"The Land of Milk and Honey!"

... and then the airplane landed… I didn’t know what to expect!!!

“The land of milk and honey!, The land where dreams come true!, The land of abundance! - Here I come!!!”

I was just pumped up seeing all sorts of people, hearing different languages and smelling different odors!LOL!

Funny, I was one of those Filipinos who perceived that America will make me an automatic moneymaker! (As in the moment the airplane lands, I am rich! LOL!) I was imagining the golden roads (exag! LOL!)… and that I could act like a millionaire! Super LOL!

“Mabuhay!, Kumusta na kayo?” a tall, dark and old man spoke from behind us… A Filipino!!! –working in the airport!!!... I was so happy to see one! Wait.. one more, there was another one over there!... and another one! … and then it dawned on me.. the many Filipinos who were in America already.

Nice… I was happy to listen to their stories… like a sponge, I was the eager learner, I just took everything in…

The weather? It was September then and it was soooo cold!!! (Well, coming from the Philippines, it was already colddddd for me! LOL!)

Then we rode a smaller plane to New Orleans, LA… our work place.. our final destination.

New Orleans was hit by Katrina in2005, we came two years after and what we saw was a city still struggling to keep up with the times.

It was disheartening to see the place the first time, that time, there were still a lot of rundown houses, damaged buildings and roads and desolated areas.

Reality started to bite.

Nope, there were no roads paved in gold. Nope, moneymaking wasn’t automatic! Nope, the "I’m-a-millionaire-act” never happened! (Not yet, lol!)

The truth is America is the land of milk and honey. It is the land of opportunity. It is the land where all dreams come true. It is the land of opportunity… just like any other land…

I learned that I bring “me”, wherever I go, and wherever I am; there are the blessings of heaven and the Promised Land.

Wherever you are right now…there is your heaven. (or hell, whichever you want to create…)

The land doesn’t really matter. It is what YOU bring. It is what YOU offer. It is what YOU give.

NAMASTE.