BBakawan's Silver Voyage: The 25th Post

"Lord renew my mind, as your will unfolds in my life. In living everyday, by the power of Your love."

Today's the day.

It's time to retire the blog, Biyaheng Bakawan. The inspiration and decision came today, Sunday, a day after my one year, seventh monthsary in Thailand. It was a lovely church service, the Gospel was about love. Jesus is telling his disciples, "Remain in me, and I shall remain in you. Let your love be in me, so your joy may be complete." On top of that, the young Thai priest's homily included an impromptu rendition of The Beatles's "I Will". Of course, it was a Filipino choir that mass, so we had a mini-concert in between the Gospel and the Creed.

The serenity and serendipity of today's service, and the consolation I received about my state of mind, allowed me to say, "Ok, BB Chronicles, it's time to sail home." I know, and I feel, that my mangrove journey has reached its peak; it has arrived at its destination.

I won't stop chasing mangroves, nor will I stop writing or learning about them. It's just that 'Biyaheng Bakawan' carried so much baggage from my old journey that the vessel needs to retire. I won't scuttle this ship just yet, but I am anchoring it at the dock--for the meantime. It'll be there to be visited, to be looked back on, and to be reminisced about.

Mangroves have certainly been the centerpiece of my life journey until now. The mangrove quest brought me places I've never seen, allowed me to meet people I never thought I'd see, and enabled me to go beyond recognized limits. The greatest gift that the dream of chasing mangroves brought, is the joy that Christ promised: incarnate in my love and life-partner, husband Philippe. If not for this bakawan dream, I wouldn't have gone to New Zealand to study (I wouldn't have met him); I wouldn't have gone to Asia to work (he wouldn't have followed and proposed); and I wouldn't have dared to dream again (us charting a new life together). Ah yes, my life is like a propagule--the tides bring me to fertile ground and let me germinate in good soil.

So my BB followers, many thanks for following this journey. 25 posts is silver for me, and that is a good number. I'll let you know when the next journey begins. I stand at the edge of the mangrove forest, looking out into the sea. What's next you say? Find out with me. The adventure continues!  

(This last blog entry is dedicated to my EnviScience batchmates, Ateneo BSES 2001: rachel, len, nin, joyce, rica, drey, and noe. My fellow travellers back at the Manila Observatory, back when we were young, and restless, and full of dreams. We still are, by the way, blazing our own trails, wherever we are...)

Getting there

I am living my master's thesis. Every day of my life in the organization I work with is a battle in discourse analysis.

It's true what thesis advisers say: "Your thesis defines you." And why not? A thesis is one person's story, told from her perspective, from her point of view. It is the centerpiece of her one-act play, the key note of her life-speech. Aye, had I known, I should have chosen fashion and cosmetology as mine.

I've had mangroves as the centerpiece of both my BSc and MSocSci theses. And both times, I've never regretted the choices I made. I've always been the happy mangrove storyteller. Yet, I recognize how difficult it is to tell my story when there are others whose sole joy is to dispute the stories they hear. They keep saying mine is too happy. Ah, now I know how Cicero or Borges must have felt.

Anyway, my story is unfolding as I speak. I said it once and I say it again: different agenda influence and form the interaction of different groups, especially towards mangroves and their management. I see that too well now, and the next thing I need to do is begin a new chapter, and work my story around the various plots that unfold.

Happy Valentines Day.

Season Finale: Mangroving in Krabi

I love great season enders, and in my teleserye life, I think today is the best season ender for Biyaheng Bakawan Season 1.

Remember, I started this blog almost a year ago. Episode 1 was 'The Big Move', when I flew to Bangkok on the eve of my 30th birthday. Only the hotel front desk officer wished me happy birthday then, because no one in this land knew I was celebrating my third decade that day. Episode 2 was 'Clear as Mud', when I was unsure of what I was doing in Bangkok chasing my mangrove dream (sabi nga ni Lourd Ernest deVeyra, "Nakaka-t*ng*n* this, di ba?"). Episode 3 was 'Sri Lanka: The Emerald Isle'; then, Episode 4 'Buddha Bless You' immediately followed by 'Pilipinas Kong Mahal'.

'Pas de parle Americain' (I and II) was a two-part episode concluded by 'BS kayong lahat!!!' (I was having a very uneasy first and second quarters).  Ilang episodes na ba? I think I have at least 13, complete with a season break when I went back home to Manila this June ('Time Out'). There was also this most tumultuous time in Phuket when I went through my Eureka moment ('Joie de Vivre'). Then came the Season CliffHangers, 'Oui, Je T'aime Aussi' and 'Route 66' (remind me to write about these later). I think today is the best day, though, and today is the Season Finale.

I call it "I, Mangrover."

Yep, I've come full circle in my mangrove-chasing career. I've reached my pinnacle. Today, I reconnected with one of the mangrove world's foremost mangrove heroes (Dr. Norm Duke, the original Dr. Jones of the mangroving world). Tomorrow, I celebrate my 100th* visit to a mangrove forest, and it's in the Krabi estuary, a RAMSAR site. I've been chasing mangroves since I was 10, and for 20 years, it's been a great journey. Since devoting my early career to mangroves, I've been all over the Philippines, and almost all over the world. I've been to Singapore; to Viet Nam; to Malaysia; to France; to New Zealand; to Sri Lanka; and to Thailand. Ibang klase talaga ang buhay kasama ng mga bakawan!

Tapos na ang Season 1. Ano kaya ang darating sa Season 2?

Abangan!


*indicative of how I lost count of how many mangrove forests I've seen and visited in the past 10 years