Every girl dreams of finding the love of their lives, the knight of shining armour, someone they can grow old with, etc...
One of those girls is me.
I had my first boyfriend at the age of 16 but i just got my heart broken.I didn't knew that he had another girlfriend, in short, he cheated on me.After that, i thought, i'd try again and 2 years later, i had my second boyfriend but then again, it didn't work out.That time i thought, maybe i am not really that lucky with love.Because of those heartaches, i didn't go out with any filipino guy anymore coz i thought they were just the same.They're just gonna hurt me.They are just gonna find somebody else just like what my ex-boyfriends did to me.

One day, my cousin, introduced me to this whole internet thing.She thought me how to use the computer and hired me as her cafe attendant.Those days in the cafe were really interesting though that time, i find it weird because i remember, one of my costumers even stood up to show her full body(dressed up, of course) to her american boyfriend online and she even talked to him using the headset which that time, i never thought was possible.
I was naive because i grew up in the province.I didn't even knew that the development of the internet started in 1957 and the year that i first learned about the internet was year 2004.I was really surprised when i knew that this whole internet thing already existed 29 years before i was born because, they didn't even taught me about it when i was in high school.In high school, we only had hands-on the keyboard class and a month later was already our graduation which means, we graduated high school without even knowing the history of computer and internet.
While working at the cafe, i enrolled myself to college taking up a computer course and that's when i learned about all these net surfing and stuff.

I really learned a lot with all those times i've spent working at my cousins internet cafe.Then, there goes this internet dating.At first, i wasn't so interested with it because i thought it's just like a game.How could you fall in love with somebody on the other side of the world? How could you know somebody by just looking at them in the camera? Or even if you get to talk, chat and everything but the fact remains that the person you are chatting with is still a total stranger.There are still a lot of possibilities that this person is not telling you any truth about his personality.So, i feared with almost everything regarding internet dating.I didnt wanna take the risk of dating a total stranger specially if it's a man who comes from a different country, different culture, different tradition and all other differences they have.
Plus, i've heard a lot of sad stories about interracial relationships that didnt work.One of the sad stories was a guy will only meet the girl just for sex and after that, the guy vanished and the girl was left broken-hearted, pregnant and couldn't get in contact with the guy anymore so the girl has to raise their child alone without getting any support from the father of the child.That's so pitiful!

But everything changed when i witnessed this costumer of mine.She's on her late 20's and she told me that she had been chatting with this american guy and for a couple of months chatting, the american guy actually meet her in person and even went to the cafe.They were so sweet and the american guy seemed so nice.Month after that, they got married.Such a happy ending for her.
Also, there's this new costumer who was already married to her american husband for 20 years and i thought it was incredible.
So then, i started to like internet dating.I thought i'd give it a try even if it's risky, just to experience how it's like plus, really, that time at my age i was already eager to settle down, get married and have a family because i was tired being single already and i want to be happy by having someone who loves me as much as i do.It's just like taking chances so i tried finding my luck with love again but this time, with somebody from a different country, race and culture and ONLINE.

So, first step was, i registered in every dating sites i found in Google.Filipinaheart, AsianEuro, MyForeignBride,Cherryblossoms,Match.com and etc...
I thought, it's just easy but it's harder than you think.Yes, you get a bunch of e-mails and interests but of course you have your own preference.You wouldn't just jump out to swim because theres water.There's a lot of interests and e-mails but the question i had that time was if they were serious with me or were they also sending same e-mails to different girls? Well, what i did was i chatted with them one by one but none of them seemed to be serious.Some of them even seemed to be just looking for some sort of online sex.

Then, one time, while i was just checking out for some profiles, i saw this guy's profile.He's cute and based on his profile, he seemed to be serious and he was.Well, not for the first time i guess coz there was even one time that i saw him online in his webcam since i asked for his permission to let me view his webcam and i said " hi,how are you?" and it took 20-30 minutes for him to say "i'm fine, thanks".
I never thought he was serious so i put him in my "to be ignored list" but days after that, he kept sending me offline messages and e-mails so i responded to that and then the rest was history.I just totally fell in love with him on our everyday chats.He was so sweet that we even have this routine of calling each other every 6 in the morning.We were like the alarm clocks.

