Notes: This story references the author's body of the work. It is not necessary to have read the other stories before you read this, but it surely helps. All those stories can be found in various formats at the website:/~VeryWellAged/index.htm.
I have written, at the behest of a proofreader, a Preface of Language and Culture, which explains some of the irregularities
found in the dialog contained within the novel.
Prologue
I emailed him three times, and I don't even know his real name.
He knows what I want to know but, he will not tell me. He just says, 'Get your ass over here and settle down. Look around. If you are patient, discreet and clear, you will find what you are looking for.'
That is so not helpful. I know he is there, with a houseful of lovelies. I know he knows others with the same thing. But he won't help me to get what he has.
Still, he isn't being rude. He is pleasant in his emails. It is just that he says he is afraid of those he doesn't know. OK I guess I can see that. He writes stories about life with many girls in the Philippines; stories I can't get out of my head.
That is not to say I have been celibate these long last years. Nah, I have dated a bit. I have had some girlfriends but, none I could see myself settling down with. The gals were nice and all but, there was something missing. There was something that wasn't working for me.
He does email back but, sort of with non-answer answers. I ask him if I can meet him. He says, No. I ask him where in the Philippines he is based. I cannot get an answer.
He does caution me that if I am a picky eater, or someone who is too attached to my home, my town, my friends, to my US based family, that it probably will not work for me. Yeh, I guess I can see that too. He said I had better like rice, because that is the staple there and not eating it will be a never ending source of irritation. I get his meaning. To a certain extent, you have got to 'go native.' You have to eat, drive, and live in their world, by their rules.
It has been a year since I first found these stories and in that year I have been increasingly wanting what he, and the others he writes about, seem to have. Oh, I know he says the stories are fiction. But he also says they are based on reality. I want that reality.
I have a job and have always made a really good wage but, the plant where I work is shutting down. I am going to lose that income. I am eligible for early retirement but, that will leave me in the poor house soon enough. I guess I could maybe get a job as a 'greeter' at Walmart but, it doesn't appeal to me.
Friends? Sure I have a few but, they are all in the same boat. I am not sure I want to see their sorry ass faces as we all slide into long term economic misery. We are all too young for Social Security. Unemployment benefits don't help for long, even if I could get them. But I can't as I will be taking voluntary retirement.
My family? Nah, I've been divorced for fifteen years. My kids are grown with kids of their own. They spend their holidays with my ex. Can't blame them. I was never there for them when they were growing up. I worked two jobs in those days to keep the roof over their heads and food on their table. But that doesn't count I guess, cause I wasn't the one to wipe their snotty noses when they had a bad day.
I have a home, and no mortgage, so can get some value for the thing now. If I wait a year, I guess it won't be worth squat. Do I love this dirty town? Nah, can't say I cared for it much, ever. It is just the place where I work.
So I figure, it's time to leave. I'll sell everything here. There's nothing I want to take with me that can't fit into a few cardboard boxes. I can get someone to ship them to me once I find a place to hang my hat. I call a real estate agent and put my place up for sale. I'll retire and leave as soon as the house sells.
When the agent comes to the house, I get a bit of a laugh. She says normally she tells the home owner that he or she needs to make improvements to the house to make it saleable but, I have kept my place up. I paint it more often than is probably needed and repair things as soon as I see the issue. She says the place has 'curb appeal.'
When my current girlfriend sees the 'For Sale' sign on the lawn, she freaks out a bit. She wants to know what's up with that. And, like, I just don't want to tell her. Well, that ends that, and she decides to move on. Can't blame her.
The next thing I think about is where I am going. In the email I did get from the guy, he said, find anywhere in the Visayas, except Cebu City. OK, maybe but I don't want to be too isolated. I guess a bunch of guys know the Philippines because of their military service. I was never in the military, so I am flying blind.
I email this writer back and tell him my plans. He sort of backs me up, saying I should come over before selling and make sure this is for me. I need to be sure before I make such a complete commitment. He says that for every guy who comes over and stays, there are probably half a dozen who decide it is not for them. I hear him but, no, it is going to work for me. This is one thing I am not going to follow his advice on. I just don't like any of my other options.
I take a month studying the map of the Philippines, using Wikipedia to research the places I see on the map. The Philippines is having a strong economic growth spurt these last few years. It seems to me I need to find a place where the economic growth has not been felt so much. If I understand the stories, I need a place where jobs are still hard to come by and women are more ready to find a safe place to land. I choose *******. Maybe it is a good choice, maybe not. If not, I will find somewhere else once I get there.
The bottom line is that I want the life that is 'out there' and no matter where I live, I will have the same amount of US dollars coming to me. How far those dollars go is of real concern. My bet is that if I do it right, they will go a lot further in the Philippines. Maybe I don't have enough to live comfortably here but, I think I can live comfortably there.
If I can get a long term lease on some land and build a house on it, it ought to satisfy the SRRV Visa requirement for a financial investment that must remain during my stay. I am old enough that the amount really isn't all that great anyway. If I do that, I don't have to marry to stay there. It is sort of what Jake did in the story about Joy that the guy wrote. It also means that I am not tied to any one woman. That is something that I think I have to have working for me.