Tuesday, 20 November 2012

The Disgusting Kiss


It was during those days where I am not with my usual careful self. My flatmate and I are walking from Jarir Bookstore to Tamimi Market, a distance with a mere 50 meters or less.

I was talking to Ate Wilma while we were walking side by side, exchanging funny stories at work. I have seen the black *****  man, maybe in his late teenage years or in his early twenties, tall for his age, walking towards us while we were also walking towards the entrance of the market. I didn’t notice anything unusual about him. I mean, he’s alone and he seems to be walking only just to go somewhere else. He was already in front of us and in a blink of an eye, he grabbed my head with his big two hands and forced his lips to kiss me. My adrenaline might have worked hard so I was able to put my face away from him. Good thing I didn't tied my short hair so he was only able to kiss my hair. I put on all my strength to fight him while in the back of my eyes, I can see my flatmate punching him in the back. He ran away as fast as he grabbed my head.

We were not able to do anything. I want to run after him to get my revenge but my foot have planted itself on the road. I was trembling with fear. So is my companion. We entered the market while I was still shaking.
When we left the market, I was hoping to see him again and punch him in his ass but I didn’t see even his shadow.


I rubbed my face very hard when we got home, hoping to remove any trace of that yucky kiss. Everytime I remember the details, I tremble with fear and anger.

If with just a mere unwanted kiss and only on my face covered with my hair, I felt very dirty, how much more will be the feelings of rape victims?

What’s worse, we are in a country where even if you are the victim, with just a single lie of the perpetrator, you will be the one who will be jailed.

I fear for my life. And for the life of my fellow OFWs.

Ghost Stories

Halloween season may be over, but I am going to post this nonetheless.

Nine months ago when I first stepped into this building. Great, I said, I will be living in this place for my whole stay in the hospital I will be working. What I only thought during that time is who I will be living with and how am I going to live my life with them. To make the story short, I didn't welcome any negative thoughts regarding how the building looks and whatsoever.

When I met my room mate and had a short chat with her after she had shown me my room and introduced ourselves to each other, I was welcomed by the long-awaiting comfort of my single-bedded room and I enveloped myself under the warmth of the new comforter that was provided by the hospital. I slept the whole day, experiencing the so-called jet lag, feeling nothing but apprehension regarding my new environment and being thousands of miles away from my loved ones.

Then comes my first day at work. I met some of my ward colleagues. One of them asked me which flat I am staying. When I answered "7-C" (7th floor, room C), she nods her head while saying, "Oh, you're on that flat. Are you not feeling anything there?" Of course, my curiosity was triggered, and I asked what kind of feeling she's talking about. And she told me the story of a young woman in her early twenties who previously lives in our flat a long time ago who committed suicide by jumping from our flat to the ground floor after she was raped by a ***** man when she mistakenly pressed 12th floor instead of 7th floor on the elevator after washing her clothes at the basement in the middle of the night. (Before, according to them, our building is an accommodation of both singles, men and women, and on the upper floors are families.) It was said that she was silent when she arrived in her room but was found the next morning lying on the groud, dead, with her hands holding a rosary tightly.

I cringed with pity to the young woman and said to myself that it will never happen to me. I wondered where among the two rooms in our flat that woman stayed. When I come back to our flat, I became silent and went outside the sliding door, looked down and imagined how the young woman must have looked like when she was found lying on the road. I murmured a silent prayer for her soul and then entered my room.

That was the end of it. I forgot all about that young woman, and I didn't feel anything inside my room after that. I learned though, after a few days that she stayed at the room next to mine.

