Merry

Last night, Santy and I met up for dinner. I have not seen her for about three weeks and have genuinely missed her. Santy brought along a young trans girl, Erica who she has taken under her wing and is helping to stand on her own feet. Erica (on the left of the picture above) has had a hard life. She was living in Sorsogon, a province in the Bicol Region up until 2007 when she decided to move to Manila to find work. She has been staying with her older brother until recently. He has been abusive towards her, though, and has mistreated her, doing everything so Erica would up and leave. When Santy offered Erica a place to stay, she accepted and has been with Santy for some time now.

Erica's story seems to be a cliche. Many young transwomen here experience being chased out of their homes by unsympathetic family and relatives. It helps that there is a tradition of sisterhood in the transcommunity where more well-established girls help those who are in need. Santy has always had a naturally generous spirit. Having experienced a lot of hardship herself, she knows what it is like to have nothing to eat and not have a single cent to your name. I have seen Santy give of herself to the other girls in STRAP and the depth of her generosity astounds me sometimes. It does not surprise me that she has "adopted" Erica.



Anyway, yesterday we decided to walk around the mall first before heading to dinner. Santy saw a carousel and asked me if I wanted to take a ride. I have never ridden one in my life although I have always been fascinated by the merry-go-rounds I saw in the pages of the old Childcraft encyclopedia (see pic above) my family had when I was growing up. Needless to say, I felt like an over-eager kid!



We bought a ticket and immediately went back to the carousel. The entrance said we needed to buy another ticket to get us all in but the attendant operating the merry-go-round saw how excited I was that he let us in anyway. Above is a pic of Santy and me showing how happy I was to be riding a wooden horse.



I had fun spending time with Santy and Erica. Santy's best friend JayZ was there as well and he took all of our pics. I have been teasing JayZ about taking pics of me in my worst angles so I was surprised that he took really nice pics of us last night. I especially like the pic above which he took while the carousel was moving.

I do not think that that would be my last carousel ride. Santy and I have been talking about reconnecting with and unleashing our inner child lately and finding joy in the most mundane things. I think we are doing well so far. Here's looking forward to more fun and games soon!