See ya, Shanghai

And so it was that on the day Shanghai showed its first signs of spring—padded winter clothes hanging to dry before being packed away, vendors emerging from their dark hovels back into the street, sweepers collecting piles of firecracker wrappers that had been preserved for weeks in piles of dirty snow, strawberries, and yellow blossoms on the tree branches that just yesterday were totally naked, I swear—that we did some spring cleaning of our own—emptying out our apartment on Handan Lu, closing bank accounts, paying final bills, saying goodbye to friends and family, and leaving. The Spring Festival brings the New Year in China, and while it seems belated to celebrate new beginnings two months into 2008, it ended up being quite fitting. We are leaving China and its ratty year and will spend the next three months in the Philippines, a place that suits us better. Three months of snorkeling, surfing, hiking, birding, a diet of fish and fruit, and finally finishing my book is a gift. It is a gift we are grateful for, but it comes at the price of saying goodbye and of uprooting again…this time after only six months, this time impulsively. We are getting quite efficient at packing up our life and we are down to the essentials. We’ve ditched our winter coats, hats, and boots, and filled our backpacks with sunscreen and goggles and swimsuits, a set of sheets, and the computer. It seems like adventure is always calling us and this is the first time we’ve answered the phone and said, yes, we’ll be there, just give us a few days to get organized.