365 Days At Site, 365 Days To Go

Today marks the one year anniversary of my arrival at site. I wish that could be enough said. Its implication carries so much meaning and gravity for me but I cannot count of it my readership reading between those lines, so to speak. Maybe it's not something I can articulate and it may not be something I want to articulate in its fullest capacity. It feels like a personal victory and something I want to keep close to my heart.

But I am not blogging to explain how I don't really want to describe what this milestone means to me. Today I dropped some Aquino's (500 peso bills) and bought the teachers some ice cream to celebrate. One distinction I would like to make is that in Philippines culture, the celebrant is charged with throwing the party, a bit of a reversal of what we do in the US. So I bought ice cream for the teachers as a twofer, my anniversary today, Monday the 9th, and my birthday on Saturday. I am hoping this one-two punch will excuse any big purchases that might be expected the Friday before my bday.

We all had a nice time having a chika, or chit-chat and the teachers couldn't even believe I have been here for a year already! I must say, neither can I.

Time as a measurement (as opposed to a mechanism) expands and contracts when considering different lengths at a time. 365 days into the future seems long though 365 days into the past seems like no time at all, and here I am on the razor's edge in between and in the pocket. Today feels like a magical day: an advent and an ending, and advantage and a blending.