Staying Home

From "Why stay?" I find myself asking "Why leave?"All things considered, it is not really that bad. For starters, the Philippines is a beautiful country. Move out of the city and into the countryside and see that we have as much, or even more than what other nations have. As for Filipinos, we do have our good and bad points just like everybody else. What's the bottom line? This is what I am and where I belong. I may be proficient in English but it is still foreign to me. If you pinch me I will never blurt out "Ouch!" Aray pa rin ang lalabas. Sure it is novel to experience winter but in my country I can wear a tee all year round. Our colorful bougainvillaeas and san fransiscos also hang around without being perennially replanted. And the food! How can I survive without rice? And buko, tapsilog, tinapa, ube-macapuno ice cream etc. Here I have a life. Those times when I was an expatriate in some foreign land, I found myself working early mornings and late nights. On weekends I did my laundry.

"Love it or leave it"
Raquel Del Rosario-Fortun, MD
First Filipino pathologist formally trained in forensic pathology