SA SAUDI ARABIA

Ramon is proud of what he has accomplished and knows that he has helped his family survive a very difficult decade. When he came home over the recent holiday season, he brought many gifts (pasalubong) that were greatly appreciated and basked happily in the glow of familial appreciation.
However, Ramon's seeming success has come with a steep price tag indeed. He is estranged from his wife, and his children hardly know him other than as a quasi-mythical source of material sustenance. Ramon has suffered incredible mental anguish during his hard years overseas, experiences recurrent bouts of serious depression, and no longer believes in God. His most fervent dream is to return home to stay, but he is terrified of the economic implications. Even though his remittances have built solid houses for his parents and siblings, he hasn't saved any money to speak of and knows there are no jobs in Negros. Besides, he no longer feels that comfortable with his family or his children-strangers.
As he boarded the plane at the Bacolod airport for the hop to Manila and his inevitable rendezvous with the big jet plane back to Riyadh after the holidays, he smiled bravely and waved cheerfully to his family assembled outside the ropes. But as he settled into his seat, his bravado faded, his jackhammer-pounding heart was breaking, and an uncontrollable flow of torrential tears betrayed his pain.