October 13, 2010
So I’m given my first assignment: A lecture on Emergency and Disaster Nursing in Ozamiz City. Class starts at 8 in the morning. I was still in Cagayan de Oro, which is a couple of miles away, so I’d have to take the bus to get there. The staff contacted me and told me I’d be leaving tonight at around 7, have a brief stopover at Iligan City where I’d spend the night, and then get ready early in the morning for my trip to Ozamiz.
The bus left at 8:30 P.M. My mother went with me to the terminal thirty minutes before, and there we met with one of the staff who gave me a couple of pesos for transportation, paid for my bus ticket, and gave me last minute instructions on where I’d go and who would fetch me the moment I arrived in Iligan.
Mom was so worried, I could tell. But she tried her best not to let it show. This wasn’t the first time I was going to travel on my own; I had gone to places farther away from home before (I had gone to school in the Visayas). But, she said, this trip was different. First of all, this was the first time I’d ride a bus alone (I usually traveled by sea), and secondly, this was Mindanao. We’ve lived here for a couple of years, yes, but traveling alone in faraway places in this region in the Philippines – especially when you’re young and a girl – is not the best idea for most.
I arrived in Iligan at 10 o’clock in the evening. I waited for a couple of minutes at the terminal for the Iligan staff to fetch me. The moment they arrived, they briefed me on what I would do and where I would go. We rode a taxi to the hotel – we used the money that was given to me back in Cagayan – and they helped me to my room.
It’s 11 o’clock and I’m getting pretty sleepy. I still have to wake up at 5:30 tomorrow morning for the continuation of my trip. I had already set the alarm, taken a shower, and am ready to go to bed.
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