Ok. For those who are wondering what has been happening to me and why I hadn’t been writing in the past few months or so, here’s a fill-in. That is if any of you actually exist out there. But who cares if no one cares, right? I intend to write this for myself anyway. Maybe five, ten years from now I’d get to remind myself how kickass I was in my twenties. Hah! But if there’s actually someone else out there reading this, after three months of being M.I.A., wow, I love you. And kindly give my regards to Sophie too.
Ten most notable things that happened to me in the past three months or so
- Got a job. That’s right. The most impossible of the impossibles actually happened. Dayeater is not jobless after college. Not only that. He’s a high school teacher at the Ateneo. Oh, yes. A high school Religion teacher. Now, at this moment I can’t really explain how this phenomenon actually came about. Everything’s a bit surreal right now. A part of me is still expecting the White Rabbit to run past or something. Besides, it’s hard to contemplate on life when you’re drowning on paperwork. I’ve got a hundred of lesson plans to make and a thousand of quizzes to check, and hang-ups from college. Maybe I’ll try to explain myself next time I get to surface out. Teaching high school in the Ateneo is a great experience, especially for someone like me who’s actually from there. Pay’s a killer though.
- Got a ride. I’m now driving a motorbike. It’s a black Honda Wave Alpha. Mom and Dad bought it to help me commute to the workplace. Mae named it ‘Keiichi’, like that guy in Ah! My Goddess. I took almost a month to get used to driving. It feels good to have your own motorbike – speeding down a highway at sixty miles an hour, neatly pulling over, cutting the engine, taking off your helmet, brushing your hair with your hands. Can you almost see me grinning over here?
- Learned to swim. I spent two weeks of April learning to swim. Yes, I got into my twenties not knowing how. Yes, I attended a swimming class with kids eight, nine years younger than I am. And yes, I did learn, thank you. No more playing tong-its, making sandcastles, and staying out of the water for me.
- Birthdays. I got Mae a morning delight for her first birthday spent with me. It’s a flowering plant. The cute thing about it is it ‘sleeps’. In the afternoon and at night, its yellow flowers close and its leaves sort of droops. Mae named it ‘Mica’. She loves naming things.*
- The it’s-just-not-your-night night. One night, while I was taking Mae home, it rained. Hard. Then my tires got flat. I pushed Keiichi for like an hour and a half, at night, under the rain. Every vulcanizing shop we got into was closed. I ended up leaving the bike at a friend’s house because it’s getting late, and I’m getting worried about Mae. Later, when I got home, I got into a fight with my brother. It was not a happy night.**
- New hair. I’m not wearing a semi-kalbo anymore. I’ve let my hair grow for two months. It feels weird combing your hair after not doing so for like three years or something. I think this says something about my personality. I’m beginning to conform with society. My rebel days must be over. Sigh.
- New bags. I got two new bags. One’s a Hawk satchel bag, to easily carry all those stuff I bring between home and school. The other one is a Kamaru backpack, to replace my old Trimark one that retired after four years. I love them.
- New threads. Mom took me to the barters to buy me new shirts for school. You know that one at Sta. Cruz, where almost everything is under one hundred pesos? Apparently, they don’t allow teachers to wear t-shirts and slippers in class, not even chucks. It’s an outrage, I tell you. Hah! Anyway, we got five shirts for the bargain price of two hundred pesos. I was actually planning to buy something from the department store, where one decent shirt would cost me around four to five hundred bucks. Moms really know best.
- New fixtures. My old PC got a new table. It saves more space in our room. Me and my brother can now walk around without pushing each other all the time.
- New flip-flops.They're Islanders.
Oh, and here’s a message for me five, ten years from now:
If you’re not rolling in the good life by now, don’t blame me!
I mean, come on, that fork definitely looked better in the crossroads.
I mean, come on, that fork definitely looked better in the crossroads.
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* Here’s a shot at serendipity. Mae’s birthday actually follows mine. Mine’s May 12, and hers is May 13. So, I’m like one year and one day older than her. Ok ok. It’s ‘almost’ serendipity. But, hey, the chances of being with someone with birthdays that close is like one in a million or something. Ok, maybe half-a-million. But still.
* * It’s nice to know that someone’s always there with you when you get into trouble. Mark and his family were happy to help us out even at so late at night. His mom even went so far as lending us an umbrella and a dry t-shirt for me. Thanks so much. Also, Mae adamantly refused to leave me with the flat tire and the cold rain. She was even smiling and telling me it’s ok when I finally got to take her home that night. All through that, she never did complain. She’s such a sweetheart. Love you, Bi.
