You completed my August.
My August this year fulfills a life in color. From the darkest graves to the shiniest stars, I feel like this month pinched a part of my pacemaker. Few of the reasons are the following:
Bye work, hello student life: The urgency of finishing my graduate studies dawned on me after months of communing with the verdant terraces of Ifugao. One of my goals before I reach my silver year in this planet is to finish my MS degree and consequently, obtain my PhD before I attain my three decades of stay here. With this in mind, I decided to continue my graduate studies on a full time basis, without working. Fortunately, I was awarded with a scholarship (Hurray!). The said blessing fully convinced me to do one of the things close to my heart: studying. The perks of being a student come naturally: there is no fixed schedule, there is more time with friends, there are a lot of opportunities to be active in my organizations and a lot more. So far, I am constantly waking up to the challenge of the subjects I enrolled this semester. I also want to share that in my pollination biology class, I am the sole student. Yes, you read it right. I am the only student in my class, no classmates! No pressure, as they say.
Family time after a long time: Before I engaged on the said endeavor, I needed to regain the child in me. And the only way to achieve that is to go back home. Without any wishful thinking, I went home in Cagayan. After months of not hibernating in my refuge, I finally diverted from my usual path. It was a perfect decision since most of my cousins and relatives also had a vacation at home. The most fun part was when we had a get-away and experienced the fascinating beaches in Sta. Ana. The bonding moments in the form of card games, volleyball, swimming and several photo ops were nonetheless full of gaiety. Seeing the laughs and giggles made me want to just wrap my arms around them. Indeed, home is where the heart is.
Matalino’t Maginhawa: It was also the perfect time to visit one of the places that make me feel like the world stopped moving and everything is but a piece of cake. A place called Fancy Crepes located at Matalino Street captured my heart when a friend brought me there. I asked my buddy Pat (theboyswhosaidyes) to come along. He’s a close friend from Elbi who transferred to UP Diliman. He lives at Mailap Street, somehow just a stone throw away. I programmed myself to start doing a required paper in class while he was reading some articles in his history subject. Coincidentally, some of my Tumblr friends came also to the place. To my surprise, we were already together catching up minus Pat, of course. He was busy. We continued the fun at Maginhawa Street and landed in a soulful place for drinking.
Amazing Bloggers RACED: My first Tumblr Ala E Meet Up (TAEMU) in Batangas was remarkable. On its 12th year, the organizers made it more interesting by conducting an amazing race. I was lucky to be one of the racers. I joined because I would like to experience TAEMU, a very Batangueňo way of coming together. Truly, fun sprouted effortlessly. We, the bloggers outside Batangas were paired with bloggers from the province. Luckily, I was paired with Angge (angdakilangkaaway). Yes, I was really lucky because she knew the routes around the city; she freely admitted that she is “gala”. We went through the challenge and hyped with our fellow racers. Our teamwork brought us close to the Final Four. Unluckily, the sad (not-so-sad I think) part was we were “just” close to that. Thanks to the “powers” of our beloved fellas we were eliminated. (Tagging….) Oops! Oh well the more important part is the thought of new friends gained. To Em (angambisyosangpalaka) whom I heard and shared a lot of stories, I miss you na! (Hashtag clingy). Kudos to the organizers (special mention to Kuya Melvin, the beben-eleben ) and everyone who made the event possible. P.S. Ang CUTE (to the nth power) ni kuya Cris (the israelmekaniko). I cried!XD
Knight Protector of the Soil: Contrary to my initial plan of not joining any organization in my MS years, I saw myself uniting with a conservation and development society. Instead, I fulfilled a plan to be “legitimate batchmates” with some of my friends. I have a strong feeling that this will be a new addendum to my organizational experience here in the university.
Awkwardness came into the picture: Happiness is… Love is… Sometimes not all entities in the gray area are lost. Things may have faded a little but still, they remain. They occupy the unseen part of your heart but small vibrations would fight the emptiness. Honestly, I could not process a definite feeling for this unforeseen situation. Just merely seeing you was…heaven? No, I am exaggerating again. But the feeling was near to that. I hope you felt the intensity of my so-called clashing and confusing stance. One thing is for sure, it was nice to see you. Not just meeting you again but had “some” time to spend with you. It was just sad to know how ephemeral it was. Well I know will bump into you in the future. Yes, you know that. So at this time and in the coming times, I just want to see you be brave.
The 31 days of August were like a year for me. I just hoped it was already a year passed because I am hoping to see you again. Time, can you really be my friend? Please do some rewind and fast forward moments for me.
