Leaving home is one of the major steps that anyone could do. Some leave for their education, some for work, some for marriage, some for independence and some just to distance themselves from pressure at home.

          Personally, I left home for work. At first I was excited and pre-occupied on many things that I want to do independently. Actually, leaving home for me was an achievement. That was the time when I was trying myself that I'm adventurous, that I love challenge and above all, that I'm a strong person. For sure I'm a strong person (still convincing myself). ;) Until reality sets in.

          Airport. After my uncle drop me off, every inch of my body fluttered but since I'm a strong person, I composed myself and go with the flow. Passed by the scanner and queued to check-in my 10kgs overweight luggage (I guess the crew noticed how anxious I am so he just accepted it). I guess that was it when the guard lead me to a longer queue. Thirty minutes later, I was face to face with the immigration officer. Handed her my passport and OEC (Overseas Employment Certificate), asked me Php750. She was about to return my documents when another noticed something and whispered to her. To may aghast, with strong resentment she gave back my money then told me, "Hindi ka ba nagbabasa? Do'n ang pila ng mga OFW"! (Weren't you reading? Line for OFW is on that side)! Oooppps, sorry was I able to say. While on the right line I saw a post saying something like: passengers should not malign nor insult immigration officers 'cause it's punishable by the law. How about vice versa? I've witnessed a lot worser scenario.

          Moving on. Airplane. Surrounded by strangers almost choked me. All I have to do then was to sleep, eat and sleep again for 9 long hours. Oh, I failed to mention our 1 hour stop over in Hongkong (one of the strictest airport I've been with). Technically, nothing happened.

          King Khalid International Airport, Riyadh KSA. Anxiety attacks. Believe me I'm not a super duper religious person however I managed to call every saints I've known. If you only know all the negative things I've heard regarding Saudi then you would understand (I'll tackle this on my next blogs). It wasn't bad after all.

          I managed to attend the general orientation the next day, introduced to my unit after a week, survived my 3 months probation and now, almost on my 3 years.

          To be continued...