dual*ities

This week has been a week of “goodbyes,” starting with the surprise despedida party for Fr. Mario on Monday night. After 14 (or was it 15?) years of serving as JVP’s chaplain, this groovy priest is now passing on the baton to Fr. Mars (another kewl priest), as he moves to Boston for his sabbatical. It was a brief gathering with the JVP framily, but it was enjoyable and memorable nonetheless, what with the sumptuous food, the fun games, and the wonderful bye-bye video lovingly prepared by Kangirl. No tears were shed, since I don’t think Fr. Mario’s departure has really sunk in yet... not even on the part of Fr. Mario himself. But I’m pretty sure that his presence in JVP functions, as well as his inspiring homilies, his funky dance moves, and all the playful banter that he so loves to instigate, will be missed.

Here’s a manipulated mag cover I made, which doubles as Fr. Mario’s bye bye card:

Meanwhile, the other “goodbye” happened last Thursday, when we sent off my cousin Rona for her flight back home to the U.S.—but not before we spent time together shopping for pasalubongs, hunting for books and CDs of local artists, touring Metro Manila (via LRT/MRT), watching movies about RP, analyzing Philippine culture, and simply talking about anything and everything under the Philippine sun. So yeah, it has been a fun albeit hectic week with my cousin. Playing Ate (and “family girl”) isn’t so bad after all.:)

But then again, for every goodbye, there is a corresponding “hello"... or at least, a corresponding “how do you do.” The first of such came on Monday night (after Fr. Mario’s despedida) at 70’s Bistro, where my friends and I decided to hang out with expectations of watching Rivermaya do their thing. Well, Rivermaya, for some reason, decided not to start doing their thing until past 11:20 p.m., which got some of us annoyed. But then, I didn’t get as bothered by the band’s “unprofessionalism” (as Maita calls it) as I normally would be, because for some reason, my cousin (who was with her Fil-Am friends at that time) ended up in the same bar. The coincidence of it all kind of amazed me and took my mind off the fact the band was taking their time before performing. But that was just for starters (it's just a side story actually). This is the main story: On our way out of the place, I heard somebody calling my name. When I turned around, I was sooo surprised to see Jib, my former student from Bulan (who was part of a group of students that I fondly called my “wholesome boys” ü). In Bistro, of all places! I couldn’t believe my eyes. My life in Bulan seems so far away from my present reality that seeing a former student of mine in one of my friends’ usual hang-out places is quite surreal. And gosh, I felt so old after hearing that Jib has graduated from college and is now working here in Manila. But I was thoroughly pleased as well when I learned that he is an Economics graduate—because that’s the subject that I taught his class.:) So yah, that encounter really made my day. It totally made up for the hours we spent standing on our feet, in a jampacked venue, waiting for the band to perform.

Anyway, it turned out that my “encounters with my past life in Bulan” was not an isolated incident. Just yesterday, I received a phone call from one Mrs. Lopez. As my mom’s assistant was transferring the call, I was trying to rack my brains for memories attached to the name. Was she someone I met while gathering data for my thesis? I didn’t think so. Or was she a parent of one of my former alagas in Pathways? Nah. Teacher Mike’s mom? Definitely not! And so, I decided to receive the call, not knowing who to expect. Then, when I talked to the lady on the other end of the line, I realized that she is a parent of one of my former students in Bulan (whose group I fondly called my “good boys,” just 'coz the reverse, albeit a more appropriate name for their group, would not sound so encouraging ü). Anyway, the mom was saying that she uncovered an old notebook, found my number on it, and decided to give me a call to invite me to visit their house in V. Luna sometime. She also proudly announced that her son Rogel has just graduated and is now eligible to become a policeman. Wow, I must say, he really has come a long way. To think I (and my co-teachers) used to do lots of “police” and “detective work” on this same kid’s activities and whereabouts when he was in high school! Hehe.

So there you go. Seems like my “past” has been constantly knocking at my door lately. Hmm, I wonder what that could mean. And I mustn’t forget that “get-together” I promised another group of students after I’m done with my thesis defense. Now, if only I could get Chris or Jay to go with me....:)

Speaking of thesis, I saw the person who arranges the defense scheds at Gesu yesterday, and she said that they finally set a date for mine. It will be on September 23, at 12:00 n.n. Gosh, that’s like waaay later than I expected, or at least hoped for. Apparently, my panelists are very busy, and had a hard time finding a common time for my defense. Oh well. Beggars can’t be choosers, I guess. So there goes my aspirations of finishing my defense in the next one or two weeks. Now, I have a three-week gap in my sched and I don’t exactly know what I’d do with it. But then again, there are more things in life to complain about than a three-week sort-of-vacation. So yah, it’s all good.

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On the subject of goodbyes, the ADMU team said bye-bye to solo second spot after losing to UST this afternoon, and after the results of last Thursday’s DLSU-UE game (which DLSU won) went in favor of UE by technicality.:( Now, ADMU has to win all its remaining games (against tough opponents at that!) to force a play-off versus UE for the second championship slot. Hmm, looks like the berth for the Finals will really be ONE BIG FIGHT. In every sense of the phrase.