One Year Down, One More To Go! :)

Ambivalence. That is what I have felt when I have learned that at last, after my hardships of going from one agency to another during my free time from work, has been accepted to be a staff in a government hospital in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Happy because at last, my hardships has finally bore fruit; sad because I will be leaving my family and friends; hopeful, because it means I am a step away to pursuing my dreams; afraid, because I will living in a country whose culture is entirely different from the Philippines, not to mention that it's the first time that I will be out of the country and I don't have any friends and family to lean to.

And to top it all, sorrow, because, I have learned that my great grandpa died.

I did my best so that I can go home from Manila to see him for the last minute and to attend his internment. I was granted a three-day leave, two days of which was spent on the road, travelling from Manila to Bicol and vice versa just to be able to attend his wake.  Even if it was just like that, I felt that he will not hold grudge against me anymore, and I felt peaceful with that.

Since I already signed the offer letter,  I had my medical examination before going home and just waited for the result so that I can give my resignation letter to the owner/President of the hospital where I have worked. When the result was in, my agent called me that I am fit to work. I now then asked my head nurse if I can submit my resignation, have a specific date for it to become effective, but if until that day my flight is not yet sure, I can extend my days to work. (I don't want to stop working if I'm still unsure of the day I will be leaving. I am sending my siblings to school and I need funds.) She said yes, it happened before that the resignation letter's effectivity was extended. So, the next day, I typed my resignation letter at the hospital's computer (yes, I'm so thrifty to rent a computer outside and pay twenty bucks, hehe). The President of the hospital comes only every Sunday so I was not able to submit yet my letter after typing it. The following day, my agent called me "Ma'am, you already have a visa and we will schedule your flight on January 28." Take note, that day was January 18. Hwwhaattt?!? I asked the agent if she can move my flight so that I can prepare more, go home, tell my parents and to be able to put up the required placement fee and processing fee.  Hello! That was a mere 10 days! How will I be able to prepare for it all? And worst, I haven't prepared myself mentally and emotionally for it. Well, I was very busy working at hospital being an on-call OR nurse and midwife and I haven't had the time to introspect regarding my upcoming departure.

I immediately informed my head nurse that I will submit my resignation effective after a week but at the back of my head, I was wondering if I can even prepare with a short notice. I explained to her what happened and she understood me. She said she will be the one to tell the Administrator and President.

The next thing I knew, I was talking through the phone to the hospital's President/owner, accusing me that I have not followed the hospital's policy of submitting resignation letter 30 days prior to its effectivity. I explained that it happened so suddenly and everything isn't beyond my control. But she didn't listened to me. She said she will blocklist me. I cried while talking to her when she said that. Of course, I am just starting my career, and being blocklisted is like being pulled down and crushed into pieces while you are trying to stand up. I pleaded her not to do it, but she didn't listened to me.

When I told my father about it, he went to his friend whose daughter is working at Department of Labor. I was advised to go there and ask her what I can do regarding her threat to me. And there, I was told that the hospital's president is not that "big time" that she will have the power to blocklist me. Maybe I will be blocklisted from their hospital, but not from other hospitals. Besides, the salary I will be receiving abroad is four times greater than my current salary. With that, I was settled and prepared myself to leave. Blocklist me? Fine!

And because I have taken that risk, today is my 365th day in the kingdom, and so far, I have been well. And  in less than a year, I will be seeing Philippines again. I will be able to hug and kiss my loved ones again.

Feeling excited.

Year One

The e-love letter from my boyfriend.

 Speechless!

Mocha cake, courtesy of ate Wilma

All smiles.. :D

What more can I say? This says it all. And yes, I'm so in love! Haha!

See you soon mahal.. and I love you too..

Hugs and kisses!

Harraj

Buying from ukay-ukay (original second-hand clothings and home furnishings, accessories, etc.) has been a Filipino illness. My mom is a big ukay addict, buying clothes and shorts for us whenever she got extra money. No, sometimes she really allots money for ukay. For her, it is a lot better than buying local RTWs, whose quality is questionable. And buying signature clothes is very expensive either. I might have been influenced by mom because when I started to work, I became an ukay addict also.

At first, I thought that ukay is only in the Philippines, but my new friends in the Kingdom introduced me to harraj, Arabic term for ukay-ukay. I first learned about it when I was merely a month old in the Kingdom. That was the first time I went out of the city I'm living and travelled thirty minutes to go to Dammam, where the famous harraj place is. You can find everything there, from underwears (yes, underwears! eeewww!) to blouses and pants, gowns including wedding gowns, abayas, bags, bedsheets and comforters, curtains, footwears, sala sets, dining sets, electrical equipments such as television, vaccum cleaners, DVD players, cassettes, chandeliers, sewing machines, and anything you can imagine for a very low price.

With a lot to choose from, not to mention the length of travel spent plus my addiction to ukay, I was enthusiastic  pulling clothes from under the stacks of clothes. It takes a lot of patience and determination in order to select a still good and new one, which fits you, and that will pay off whenever you were able to find one. Aside from that, you will also find yourself being amused by the things you will see.

I once found a white duty shoe, which seems to be used only once by the previous owner because it really looks new, and to my disappointment,  it took me almost half an hour before giving up finding its pair.

Yesterday was the second time I went to harraj, now with the four of the Female Medical Ward staff. They invited me even I am not from their ward, and I feel honored of course. I was from night shift, and I haven't had a minute of nap. I felt the rush the moment I stepped out of the car we've used. We transferred from stacks of clothes to another. My older companions went straight to the curtain sections while me and ate Fam, who is only two to three years older than me were immersed on the clothes and bags.

Ate Fam with her chosen bags.

Yes, we've seated on the floor to be able to select properly.. :)

Looking at the backgrounds, we look like "basurera". If we will think about it, we really are, the only difference is we pay for the "basura" we've found.

Ate Mai and Ate Diony

Ate Mai.. Bags!!! 

Ate Andrea, bargaining for the lowest price.

Ate Diony and the stack of bags

When we thought we've already found enough and started to feel hungry, plus the sun is intensely hot, we decided to go home and eat lunch at one of Khobar's known Filipino restaurant.

After the "shopping". My eyes is dropping from absence of sleep for almost 24 hours.

Tadaaah! My finds.. :)

I found few dresses. Although I don't wear one, I'm wondering if I would be able to use it in the future.

Feeling full and contented, I slept the whole night.