Couple months of chatting, he decided to visit me in the Philippines which was so exciting for me coz at last, i am gonna meet the man that i fell in love with.At last, i'm gonna get to experience how it's like meeting the man that i fell in love with on the internet.I had lots of questions in my mind but i just answered them with"bahala na" whatever it takes, i'll meet him!

Then, August 27 came, i was so nervous while waiting for him at the airport with two of my cousins and aunt.The moment he showed up, i wanted to go back home like i didn't wanna see him anymore.I was just so nervous.My feet and my hands were cold and then when he hugged me, I felt such an undescribable feeling of being safe.It was the best feeling i ever had.I never thought it's that great being in love!

Two weeks of Frank's stay in the Philippines were unforgettable coz during his stay, he proposed to me then we got engaged and time passed by too fast, he had to go back home in the USA.It hurt me a lot like i never wanted him to go back home but he had to coz that's where he lives and he had to work for us, for our future.After he left, there was never a day that i never cried.
He felt sorry for me so, two months later, he went back and there i was, so happy again.He actually started processing my papers that day he got home from his first visit in the Philippines, just for us to be together and just for me to not be sad again.Isn't it sweet?

His third visit was for my interview.I can't believe that within a year of knowing each other, he already made three visits to me.I felt so blessed for having him in my life.Meeting him was like the best thing ever happened to me and i couldn't trade it for anything.
Now, we are so happy together here in the US with her daughter and we are going to be a new parent to our baby Eben who's gonna see the world in January.

So, if you're looking for the real love of your life.No matter how much you fail, don't give up because if you can't find it, destiny will find a way to make it happen.

When i went to college, most of my classmates who were city residents, used to call me "tagabukid" which means, somebody from the mountain.I don't blame them because if i have to describe the place where i grew up, that's actually it; there's nothing more you can see other than mountains and a river though its not really like in the middle of a forest where Tarzan lives in.Our place is just like other provinces, Rural where till these days, uncivilization still takes place.

As what i remember, it was year 2004 when the "bario" (county) got connected with electricity.They didnt have to use gas lamps anymore because they can already use flourescent bulbs which makes better light than a gas lamp.
It's hard to live in a place where theres no electricity connection because you are not gonna enjoy much playing in the dark specially when you are a kid who likes to play outside during night time.When i was a kid, me and my friends only play outside when it's full moon.We used to play tag and chase game.It was so much fun as i remember!

Another thing that we used to not have that time even till now i guess, probably, is the bathroom.People just go somewhere far from the house like some woody area and get to own a place and make it their bathroom.They use newspapers for cleaning up.I remember one time when i was 7 or 8 years old, i was with my late grandpa.We were trying to go to that public bathroom in the woods but my grandpa didn't made it to the destination point, so what he did, he just sat on one side of the road and covered up his face with that newspaper and did what he was supposed to do without paying attention to those cars and jeepneys full of passengers passing by who surely have seen his business out there.One line that i can't forget he said that time was" it's the face who feels shame not the butt".

My family are still living in the province until now.They don't want to leave that place and move somewhere else because as what they said, that's the place where they were born and raised and the memories that they had there were unforgettable.
They now have better stuffs these days than before though. Before we only get to watch shows in a black and white television connected to a car battery for the power but now, they even have a bigger size colored tv., etc.
As time passes by, the place slowly gets civilized though until now, they still don't have that bathroom thing, hehe.
I remember when i took my fiance, now my husband, there in my parent's house during a fiesta celebration one time on his first visit.He had to go to the bathroom but of course, we don't have a bathroom so even if it was really embarrassing for me but i still got to tell him to just pee at the back of the house where nobody can see him.Golly, my face was all red that time, i mean, i never thought of any consequences before i took him there.I thought i should've asked him to use the bathroom in the hotel before taking him to my parents house.Now, what??? it was already late, but i was thankful because he was so nice and understanding like he didn't even care doing that.

So pretty much it.I guess the lesson from that experience is...not to be ashame on whoever/whatever you are and wherever you're from because we're all the same human being and in everything we do or anywhere we live in there's always something that we can learn which makes us a better person.