Diaspora and YM

I have a date to chat with my grade school/high school friends this Friday, 9pm-ish Manila time. It will involve 7 people located in 6 countries, good old Yahoo Messenger, and hopefully, not much lag time and disconnections.

I haven't seen 4 of these people in a long time. At least not since university. Makes me wonder what we will talk about, who we will talk about, how we can get each of our stories in. Hmm, with a lot of difficulty, I should think. But it can only be fun and I am looking forward to it. Thank God technology now enables people to reconnect this way, on cyberspace.

Of course, chatting online is nowhere near the real thing -- when you sit with good friends and talk and talk over food and wine. But for someone who lives away from old stomping grounds, chatting will have to do. Afterall, it is still time spent with friends, right?

Anyway, when Hannah sent the email to the 6 of us informing us of the chat date and time, she indicated there the participants' locations: NY, CA, UK, HK, and SG, plus Manila, of course.

In a subsequent chat I had with her over the email, I mentioned how sad in a way it was that we were all scattered around the globe now such that the hope of ever meeting up physically together was remote.

And then she said something that's been in my mind for days now. She said, 'It's too bad our country is not well enough to keep us all here.'

Han, that's the lament of most non-resident Filipinos.

If only things worked in Manila, if only there was a decent government in place. If only I could make the living I'm making here there, if only I could feel safe. If only everyone followed rules, if only everyone had fair opportunities to make it in life. If only people respected each other, if only people really cared.

If only.

Then I could come home and live where my heart is.