I Survived AH1N1 (Part 5)

There were four beds in my new room. Two were unoccupied. Well, since I was to occupy one of them, that meant there was one more room for one more unfortunate soul.

My two other roomies - a mother and a daughter - looked Chinese. They mostly kept to themselves. I kept to myself, too.

I had only my hand carry luggage with me. The airport people didn't find my luggage anywhere in the LCCT's luggage conveyor belt. Ate Grace probably already took it. Thus, all I had with me were my money, my laptop, some papers, a notebook, a pen, some stationery and... that was all. 

I had Ate Mian's number though. It was a good thing I remembered to jot it down. 

I wrote her a note, using a page from the stationery. I asked for an adapter for the power outlet, a malaysian sim, some credit for the sim, and a change of clothes. "Pambahay", I wrote. I called one of the nurses and asked if she could call the number and read the contents f the note to the receiver. She took the note, put it in a ziplock bag, sprayed some stuff to disinfect it, and then granted my request.

Some time later - I honestly had a very warped sense of time - there arrived a package inside a bigger ziplock bag. The bag contained everything I requested. Plus a book and a long note from Ate Mian. Something to "keep me occupied", she wrote.

I don't have a copy of that note anymore. Sadly, it got lost during one of my many moves. But I remember her telling me how my arrival had affected them all - in a good way, though.

She and a couple of friends from my church and university were supposed to be my surrogate family in Malaysia. I forgot  her exact words but she said something along the lines of how the incident really taught them other facets of how it was to be a real family.

We would go through many more ups, downs, funny, sad, and crazy fiascos in Malaysia for the rest of the time that we were all here together. But I'm glad I went through that rollercoaster of a ride with them. I'm glad I had them as a family here in Malaysia.

Just passing the time away...

(to be continued)