Matt and Kristin in the Philippines

It's a good thing we had some reflection time, because these final days back in Manila are filled with lots of last-minute shopping and careful packing and re-packing. It really feels like we're tourists again, as we don't speak the language here (I did find someone today who gave me directions in Visaya, though. That was cool.) and we're aiding the Philippine economy as best we can with our consumerism.

I don't quite know why it's impossible to get a box bigger than the one-size-fits-all 20-inch cube that's sold here. After days of searching everywhere you might think to find such a box (I even tried the American way of going to the supermarket hoping to get a used one. It was a market that kept it's overstock in big boxes above the accessible shelves on each aisle. But even though I could see and point directly to boxes that would be perfect, and even though a very nice woman tried her best to help me, the other guy "helping" me insisted there were no empty ones that size, and my famous Americano good looks, charm, and puppy dog eyes were not enough to inspire anyone to empty the box or check in the back...), I bought the standard cube and an extra piece of cardboard and spent all evening cutting and taping it into a larger, narrower box that will now fit the rather large, beautiful rain stick we were given.

Maybe I'll put the almost-empty tube of toothpaste in the box, too, since I'm not allowed to put it in my carry-on now. The newspapers tell me that tartar-control Colgate (with whitening!) gel might blow up the plane. I guess my country's wars aren't making us as safe from terrorists as we hoped.

Anyway, I find myself actually looking forward to the very long plane ride so I can get some rest! :)

We are excited, uncertain, overwhelmed, eager, frightened, happy, relieved, sad, and hopeful about returning home to Chicago. We'll be leaving for the airport at around 3:30am Wednesday morning, which is probably really Tuesday night for us. I have no idea what it is for you, or what day or time it is on the other side of the world. I expect I still won't know when we arrive there. And I expect the jet lag and time change is only the beginning of the disorientation we'll feel about returning to our homeland, where things once were so familiar. We've been foreigners here for a year. I wonder if we'll still be foreigners when we return to the U.S.