“Leaving allows you to change directions, to start over,
to rediscover yourself and the world.
Leaving sometimes saves you from staying stuck
in the wrong place with the wrong people.
Leaving opens a new door for change, growth, opportunities and redemption…

You’re even allowed to leave the old you behind
and reinvent yourself.” 

– Rania Naim

Now that I’m leaving the sandbox, I have so many things to look forward to…

1. Talk to strangers without being harassed
2. Say hello, sorry and goodbye to people I meet
3. Eat street food and dirty ice cream
4. Roam the streets in shorts without being stared at
5. Go to the mall in my flip-flops and pambahay 
6. Play football until blisters attack
7. Throw away my high heels and corporate suits
8. Do groceries without someone interrupting to ask about item prices
9. Ride in taxis with beautiful smell
10. Stand in stop lights without big white cars honking at me
11. Live without a handheld toilet bidet and unlimited tissue paper
12. Drink my coffee without getting indecent proposals
13. Start adding prepositions to my sentences
14. Jog in parks without someone grabbing my butt
15. See kind and respectful children again
16. Go anywhere without someone trying to talk to me
17. Take photos everywhere without fear of being arrested
18. Hangout alone without being approached and offered a job
19. Smell the fresh air and the real green of the earth
20. Fix my broken English
21. Blog like there’s no tomorrow
22. Laugh like I used to laugh before!

Ahhh, it’s a whole new world out there!