Dear Bry,
You already know I am a fiend for sappy reflections and so please don’t mind me as I express my sincere gratitude for you (and for this class because it would have been quite unlikely that we would have ever met in this lifetime without it).
Thinking that today marks the beginning of our last week in beautiful South Africa has already put me in a certain downcast state of mind but the constant reminder that soon we’ll be on opposite ends of the world is also quite jarring to say the least. I don’t even know how to structure this letter or what real purpose it will do except maybe help me reflect on some of the moments we’ve shared and express clearly to you just how significant you have been in making this trip even more remarkable for me.
I remember the first day we met. I had just arrived exhausted from the airport and just as I was just about to head up the stairs to our porch, your face peeked out from between the doors with the biggest smile and the most enthusiastic “hi! Nice to meet you”. Any remaining nervous jitters I had vanished as you proceeded to give a hilarious tour of our room visibly beaming with excitement for the days to come. The next couple of days we somehow managed to share the entirety of both our lives as we resorted to talking nonstop as our only means of passing the time while quarantined. I am still amazed at how remarkably similar almost everything from our experiences, hobbies, dreams and even values are. Sure you grew up in the Philippines with younger sisters and currently study in Singapore while I grew up in Sri Lanka with younger brothers and currently study in the States, but every similarity truly did reflect more than just those surface-level categorizations. It’s so funny remembering back on how concerned we started to get as we began to notice the increasingly specific similarities. I know we also had a bit of a Vecna scare with my sleep talking and our immediate assumption that our room was somehow haunted/had paranormal qualities but I don’t think even a supernatural explanation can justify some of the bizarre commonalities.
Some moments I really enjoyed sharing with you so far have been our random conversations on every van ride; that one day we went by ourselves to River Walk park and watched a pretty sunset on a swing, met a cool artist, and ran after our Uber; deconstructing class discussions in our room after lunch; watching that show together; beginning a side student film before realizing we didn’t know how to do anything at the time; working on the roommate interview outline while walking to Daisy’s Dumplings; dissecting each trip excursion and talking through the difficult histories of South Africa; having that 2AM photoshoot with the colorful lights; renaming all the cats (and Cinnamon) that came across our porch; being there for each other during tough times; and just falling into a day-to-day routine as we explored Joburg, got to know amazing people like Fillitah, learned about filming, and figured out they ways in which we wanted to contribute to Global Health efforts in the future.
I feel like I barely got to see you as much these past few days since we’ve both been so busy with our respective film project groups. Despite this, now that the physical filming portion of the project is complete and editing on Premiere Pro is separated into a schedule, hopefully we can find some time to cross more off of our Joburg bucket list such as visiting the Johannesburg Botanical Gardens. I am glad that we were able to grab lunch today with Ethelia, Charlene, and Mariana and catch up a little on how everything is going. Last night’s Big Five Bistro dinner was also so much fun and it was good to see everyone lighten up after a busy week.
It’s also been so inspiring to see your enthusiasm for photography and filming – I am constantly in awe of some of the incredible shots (like of the lions) you took on Safari as well as how you have such a good eye for capturing precious moments of time on film. Blows my mind how intelligent, hardworking, creative, and determined you are all the while being so down-to-earth, kind-hearted, curious, and insouciant. You truly deserve the best and more.
Thank you for being like a sister to me throughout this whole trip and for always being there for me through all the moments. We still have so much to look forward to with the rest of our amazing class this week (like the talent show! Like finishing our projects! Like a quick trip to Rosebank market tomorrow!) and I know it’s going to be a great time.
I could say more but alas I am on the 10-12 shift for our film editing so I need to get on with that.
Let me know when I can visit you in the Philippines and you already know my Yale dorm is open anytime you want to visit cold Connecticut. <3
Manu
