Manila Working Girl

I can now sleep at night and am able to announce it loud and proud: I am now employed! It took me eight months, but really it was only five months; don't ask what I did with the other three months. LoL. Anyway, here's a timeline:

July (a couple of weeks before I left Seattle)
Lisa: Here's the mailing address for the Manila office. Write them when you get there. I'm sure there's something for you to do there.
Me: Thanks! Will do! (Didn't do it, though.)

November (when driving along Eastwood)
Homer: I'm doing work for W0rld Visi0n International.
Me: What?! Are you serious?!

Homer e-mails WVI for me. I e-mail WVI. Nothing happens. (That's nothing new. ;P HaHa!)

January (on the Monday after I didn't leave for Seattle)
I get an e-mail from one of the Executive Assistants in the Ortigas office, asking me to send my resume because of a recommendation from Lisa and her mom. I know this sounds way too cheesy, but I had a tear run down my face at the sight of that e-mail in my inbox. It helped me keep the hope alive when I was feeling down and out about the whole wide world.

February (Valentine's Day)
I had my preliminary interview which led to another interview the day after. When it was job offer time, I was back to square one: they wanted me to have my ACR in my hands before they could employ me. I was told to contact them once my papers were squared away, but no guarantees. (Insert heartache here.)

Last Week of March
After a one-month process, I got my ACR so I called them up. Unfortunately, the position wasn't open anymore. But, a couple of weeks later, I was told that the position was open again. Yeah, don't even ask; it's such a long story. LoL. Of course, life wasn't THAT easy just yet: they wanted me to get a certification letter from Department of Labor (DOLE), stating that I don't need anything else to work legally in the country.

April 2
First day of work, but still in limbo because DOLE has yet to produce me my certification letter.

April 10
One week at work. After calling DOLE every single day during the past week, I was finally told that my certification letter was ready to be picked up...so I did after lunch!

If that's not telenovela material, then I don't know what is. HaHa! It has been a long, rough, painful road overall and hey, I'm still alive. It's true that God never gives you anything you can't handle. And most importantly, if it's for you, God will give it to you...in His time. Yeah, yeah, that's a peptalk for my lovelife more than anything else. LoL.

So there, it's time to celebrate! It's time for lunchdates and dinnerdates in Ortigas (Tet was my first)! It's time for another goal! I wonder what will be next? =)