Settling in to "Reality"...

• Listen, I won't lie. My reality is infinitely better than even I ever dreamed it would be!
• But yes - after a week on the island, I am attempting to slip out of Backpacker Mode and into Permanent-Resident-of-a-Tropical-Island-Paradise Mode.
• I feel like I'm permanently on holiday, and yet this place feels like home in a way that transcends verbal explanation. It must be felt to be understood.
• Soooooooo... what's new... I GOT A JOB!!!
• As of Monday, I will be teaching Grade 1 at an International School on the island! I'm really excited! I've missed being around kids all day! The director is lovely (and a friend of mine), the other teachers seem really nice, and kids are just awesomely amazing the world over. And the school uniform consists of brightly-coloured Hawaiian shirts! SO YAY!!!
• What else?
• D and I are house-hunting this weekend. At the moment, we live in a room with no windows (but great A/C) in a house on the main road. The other room in the house is vacant for now, and the main reception area is being used as an office space. It's been great for D as he pays no rent here, but during rainy season (which starts in mid-June) it leaks, apparently.
• And we want something that we can make into a HOME now. It needn't be big, or lavish, or fancy in any way, but I would love to have somewhere that makes me happy after a long day... somewhere warm and inviting and peaceful... My inner Cancerian is most certainly ready to nest.
• What else? Job, home... oh! Wedding! Erm... that's a tough one. I have no idea what's happening with the wedding. D seems really calm, so I assume everything will fall into place. We don't have a definite venue yet. That's the first question-mark. D's extended family is putting up a hotel on the island, and if it's ready in time, we'll have it there. But it's hard to know whether it'll be ready or not. It was supposed to be done in September 2009. :) I love the elasticity of time in the 3rd World. It makes me happy.
• Anyway, if not there, then we'll just have it somewhere else. There are plenty of options on the island.
• I feel like I need to start making lists of all the things that need to be done. Because there actually IS a lot to take care of. But I feel like, between the New and Improved Honi-the-Chilled-Out-Gypsy and D-the-Chilled-Out-Islander, stuff may fall through the cracks. We're both great procrastinators too.
• The other thing is that the small community of local friends that we have on the island has been so warm and welcoming and AMAZING, that it forces you to relax too! I always feel like I'm surrounded by people who are looking out for me, loving me, helping me. It's really a special place indeed. And everyone is so INTERESTING!!! People here come from all over the world, and all over the Philippines, most have parents from different countries, and have lived in so many places and experienced so many cultures... We are ALL gypsies here! How fabulous. I love.
• So. Friday afternoon and the weekend sets in. I think I may try to spend as much as time as possible in the sun this weekend seeing as I start work on Monday. And after 3 weeks in South Africa (mainly nocturnal!) I am looking startlingly vampire-esque at the moment.
• Yesterday I spent the day on Puka beach with 12 of my friends. We swam in the sea, had a delicious picnic on the beach, I played with the kids, and we laughed. And smiled. And reveled in life.
• I am so happy here. And now. I send out my thanks to the Universe every day.
• COME AND VISIT ME IN BORACAY, YOU GUYS!!! But I warn you - you may never leave again.. ;-)

xoxoxoxoxoxox