A Charmed Life: Life's a Play!

The crew and my fellow passengers were starting to move out,I peeped outside at the people waiting. I saw two gentle looking women looking directly at me and smiling. I was very puzzled, "who are they?" Perhaps they were the people arranged by Mrs O to adopt me? But how could they know, and why did they have come to the port? That was not what I was told it would be. Perhaps they were warned earlier and they took the trouble to spare me from the trouble of contacting them myself?

When I stepped out from the boat, staggering to balance myself upright on the platform, the two women reached out for my hand for a handshake. They mumbled some introductions that I didn't quite get. I was still very numbed, wet allover and my head was whirling. They kept on talking to me while we were walking away from the port. They're kind of curious and interested about a little, solitary traveling girl (perhaps the first time in Batanes, he he he :-) for people always wondered and asked why I went alone). I was so tired and all I wanted was to rest but I still managed to ask them who they are, again. The other woman responded:

" I am the mother of Don, he sent me a message at at 1 pm today when I just arrived from Manila telling me that a 'student researcher' boarded the boat from Itbayat. My son asked me to ask my sister, his aunt who lives here, if you could stay in her house, that is if you want to ... and this is M, (introducing the other woman) my twin sister".

Whoa! so it's another arrangement after all, not the previous arrangement offered by the other generous lady I met earlier in Itbayat. So I asked the mother of Don:

"Why didn't Don tell me this when I was in Itbayat?"

She replied that Don didn't know earlier that she (his mother) had already arrived from Manila. Apparently, while I was in the middle of the sea, my new found friend, Don, had been making some arrangement for my stay in Basco. At that time, I could not be reached because I turned off my phone. Then I told them about the previous accommodation arranged by Mrs. O. They replied that they know Mrs. O, and that in fact, they are neighbors, and that I can go to her if I wanted to. So I told them I first go with them and have some rest and send a text message to Mrs O later.