Outta there

I was scheduled to leave the condo unit by the end of March, but I thought I could talk to the landlord to allow me to stay for two more weeks, while I waited for my Visa. So I sent word to his office and went about noting which stuff to pack, sell or give away. In between, I was finishing my thesis, teaching two classes and gathering the needed VISA documents. On top of this were three rakets from which I was getting my spending money, since I certainly couldn't apply for a regular-paying job and then leave three months later. In short, I took it easy regarding the packing up, much to my detriment. When I called the landlord's office to follow up on the decision, he (we thought he was a considerate person) refused to let me stay, despite the understanding that I would pay. He wouldn't even let me explain. He just said he wanted me out by March 31.

The day I called was March 23.

It was a good thing I wasn't employed full time, or else I wouldn't have been able to pack everything up. I spent 6 days wrapping, boxing, purging our things. My cleaning lady helped out too (an expert she was, having helped our family move several times as well) but it was back-breaking. Not to mention slightly heart breaking. I ended up with 18 boxes of stuff -- the biggest balikbayan boxes were filled with JUST books. The rest were our files, knick-knacks, kitchen implements, decor, toys, and photo albums. There were also a couple of large plastic containers and two pieces of luggage filled with clothes.

I marveled at how much stuff we had accumulated in four years. I cannot begin to stress now, how important it really is to purge regularly. A one-time, big-time thing will not work. Then again doing it at one time gives you a wider perspective of what you might need in the future. Either way, I got the hubby to agree to a regular purging schedule. Benc's parents volunteered to store our stuff in Pampanga (yes, Pampanga), at their home, while we were away. The rest of the furniture were to be sold or given away. Some of the smaller stuff could be housed at my mom's but I would soon discover "smaller" didn't necessarily mean less.

The in-laws arrived on Saturday evening with the truck. Apparently, they got lost. My poor dad-in-law couldn't recognize the buildings and the roads in the dark, and according to my mom-in-law they had probably been circling the area for close to an hour. Sigh. The poor things. Still this didn't seem to decrease their energy. The stuff entrusted to them were pulled out and loaded in less than an hour. In a short time, the impossibly crowded unit rivaled a dance studio in terms of floor space. They took the bed, the shelves, the tv, the boxes, and washing machine. Everything else would be picked up by my mom three days after.

And so I lived in a nearly-empty unit for three days, and slept on a mattress with my sleeping bag over it. It felt slightly lonely, seeing your things get taken away. But at the same time, I felt...unburdened. It was nice to live simply. Less stuff, less complications.

In between those three days I coordinated the cancellation of our cable service, internet and land line subscriptions; filled out and submitted closing forms to the building admin office; checked television scripts and had to submit my manuscript to my adviser. I broke down a few times and vented to Benc at every chat session. I was so close to demanding him to come home and help me pack our things. He felt so helpless, as did I and I just had to back down. I took on a lot, admittedly. Though others would have been willing to help, the purging part was really something I had to do by myself. Once purged, things had to be packed right away. The deadline was so near.

My last day was April 1st. The landlord agreed to a one day extension. Fine, I said, I'll take it. That day, everything had to go, including my luggage, which I would take with me to Oz. I became slightly teary-eyed, watching as the unit returned to the state it was in when we first visited. Suddenly the wind started to blow fiercely, and fow unencumbered through the empty unit. The afternoon cooled, and I took a deep breath. This was it, we were moving out, and moving up. Moving on. And the wind was at my heels, literally, as I locked the large wooden doors for the last time.