This has been a tough week for me here in the Philippines. I have never really had to deal with death. I know people who have died and even family members and friends of mine have died but I've always managed to somehow live far away from them whenever something like that happened. On January 3rd 2009 my very good friend R.R. died on impact when his motorcycle slammed into an illegally parked bus. The bus driver was fined 250 pesos. R.R. was like a little brother to me and I miss him very much. We lived together under the same roof and I have countless pictures of us together as I took him with me everywhere I went. He was 18 years old, polite, and always smiling. My mind is still having trouble believing that he is gone. I feel like I'm stuck in a dream that I just can't wake up from. So he is having his wake now and will be buried on January 11th. This is my first wake in the Philippines and his family stays with his body for 7 days. I'm not Catholic and I'm not a member of his family so I stay in the parking area just outside. Anyone is welcome to go inside to pay their respects but I just don't have it in me to see him in his coffin. I think if he is watching then he knows I'm there even if I don't go in the room. Seven day's seems like a long period of time to have a wake but it is the tradition here. His family members seem to have some strange fear that his ghost may haunt them. One of them even told me that because he died with his mouth and eyes open that it was a sign he would take someone with him. I try not to contribute to such superstitions because I don't want to add fuel to the fire. I can honestly say R.R. was my best friend here in the Philippines and I think the world was a better place with him in it.