I came, I saw, I conquered! By ALVIN ("AYEL") DAYAN
Sometimes being ‘the only one’ can force you to dwell out of your comfort zone and be your true self. Sometimes being the only one can simply mean you spend the best time of your life with new people who are initially strangers, but to whom you get to know and consequently consider family.
...And that’s the reason why I came on GKYGAT with more suitcases than with fellow Brisbanites. I wanted to live the movement in its entirety. Because my logic was, if I was going to have a great adventure, it should start with meeting and knowing as many people as possible, and not always staying in the same groups and with the same crowd. So imagine making an almost countless number of new friends in order to make the most out of literally every facet of the tour.
But of course, you don’t come on GKYGAT for the friends or the pretty girl in red. You come for the chance to philanthropically belong somewhere, at some time; because the moment that elevated the expectations everyone had about the trip, was the moment we found a home in Iriga City’s GK Character Village in Bicol. A GK site built on the slope of a hill overlooking a deity like Mt Iriga; truly, I felt that God was facing us every morning we woke and every night we slept. It’s an awe that puts you into perspective and it was the perfect symbol and inspiration for us. Luckily, I brought binoculars.
What ensued during my life there was perfection. Dancing, deep and meaningful conversations (D&M’s), confusion, irony, food, smiles, heroism, changing underwear every 2-3 days, food, team work, the triangle game I never got, sweat and the satisfaction of knowing that you earned your sleep each night, food and of course the greatest ever bonding opportunity with everyone. If you made the effort, then people made the effort for you. The bus ride back to our hotel in Manila was the quietest and most melancholic ride I had ever been on.
The logical equation that ‘with work, comes play shortly after’ was soon into effect. Our flight to Bohol was at best a display of Australian hooliganism…it was awesome being so wild and rowdy during most of the flight. We were so late that we held the plane up at the airport and had to be paged (all 60 + of us) for boarding. I enjoyed every bit of waiting and being a part of the nuisance to airport personnel, it was all part of the YGAT experience (disclaimer: Ayel’s opinions and views do not reflect the views and opinions of GK nor its volunteers and subsidiaries).
If I found God in Bicol then I found his miracles in Bohol; amidst the Chocolate Hills that were more like green hills. Along the white beach and crystal waters of our resort and staring almost fearfully into the half open eyes of the Tarsiers (I can see why they commit suicide in captivity, for nothing that hideous was meant to be kept for the viewing of others!). You’d have thought I was living as if there wasn’t a tomorrow, and I guess I was… Because sooner or later, the great time I had with these great people was coming to a realised end. I didn’t want to show how 77 Australians had really made my first adventure one I’d always remember for its company and its wonder (I was trying hard to be unemotional).
But I’d like to think that somehow, the time opening up underneath the mosquito net, the moments conversing in cold pools and spas, the jokes laughed at in our hotel rooms, the chats on the bus to keep my mind off having to urinate, the honour of digging, mixing and lifting with people who were there for the same reasons I was, the inevitable variety night number we were fretting about, the genuine fighting off of the remarks about my male tank top, the chance to have fun with our kid at Enchanted Kingdom, the sharing of our concerns, triumphs and life with our host mom and hearing how naughty she can be with her jokes, the cheering for our victory at the greatest basketball game in our lives…All of these moments made me feel that although I came alone…I left with a whole bunch of friends.
So I hope that all the Ygatters understand that this adventure was only the beginning, and is meant to help us grow up as good people, as supermen, wonder women and as a batman (that’s me, there can only be one). Because sometimes being the only one makes you realise how much you treasure the little things. And that’s how we can be heroes to one another, when we see the value of being just one!
I came for others. I saw what needed to be done. And I conquered their injustices.
The logical equation that ‘with work, comes play shortly after’ was soon into effect. Our flight to Bohol was at best a display of Australian hooliganism…it was awesome being so wild and rowdy during most of the flight. We were so late that we held the plane up at the airport and had to be paged (all 60 + of us) for boarding. I enjoyed every bit of waiting and being a part of the nuisance to airport personnel, it was all part of the YGAT experience (disclaimer: Ayel’s opinions and views do not reflect the views and opinions of GK nor its volunteers and subsidiaries).
