*Republishing my first out of the country experience

When you are on a foreign soil, you will need a map to guide you to where you’re going. But when the map is useless, the next thing you will do is to ask directions from the locals of the area. But what if no one understands a thing you’re saying. Sign language may help you a bit. But talking with someone who understands you is better.

My mom and I found ourselves lost in Macau after we took a wrong route going to Fisherman’s wharf for dinner. We should have walked but we took a bus with the thought that our destination is far from the Macau Ferry Terminal.

Our problem started when we asked the driver if the bus was going to the Fisherman’s wharf. He did not answer, and I presumed that it was because he didn’t understand a single word I said. So from that point, we did not know where we were heading. Luckily, a woman who looked like a Filipino boarded the bus. When we asked her, she just said, “Naku, malayo na kayo. Bumaba na lang kayo diyan sa susunod na stop.”

During the bus ride, I wondered at how bus drivers were told stop. In the Philippines, we say, “Para” for the jeepney or bus to stop. But since I was not in my country, I wondered how they said it. Then I realized not a word was said. I only needed to press a button located in front of the seat. I then pressed it and the bus stopped.

When we went out of the bus, another woman behind us spoke in Filipino. Thank God. We found another Filipino. Her name is Vangie Soriano, a domestic helper in Macau. She was on her way to the flat where she and other Filipinos were staying. But she noticed that we were lost. She was on her way home but instead she assisted us to the bus stop, where she told us to ride another bus to our destination.

As we were passing by the European architectural façade of the establishments in the Senado Square, she started telling her story on how she wanted to stay home in the Philippines with her family but the odds in life pushed her to work abroad for her family’s future. If there’s one thing Ate Vangie learned in her six years of working as a domestic helper, it was the value of pakikisama.

As we parted ways, I said, “Salamat Ate Vangie!” I don’t know if a word of gratitude was enough to express how much grateful we were. But it was so touching when she said, “Wala ‘yun. Siyempre, kababayan.” To extend a hand to a stranger is a kind act. Though simple it may seem, a help given to a kababayan can be considered the modern bayanihan.

Here in this photo: (L-R) Vangie Soriano and my mom

Note: This was originally published on Inquirer.net.
Source: http://blogs.inquirer.net/beingfilipino/2008/07/19/kababayan/