The Date

This is a ridiculously long post (with no pictures). Read at your risk.
TL;DR see Conclusion, last paragraph.

The Engagement
Cristyl was in Davao for a leadership seminar conducted by her colleagues from AdM and she sent us an SMS to have dinner with her later. She also invited some of her closest friends so I was pleasantly surprised to have been notified of said endeavor. After I left the gym, I immediately headed for school (meeting place) worrying that my tardiness would upset some people.

It wasn’t much of a reunion for them as it was for me. Entering the school was mildly nostalgic; seeing an almost infinite sea of students and their imaginary woes reminded me of my own. We (with Hannah and Noemie) hurried to the Samahan office to find Cristyl and find her they did!

Reunion
I haven’t seen Cristyl since her impressive valedictory speech on our commencement exercises last March so I almost didn’t recognize her amid the hair colour and blush ons. But she was still pretty. Charot. She must have adapted well to the ‘Manilan’ lifestyle because clearly, she didn’t look stressed. We greeted each other (excitingly at that) and went to the Claveria terminal. Then we proceeded to go to the Roxas terminal (I had no idea why) and saw Valerie. She recently received the news of her success at the Nursing board exams so imagine us jumping and screaming with her while onlookers seemed baffled.

Peter called and they decided it was best to decide everything at the mall. Everything was so spontaneous (i.e. unplanned) so I just went with the flow, noisily. We saw Peter and Haroh (and to our surprise, Aimely) there. I haven’t seen him since when and he was really lean! He clearly put on some muscle because he looked bigger. Then we decided to go to ‘Cubiyertos’ (spell check?) to eat.

Dinner
The place was lovely (not too many people) and the food was great. Although quantity wise, it wasn’t satisfying. We talked a lot about what we’ve been doing after the graduation and I was very curious as to what Manila life was about then I realized that I needed to travel more. Lol. I learned that Cristyl had a job in AdM and that she was enrolled there for a semester.

Tammy came late (as usual) and she barely ate. She did have some cake (Valerie’s treat) though. She also passed the Nursing exams so I was really giddy when she arrived and she happened to share the same sentiment with me. I was genuinely happy and proud for her. We paid for the food and left hastily.

The Chaser
Afterwards we went to this café place (I forgot the name) to talk more. We had a hard time choosing our orders because we were (sort of) full and the slections were way beyond our budget (well, mine at least). Alfred finally arrived and we cheered at his arrival. We had some (non-alcoholic) drinks here and there whilst continuing our discussion on what we’ve done with our lives so far.

Learning
I learned a lot from the RNs. We’ve had the same conversation before about how they fare at the hospital and every single time we do, I could only imagine myself (always unfailingly) fainting on the spot. I could never do their job, having someone else’s life on my hands would only spell harm for said person. I’ve neglected to perceive how good and selfless they were at what they do. Our nurses should get paid more then, I thought.

Then Cristyl talked about her job on how they help people, the youth especially, tap (and possibly enhance) their leadership potentials. They do not merely limit themselves to training said people and randomly conducting seminars but also to form and foster said organization within the premise of their recipients and for said organizations (including theirs) to be self sustaining in the long run.

I pray I could be of service to people like they do.

Then they counseled me (intensely) on why I’ve been acridly frugal on my career decisions (and consequently being pessimistic about everything I choose) and on what I currently lack: a clear-cut career path. Ugh. It pains me to recognize that they’re right; that I do have tendencies to be irregular at my career options and too particular about my selections. I recognize that I am excessively prudent on this matter and that it’s not always harmful to have lowered expectations. I also revealed that most of us have this belief on self-entitlement myths and that ranting too much on this would warrant another post. Lol.

Conclusion
Then, on the heat of the discussions, my mum called. I had to go. So, we wrapped up our conversations with small talk and some hilarious commentary about Alfred’s apparent disinterest at said discussion. So, we (Tammy, Hannah and I) called in a cab and went aboard. We slipped a few topics here and there while in the vehicle and before we knew it, we were home.

Hence, we’ve all played the ‘catch up with your friends’ life game’ before and it’s almost always a guaranteed funfest. Nothing beats the salty humor of your seatmate’s sporadic ramblings, the seriousness of the person across you when he/she talks about impending challenges and the encouragement you get from their conquest of an almost insurmountable obstacle. And a sprinkle of gossip makes every detail delectable.

Cheers! :D