Mababalagoong ka, Sokie!

My count down begins... 18 days to go and I'm home!

"Mababalagoong ka, Sokie!"

Friends here warn me that I will be in debt, so deep-a-debt after my 30-days vacation in the Philippines.

Of course, I would not permit this to happen to me that's why I'm blogging! I am telling everyone that I am a visitor and therefore deserve to be "treated" and not the one paying the bills all the time.

So far, I already got 477 views on my homecoming blog; and last Sunday, Mhel saw me in church and said she enjoyed reading my blogs. I encouraged Mhel to respond to my blog or to my facebook posting because I intend to write a journal-book on this particular homecoming experience.

Allow me to re-articulate the very nature of my blog:

Sokie's Homecoming 2012 Blog started as a response to a question: Why is it that Balikbayans [homecomers] are always expected to pay the bills?

This blog has started in mid-February 2012 during my trip preparation and would end when I come back to California on May 1st.

This aims to:
- chronicle my journey in the light of the phenomenon of feminization of international labor economics and it's impact on Filipino families;
- generate public opinion to help me counter-the-prevailing culture of balikbayan spending;
- share my first-hand experience how I am able to manage my $1,000.00 only budget for my 30-days Philippines vacation;
- learn lesson and share better informed choices and decisions on migration and homecoming from my own experience.

So the BIG QUESTION is still on the air: Mababalagoong nga ba ako?

Taken at Chang Rai, Thailand October 8, 1998.

Please let me hear your stories, opinions, suggestions... there are no right or wrong answers. As Rumi said: "there is a world out there where there is no right or wrong... and I will meet you there!