The place I was raised in the Philippines was a walk away from the ocean and it was where my cousins and I would swim and build sandcastles with moats, look for shells and hermit crabs. My cousins were good at diving deep for beautiful shells and by the time I was two I was mercilessly thrown into the deep part of the ocean so that I could learn to swim.
I lived there until I was 4 and at that point there were only relatives that lived in that area. We knew one another and our beach was a place of tall palm trees, the occasional fisherman and fiestas held for some saint which included bonfires and lechon.
A few years later we came for a visit and I went for a swim with my mom. The beach was noticeably more littered with less trees and much more people and their homes. While swimming I stuck my head out of the water and saw something floating pass me. My mom yelled, "don't open your mouth!" and that's when I realized that a few inches from my face was floating a poo...
And two seconds before that I had accidentally swallowed some water...
It was salty.
I lived there until I was 4 and at that point there were only relatives that lived in that area. We knew one another and our beach was a place of tall palm trees, the occasional fisherman and fiestas held for some saint which included bonfires and lechon.
A few years later we came for a visit and I went for a swim with my mom. The beach was noticeably more littered with less trees and much more people and their homes. While swimming I stuck my head out of the water and saw something floating pass me. My mom yelled, "don't open your mouth!" and that's when I realized that a few inches from my face was floating a poo...
And two seconds before that I had accidentally swallowed some water...
It was salty.
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