rainy Mondays and other updates

to whoever cares to read, here's a comprehensive (and i mean comprehensive) account of what i've been up to in the last month and three-quarters. forgive the parentheticals. nothing poetic or literary here.

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july 26, 2005

so where was i? i believe i left off at the end of summer, and after that, photos of singapore that seemed to come from out of nowhere. that was, indeed, sort of spontaneous. the trip was arranged just a few days before our flight. but unannounced travels have long ceased to disturb me. most of the time, i bring them upon myself.

Bukidnon and CDO

the weekend before singapore i was even in bukidnon for a wedding. left cebu friday night, took a bus to valencia, then the bridal car to malaybalay, where alma's beautiful, understated wedding was held at the benedictine monastery. was supposed to leave the same day for cebu because the next day was World Environment Day and i had to work, but due to heavy rain and some other physical circumstances, i didn't make it to the boat on time. that meant i had to spend the night AND a whole day in CDO waiting for the next boat.

fortunately, with the help of some contacts, i found a P100/night place for transients, a humid room (summer had not fully left) shared with maybe twenty other women. but hey, it was a place to sleep. the next day, i explored CDO by myself, my first time to really go around the city. it's always been just a stopover. after almost falling asleep at the food court in gaisano, i found my way to xavier university, which i've always wanted to see. it was right at the heart of the city, after all. found it by taking a jeep. but even if it's small, it's one of the best ateneo campuses i've ever been to. there are so many small, secluded gardens. i sat on a bench under an acacia tree watching the grass on the field and enjoying the weather as it drizzled. afterwards, i went to the park at divisoria and had a banana shake in their outdoor cafe as the 4 o'clock sun streamed through the clouds. i guess that was God's way of slowing me down after a hectic summer. by the time i left, CDO had become one of my favorite places. on the boat, i discovered i was with Jr. Kilat and other Kahayag people who had come from a concert in davao.

Manila

after singapore, i spent a week in cebu and then left again for manila for an almost week-long training, just missing the fete de la musique the weekend before. met up with bobby, cris, alistair and jesus and finally got to see saGuijo, where i bought my oktomat at the I Love You Store around midnight (had to go out and get money at the nearest ATM, too). but on the last day, i was asked to go back to manila the following week for a meeting. i could have just stayed on, of course, and waited for the meeting, but i didn't want to. i guess i got tired of the adventure.

so i flew in again sunday night. was supposed to stay till just wednesday, but again, circumstances made me stay for another meeting on thursday. was supposed to leave right after the meeting, but it turned out there was no 7pm flight to cebu, so again my stay was extended to friday morning. for my second week in manila, i went to 70's Bistro for our socials on the first night, Chocolate Kiss and Conspiracy (it was the pinoypoets' anniversary, and i bumped into several writer friends whom i hadn't seen for years) with abi (whom i hadn't seen for 4 years! meanwhile, she had gone to south africa, france, spain, the netherlands and back many times) and her lawyer friend (who turned out to be a case of six degrees of separation again), and a cafe in Morato with Kikoy, who had just come from a shoot in ilocos.

Cebu and Work

the first half of july i stayed put, putting things in place at the office, and other areas of my life besides (but still haven't cleaned my room). with a stronger resolve, finally had the long-postponed meetings with the team (check out our new website at http://www.elac.org.ph/) and  finished the amendments for WILA's constitution (the four of us Board members worked on it till 1:30 am on a week night! lost my voice the next day). also attended a series of orientations for teaching Sunday School at church. this is something i really want to do, so hope it works out. been getting in touch with professors again about the possibility of a scholarship for an MS abroad. right now working on another book for our office.

my last trip was in Bantayan for research on dynamite fishers. too bad i accidentally wound my second roll of film into its case, so wasn't able to take photos of the dynamite fisher we interviewed who already had both arms blasted. was supposed to leave for manila right after that for a meeting again, but it's been moved to august, so was able to spend the weekend reading and sleeping (also attending other meetings =P) and other things normal people do on heavenly rainy days.

Cebu and Fun

a recent development, though, is that i've revived my night life. since i started attending my present church last year, i'd come to accept that friday nights are for bible study, and saturday nights for laundry because i have to wake up for church the next day. i didn't mind. but on july 1 (yup, that's the date), i realized that i could actually go out on friday nights after bible study, since the bands don't start playing till around 10, anyway, which is when my bible study ends. so far i've spent 3 weekends of july going out, listening to jr. kilat (for the first time, amazingly), island joe, and rolly wagas (also for the first time).

last friday, i was supposed to go to the full moon party at handuraw where kadangyan played, but ana got sick, and i ended up with the office boys at The Village (also a retro place for me. hadn't been there in years), who had been drinking since 330pm when someone brought beer into the office for (supposedly) a birthday celebration. in fairness, i sat and drank red horse with them at a barbecue place from about 6 to 730 pm, but while i went to bible study, they went on with their binge at a videoke place before i met up with them again at 1130. i ended up treating them to super batchoys at carlo's batchoy at 330 am (ah yes, with greg texting the whole time offering to pick me up in his motorcycle. weird. and i was wearing a skirt! oh, and he was drunk, too). while they threw up all around, i just ate ice from the ice bucket. no beer for me. going to bible study tipsy was bad enough for my head and stomach.

when ana picked me up at lunch for our WILA meeting 8 hours later, my eyes were still half-closed (i felt), though my brain was awake enough to type the corrections for our Constitution's ratification. sunday night ana and i met again for a dinner of barbecue and tocilog to talk about our book of essays (that we hope will find a publisher. our selling point is that in our four years of writing essays for Sun.Star, we've discovered--and we just became friends last March or April--that we've been writing about similar things) and compare notes on some other things besides. her husband even stopped by to eat and talk about legislation to have LPG as a cheaper, cleaner alternative fuel to gasoline.

i didn't bring my cellphone, and by the time ana looked at her watch, it was 11pm, with so much left to share. but it was a sunday night, and so she dropped me off, but my usual undisciplined self went home and still read Snow Falling On Cedars (which i bought in new york a year and a half ago and just decided to pick up last week) till maybe 2 am.

all in all a satisfying weekend. it's another rainy day, and i'm typing this now at a carinderia where they serve good, hot soup. had to walk in the rain, in spite of the heels and laptop, becuase i was so hungry.

a new roommate has moved in today. haven't met her yet. had to go home lunchtime after chico's birthday celebration at persian palate to clean up my room a bit. don't want to antagonize someone who'll be sleeping in the same room as me. i'll be meeting her after this. well, we'll see how it goes. in the meantime, hope this cool weather goes on for many more Mondays.