Inner ramblings
I remember, as I was running around the UP Manila campus, chasing irresponsible professors and power-tripping officials to have my college and university clearances signed, I noticed that the aforementioned profs/officials, after having read the reason for my honorable dismissal, have all said the same thing: “Buti ka pa.. nakaka-inggit naman, pupunta ka nang America!”
It is my first time to visit this country, and as a stranger to this land, a question has always haunted me: why do they all want to come here?
Mexicans risk their lives–dodging bullets and whatnot–as they crawl their way across the border; Asian refugees die of either starvation, asphyxiation, or extreme temperature–or a combination of all those three–as they smuggle themselves into huge container trucks filled with vegetables or meat; countless young Filipino college students my age are forced to abandon their greatest and most beloved ambitions in their pursuit of handsome salaries found in professions that waste their numerous abilities and talents [e.g. Nursing]; we’ve heard of doctors, filthy-rich managers, and even lawyers for cryin’ out loud(!!!) who have all resigned from their jobs to become nurses or care-givers…[Well maybe I shouldn't blame them if suddenly they all find the idea of cleaning up after someone for high pay an offer they just can't refuse...]
I still don’t get it…
Why do they all wanna move here?!
I mean, their president here could be dubbed as “Erap Estrada Jr.”, their economy has the highest international debt–a bubble waiting to burst(!!!), and it isn’t really perfect here either: around 20 million Americans suffer from poverty, the government isn’t that oh-so-squeaky-clean either [but ok, the RP gov't is a lot worse, but the US gov't has its own flaws], TV shows are also full of junk and reality trash, there’s still crime and problems and stuff….
…it’s not that perfect out here. Not at all.
So what’s the huge fuss???
I don’t get it.
Do you get it?
Please enlighten me.
Please do.
***NOTE: selfish “me”-concerned blog entries on my so-called new life here in Laurinburg will resume in my next entry. I’m too much in a reflective mood to write anything that trivial.***
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