Leaving Manila Together - April 17, 2007

Since 3 April, I have been with Ai in the Philippines.
There have been times when internet access was not possible,
notably between 6 and 10 April when we were based in Santa Rita.
The wedding took place on 9 April at the church of Santa Rita,
with a reception at the magnificent modern gymnasium.
More on all this, and the photos later....
But at this moment we are within 24 hours of Ai travelling with me to Australia. An exciting and life-altering moment!
We are due to arrive on Wednesday morning, April 18.

Meanwhile the pregnancy is very important to us, not least because it is causing Ai recurrent abdominal pain and frequent bouts of nausea and sickness beyond expectations.

I have the impression that her gynae care in the Philippines has
been deficient, and am awaiting a chance to get an Australian opinion.

But with all the regrets that go with departing her family and friends, it is great to be heading for Australia.

And Ai mentioned today how Philippine women are driven to seek foreigners as partners, partly because they feel imprisoned in the Philippines. ---- In other words, because of their relative poverty, they do not enjoy the basic human right of travel to another country. In the case of Australia, they need either considerable personal wealth of their own, or an Australian to sponsor their visit.

There could not be a more fabulous country than the Philippines to be imprisoned within, but the feeling of being condemned to spend your whole life in a third world country is
oppressive!

We will add pictures and narrative of the time together, the wedding, the farewell party, the honeymoon and the travel to Australia as soon as we have some free time there later this week!