Yesterday – Part I - who knew that ANGEL!

I believe there are things you do, in your life, without knowing why.

I want to tell you something about me, starting from the beginning. I was born the last winter day, in 1960. It is strange that if you multiply the day (20) by the month (3), you have the year (60).

Anyway, was the year 2000, May. My last experience was ended few months before. I cannot say I was “hunting” but I was just looking around me.

That time, internet was an unknown world. I was able just to surf, send and receive e-mail. Since in Italy, to have an e-mail account you had to pay, I opened an account in “hotmail.com”. I really don’t remember why, may be just to try, I installed at home and also in office, MSN Messenger. I had no reason to do it, since I didn’t have any friend to who write or contact. Coming to my incipit, I don’t know why, but I did.

One day, in May, I was working (sometime it happens also to me!) and, that morning, I was in internet connection and my MSN was “open”. Suddenly a warning appeared on my screen. It was telling me that “Bing wants to chat with you”.

Obviously I didn’t know who Bing was. Male? Female? From Italy? From where?

Curiosity was too much and I accepted to chat with it.

Few sentences and the first thing I realized was “this person writes in English much better than me”.

Some words were strange and I wasn’t able to understand everything. In brief, we spent some hour chatting. I understood was a girl but I was sure the day after she never would contact me again.

The following day I was surprised when another time the same warning was telling me she wanted to chat with me!

I don’t remember the topics, but you can imagine about what you can talk to a person you don’t know and that doesn’t know anything about you. Obviously some questions were about “what are you doing”, “how old are you”, “where do you live”, “which school did you attended”, also the weather was a topic.

It was strange but, neither me nor her, never stopped to contact the other. One week passed in this way and, unfortunately, she had to go to Manila for a seminar. She gave me a date for one week later. I was sure I lost her!

After one week, she was there, again! I was happy.

We continued to chat, day by day. Owing to the different time zone, we realized we had only a little “window” where to meet. In the Philippines she is 7 hours ahead of me, so, when in the early afternoon in Italy was 1 pm, for her was time to go home. Since she was teaching in a University, often in her afternoon she had a lesson and so our time was, sometime, very little.

That time I was volunteer in “Croce Bianca” and some week end and also some night I was there, spending my time. Often, when I was there, I was in connection with Bing. I was waiting for midnight or around 1 am and then we met together.

Weeks and months passed. I also tried to phone to her; the first time, I remember, she was laughing all the time, probably for my very poor English.

Anyway, now we have different ways to contact each other. I bought different telephone cards, testing which are the best, considering the quality of the line, the cost and the time the card allow you to speak. I think I was an expert in this matter!

We arrived in September and the wish to meet us was big. We sent our pictures but we wanted to see “face to face”.

School in the Philippines have a different schedule from here. They don’t stop in July and August, so we weren’t able to set a meeting during my summer holydays. At Christmas time, she would have only one week vacation, and me, in the office, only 10 days.

Anyway, even if the time to spend together was short, we were too much excited at the idea to meet.

We fixed the date. My flight was on December 24. That day, at Malpensa airport, snowed heavily and my flight was one of the last able to leave the airport. Few minutes after they stopped flights!

My trip begun: first stop in Amsterdam. You can imagine that, since the temperature was cold, I was wearing heavy cloths.

In Amsterdam I met other Philippines people and I was surprised they were wearing T-shirts, light jackets. They looked to me “crazy”.

I left Amsterdam near midnight. I remember I wasn’t able to sleep, almost at all. During the flight I ate three or four times. After about 12 hours, we arrived to Malaysia. We stopped there for some hours. I took the chance to phone to Bing. She wasn’t able to believe to me (but she told me this only when I arrived). She though I was pulling her legs.

Four hours later, I arrived to Manila “Ninoy Aquino” airport.

Luckily no problem with Custom Duty and my baggage was quickly rescued. Now we HAVE to meet!

I didn’t know that, when you go out from the airport, you are in a different level from that one where people are allowed to wait for parents, friends, etc.

When I was out, the first thing I did was to call her over the phone. Obviously we were looking for each other but, since we were in two different levels, we weren’t able to meet immediately.

Only when she told me to “go down”, I understood.

I arrived “down” and I was looking for Bing. She recognized me! She went and stopped in front of me. It was the first time we met “face by face”.

I don’t know which her thoughts were. My first impression was she is nice and she is “small” (I’m not a giant too, but she is about 20 cm smaller than me!). With her there were her brother and a girl, her friend.

They brought me at the hotel. The trip from the airport to the hotel lasted about one hour. The first impression was the traffic, heavy, overall considering it was late (if I remember right, was near 9 pm local time); the temperature was warm (and I understood why in Amsterdam other Philippines people were wearing light cloths!). Bing and I were seated in the rear place, and her brother was at her right. I tried to bring her hand with mine but she didn’t want. I believed she was not so happy to meet me! Our conversation was really poor: only few sentences because I wasn’t able to understand everything they were asking to me. They were speaking English too much better than me!

When we arrived at the hotel, we went all together in my room.

The agreement between me and Bing was to sleep together but, after my first “supper” in the Philippines, I was too tired also considering the “jet lag” that I asked to go to sleep. I supposed Bing stayed there but she moved away, telling me “see you tomorrow”. I don’t remember many things about that night. The day after, anyway, was better. Since I didn’t sleep on the airplane, I was able not to suffer too much for the jet lag. When I woke up my first thought was: “what about she will not come? What I do in a city I don’t know, alone, for one week?” Except for the contact in internet, I had only her name but no address where to look for her!

But she came! And then another story was beginning!