first saturday: the benefit of getting lost

It was ten to three when I went back to Kohl's. I decided to take Ate Rita's offer to drive me down to Westfield. So while waiting for her to finish up, I continued my chat with Ate Maria while she sorted out clothes that has been tried on in the fitting room. And after a few minutes, Ate Rita walked out of the stock room and asked me to follow her to the parking lot.

"Ingat kayo ha. Basta don't be afraid to ask. Mababait naman ang tao dito and they will surely help you out. Magagaling ang mga Pilipino tandaan mo yan. Kapag nawala ka at wala ka ding mapagtanungan, tawagan mo ako. Alam mo na number ko ha," she reminded me as she bid us farewell.

"Sige po, salamat ate."

The drive didn't take long. Ate Rita dropped me off the bus stop near the Montgomery Mall. She instructed me to take the bus headed to Rockville. But she also gave me her number just in case. She apologized for being in a hurry as she will be late for her next job. Ah, the beauty that is America. Having a second, third or nth job. Multiple income. Hmmm... very tempting.

Anyway, I thanked her before she went on her way. The latter is still something that I need to think about, thoroughly.

Montgomery Mall seems promising. It is quite a big complex which houses major retail stores in the US such as Macy's, Sears and Nordstrom, and branded shops like Abercrombie & Fitch, GAP and Banana Republic among others. In short, it's a shop-a-holic's heaven. And as I walked towards Old Navy's entrance, I tried to think of valid reasons that I'll be telling my mom as to why my clothes increased exponentially upon my return. Well, they are having a clearance sale and opportunities like this should not be missed.

I found out later that most of the shops have a clearance sale as well. And even before I could find the item that I really came here for, both my hands are already carrying shopping bags which items totalled to approximately a hundred bucks. Talk about overspending. My mom will kill me. If she finds out, that is.

So before I burn my entire allowance on unimportant items, I went to the electronics department at Sears and bought myself a camera. And my new BFF shall be the reason why I'll have the grandest time here at the States. I am so thrilled. And, I only got it for around $800. It's not the latest model but it'll do.

I decided to call it a day as my wallet is now a thousand dollars thinner and headed to the bus stop. I managed to catch the Rockville bus which dropped me off at the station. However, I needed to catch another one that'll pass Washingtonian Boulevard. And that other one remained unnumbered and unknown until after I have walked a couple of miles and stopped on several waiting sheds. And even if it was still sort of bright outside, it was already past seven and the area is already getting creepy. I asked the fellow sitting beside me if he knows which bus I should ride on. He pondered for a moment and suggested that I take the one headed to Lakeforest, the bus to route 54. I thanked him and went on with my sightseeing. The joy of having bought myself a new camera seems to have a lasting effect as I did not get mad even with all these unfortunate circumstances.

The bus came after what seemed like an eternity. It was the last trip so several people are already flocking the doorway to get a good seat. And as I hopped on, the guy behind me asked if I'm from the Philippines.

"Yep. Kayo ng ate mo," I asked innocently as we sat down.

"Ate? Officemate ko siya."

Oh. "So you're also on a business trip. Where are you staying," I quickly asked trying to cover up my booboo.

"Sa Residence Inn."

"Really?" Wow. Just wow. I don't know if my eyes gleamed or anything but in my head it did, blinding and all. "Doon din ako. Kailan pa kayo dumating? Hanggang kailan kayo dito sa US?"

Our conversation went on until we have reached our destination. In that short of span of time, I've already accumulated almost all the information that I needed. Almost, except:

"Hey," I called out as they were about to enter their building's door. "I'm Mak by the way." I'll be damned if I won't be able to get their names. Or at the very least, his. It's always good to have new friends. "If you guys aren't doing anything tomorrow, maybe we can go exploring or something."

"Sige. Pero simba muna tayo ha."

"Do you know any nearby Catholic church?"

He took a map out of his pocket and smiled. "See you tomorrow."

"Right. Good night."

The day ended well. Seems like this will be a very interesting summer.