrang weird when you feel like all the quotes in this world are made for you and your situation noh. Haha. At least there's something to hold on to. Tipong, kagaya nung natutunan ko sa letter na pinapadala ng Kerygma sa e-mail, "Lord, problema mo na 'to! Ginawa ko na makakaya ko. Bahala ka na" Hahahaha grabe naman kase, life, bakit ka ganyan sa'kin?! Char. May frustrations kasi hindi naman ito 'yung gusto ko at inasahan ko pero in the end wala naman ako nagawa eh but to wait. This is REAL life. This is ApREAL. HAHAHA!!!! Wag na kasi ako umasa eh I know, I know, masasaktan lang ako pero wala eh, umasa pa rin. HAHAHAHAHA.

Question #2: How have I been?

Uhm...

You know those days when you've given something more attention then in the process, you've neglected something that supposedly has the same value? I kind of regret not giving things the importance they deserve just because I had my mind fixated on something but oh wells, no regrets... ata. Haha!

Every moment of our lives is a learning experience and I've been aware of this for the longest time that unless we learn that one particular lesson the universe has been wanting us to learn, then the problem will continue to show up in our lives - in a different context, but definitely same essence.

February to March experiences have made me relearn 1. the importance of living in the moment; 2. the importance of prioritizing.; 3. the importance of sacrificing for the right things. Last but not the least, 4. "Knowing" how something would end shouldn't stop me from trying because there are these things called "miracles." Wala talagang hopeless situation pero hopeless na tao marami. Putcho putcho hands up. HAHAHA. hello there my fellow, nega. Pero out na ko dyan!! Positive thinker ulit. Haha

'Yun nga, we have no choice but to make our journey worthwhile, e diba? We have to be tough and continue moving forward. Kanya-kanyang kwento ng buhay lang 'yan. Wala naman tayong ka-kumpitensiya dito e pero it's our responsibility to make the most of what we have.

Hopeful lang na, I get to make up for all those I've intentionally lost.
Hopeful na lang na, I will make the right and worthy decisions from this day on.

Hopeful na lang na, even these bad parts will make my life's puzzle a very beautiful one in the end. hehehe. EDI WOW.

Question #3: Nagugutom ka ba? Ako oo eh. :(

Charot!

GOD BLESS!!!

We can do this. <3

All things are possible through Christ who strengthens us, diba? :)

And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the world is unfolding as it should. -Desiderata

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