Happy birthday to me

Happy birthday to me. Happy birthday to me. Happy birthday, happy birthday, happy birthday to me. I've just turned 28 today and it feels quite odd because I'm leaving Spain tomorrow to go back to the Philippines for good. For the past two weeks I've been very busy meeting up with friends to say goodbye, packing up my stuff, closing bank accounts, paying last-minute bills and simply trying to get over with a thousand things that one normally has to finish when leaving a country. Once I arrive in Manila, numerous lunch/dinner dates will be arranged to meet up with old friends that I haven't seen for a long while, and surely most of these people will ask me: Why did you come back? Shouldn't you have stuck it out in Spain, considering that you already made it there? And I wouldn't be surprised if some of them would think that I was stupid for making this move. Truth be known, it was a hard decision to leave Spain, and Europe for that matter, because I will be leaving behind wonderful people, places and a lifestyle that I've grown increasingly attached to over the past two years. However, I thought hard about it and no matter from what perspective I looked at it, reason wouldn't have me stay much longer. Why? Because I felt that if I did, this country -- and my personal circumstances here -- would shape me into someone that I don't want to be professionally. And I can't live with that. Thus, I finally decided to put an end to this chapter of my life and start a new one in Manila. So...goodbye Spain!...but...to all my friends in the Philippines, see you soon!