Anybody could guess where my room is? :)
Then recently, I experienced something. I woke up at past 5 o'clock in the morning but I didn't get out of bed because it is my off duty. I forced myself to go to sleep again. Then at about six, I can feel that I am being dragged to sleep again. I am half awake and half asleep. I know that I am awake because I can feel my flatmate working in our kitchen which is just adjacent to my room as she prepares for her duty at the hospital we are working. I felt that someone knelt at the foot part of my bed, just near my feet, then seconds after that, I felt three blows on my right ear (I was lying on my left). I tried to open my eyes to see who is it. I even thought that it was my flatmate, trying to wake me up. It took me a hard time to open my eyes, and when I did, I saw nothing but the emptiness of my room.

Before that happened to me, I have heard different scary stories in our building. One said that she had seen a white lady standing on her door when she woke up. Another said that she had seen a red blot of hand in her legs as if somebody hold her legs tightly and for a long time. Some said they heard weird sounds, and some hearing doorbells and when they check who is outside, they see none. It happened to me too. Not just once or twice, but many times. I am alone in our flat (as I always is) and I heard our doorbell rang. Of course, I went out of my room and peeped on the peephole on our main door, but seen nobody. I opened the door and checked outside, but nobody is there.

But I always believe that everywhere, ghost stories do happen. Even in our own house, my sister reported that she had seen big hairy feet tied with chains. From the previous hospital where I worked, my colleagues claimed to have heared unusual voices. One of them heared a baby's cry where in fact there in no child admitted in the ward and no baby from the watchers either. One time, while I was taking the vital signs of my sixteen-year old patient, she and her mother simultaneously looked towards the comfort room inside the ward. When I asked them what it is, they said they've seen somebody, but faded in the air. One patient claimed she had seen a white lady and he even thought that it was a nurse. A watcher on one of my shifts claimed she had seen one also, inside the vacant ward, which door is half-glass and wood on the lower half.

I am always thankful that I've never seen one, but I am not praying that they will show themselves to me either. In my point of view, the reason I have that experience is that because I slept without praying first. I was installing something on my computer and I didn't knew that I slept while waiting for the installation to be completed.

It is just a matter of faith to Him. Praying sincerely will help prevent those things from happening. And let's pray for their souls also, that they may find peace so that they will not be loitering around.

Please bow your heads and say a little prayer.

It's Rainin' in KSA!

This may seem exaggerated, but I really felt extremely excited when I have seen the group of dark clouds forming in the vast blue sky. For a first-timer in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia like me, it can't be helped but be happy when the rain falls. It is almost a year now that I have been living here but I haven't experienced rain here yet.

I was supposed to sleep because I came from my graveyard shift, but I waited for the rain to fall. I didn't even lied down on my bed even if my body is urging me to do so. Unfortunately, darkness has enveloped the whole city but no drops of rain fell. Until it was time for me to go out to meet my bestfriend ate May who works two cities away from me. I left home with the hope that I will be able to see the rain fall. 

And there, while we were waiting for a taxi when we're about to go home, the first drop of rain hit me in my face. I cannot help but put on a big smile. For a while, I hesitated to ride the taxi that stopped in front of us and just play in the rain just like before when I was still in our province. I was already in college then but I still played in the rain with my little sisters and brothers. It feels so good to feel the rain dropping on your face and feel the cold water dripping off your clothes. If not for the taxi waiting for us to ride and my companion's eagerness to go home so that she can still iron her uniform for tomorrow's work, I might be able to feel even just a little more raindrop on my face.

The first rain I have experienced since I arrived nine months ago.. :)
We were already inside the car when the rain poured itself uncontrollably, and I cannot help but take some photos.

I hope I can be able to bathe in the rain again, just like the good old days.

Crossed fingers.

And crossed toes.

XP

Friday, 16 November 2012

Happy Birthday, Mama!

In a lifetime, I will never find another woman, who would love me unconditionally as you have. Me and my siblings are truly blessed for having you in our lives. The one who can see beyond our smiles and tears, and the one who cares about us more than anybody else. The one whose prayers kept us safe always and the one whose strength could carry a ship...

I may be thousands of miles away from you, but my heart will always be with you. 

My Mama dearest.. :D

Have a super awesome birthday, Mama! I love you!