Sure he checked our bags. The customs officer had politely asked to look into our luggage as I handed him the customs declaration form. Putting the forms down without even glancing at them, he proceeded to scrutinize the contents of our big bag.
“Did you bring milk?” first thing he asked. Daddy E nodded and showed him the can of Pediasure milk we brought for Roo. Still sealed.
The officer smiled and waved us on, “Enjoy your stay!”
I have heard and read about the friendliness of the Balinese but I wasn’t prepared to see it in the many hands that beckoned from currency exchange counters right across the exit from customs. Smiling faces peered from their little cubicles, each of them urging us to have our money exchanged with them. Several of them were holding signs that said, “No Commission.” How do you choose which counter to go? “Same rate, same rate.” One kept repeating. That settled it. I headed to the counter nearest to me.
One hundred dollars please. The lady beamed a smile and quickly counted out some bills, “That will be one million one-hundred-forty thousand rupiah." Ahhh, just what I’ve waited so long to hear. At long last, we ARE millionaires!
About thirty minutes before landing, when the plane started its descent, I braved the glare of the sun and pushed the plane window up. The scenery below sent waves of homesickness all over my being. For a moment there, I imagined myself going home to Roxas. The ocean and the islands below didn’t look any different from the ones I see when we’re about to land in Roxas. The structure and layout of the houses looked so similar I choked back a few tears, realizing once more that when I go home to Roxas, mommy won’t be there anymore.
MY man voiced out the thoughts in my mind when we emerged out of the airport. “My love, it’s like we’re in Roxas!” he said. The smell of sea breeze in the air, the people, the cars at the parking lot, all these reminded us of home. Everything looks so green, so serene, and so laid back, that just like every homecoming I’ve had my entire life, time had come to a standstill once again.
Thank God! Our vacation has begun. I took a deep breath of the cool ocean breeze.
Man, it sure smells like home!
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