Loving As The Locals Do

by Ana Rita Matos (Portugal)

Making a local connection Philippines

Given the chance I will travel. I have known that since I asked for my first suitcase when I was 12, when I choose a career that would have me chasing airplanes on occasion, and without a doubt when I created myself time to redirect my life and not unsurprisingly I dedicated most of that time to travelling. Or to adventures, one might say. I have recently been on the not short of epic journeys through Philippines, Hawaii, Sri Lanka and Maldives, on the very short period of 2 months. There is one thing that connects them all, one thing that I had been missing on my journeys for a while - a feeling of really getting to know a place through the eyes of their people. My first step of the journey was Philippines to attend a wedding as part of the groom’s side, with and overwhelming attendance of 250 people on the side of the bride versus the 5 guests that had flown half a planet (3 of them for the first time) for the special occasion. We were hand led through all the wonders of the Dumaguete region by our hosts, jumped waterfalls next to their kids, visited a witches’s island, celebrated many occasions such as other engagements seating next to their elders and tasted their food recklessly and satisfyingly so. In Hawaii I went from finding Aloha a charming way to greet people to respecting and admiring the Aloha spirit, which is so much more than what one could expect at first. Deeply part of the culture, contagious even to its visitors, it is not just a word but it is a way of life. Finding out that their roots are settled on some influences from the Portuguese which I never knew was such a pleasure to find! We were welcomed and nurtured, by the people, by their stories, by its nature until simply some moments you would be left in awe and could not help but wonder at their land and their gods. On to Sri Lanka and to be marvelled yet again. I do not think I could have enjoyed it so truly had it not been for our wonder driver. A jack-of-all-trades, Lal has done and learned so much about his land and so keen to share it with the guests that you start sharing his respect and love for all he teaches you. From teaching us about the man made lakes with elephants, where to buy the best fruit and treats, how to dance, to walk barefoot, where the hidden jewels are hidden in the jungle and even welcoming us in his own home to eat truly local in the bosom of his family, we could not have had more authentic than we did. Even in Maldives where one first believes there is not much else than lie by the glorious waters and enjoy the picture perfect weather and views I had the pleasure to mingle and see it by the eyes of those who live it. As an unusual sort of guests and considered part of the family, we were brought to the back stage of the paradise and seen how people enjoy living in this haven, how incredibly different Maldivians are to their guests, what pride and joy people take on the more-than-meets-the-eye diversity of the waters and even here I got to dance in the way of the locals yet again, as the sun dove into the ocean and presented us with one last striking red sky. I am grateful to have the opportunity to this down and relive those memories again; because even when I read so many books on adventures and travels and magic and dreamed of having my own, what marvelled me most of all was the discovery of the unknown, the connecting with a different culture and a new point of view - to make a local connection.