The kind of person I want to be

I went back to the "Strong in the Wind" poem that i posted before I went on a trip.  It's been more than a month since and I've been back three weeks.  Still, aside from the photos I uploaded, I can not write anything about the trip.  I promised to write about travel tips on back packing through the three countries but felt overwhelmed with information that I want to share.  Besides, the fact that Lea and I did not include Laos in the trip kinda makes me feel a little uneasy, not sure why though.  Then got so busy at work - pretending that nothing happened since the trip was all hush-hush from my co-workers.  Until everybody was commenting on how dark my complexion has become after a supposedly "spiritual retreat in Davao" - wink, wink,  Been busy going through the FB entries of high school friends.  Suddenly got to reactivate my account and started checking my gmail account. 

I'll still try to write the travel tales in this site as I promised Lea.  More than the travel tips, I'd like to write about the characters we met, country impressions - those sort of stuff.  I'd like to write a blog entry that hopefully as Gem said in her FB message to me this morning - she'd instantly realized as written by "Martina."  

Come to think of it - I've been Monet too long.  All the while I even thought that the one maintaining this site is "Monet."  Then, I got Gem's message and she told me - it's still me - the Martina that she knew since first year high school.  

I went on a trip with Lea thinking that I'll discover the "kind of person that I want to be."  After leaving everything behind and coming back - I think I'm not even close to discovering.  But hey, I discovered that being friends with Lea for 23 years - there is more that I don't know about her - like she harbored secrets from me since high school and just shared them to me while we were having Highland Coffee in Ho Ci Minh.  That she's not really patient but very giving and considerate.  She looks very fit but has overly sensitive stomach and suffers from gastritis.  After, thinking that we're both perfect as friends and individuals - I learned that we can still  pretty much end up on a fist fight over a bus schedule and trip itinerary, like we almost did - she wants to go on a Mekong River Cruise while I want to just tour the city.  The best discovery is that this trip is not really about me - it is about my friendship with Lea.