Mae invited us over to her hometown in Bogo, Cebu for the whole of Sunday. See, Monday was a holiday, but since we follow American holidays and Sordy had to report for work as well, she and I initially planned on leaving ahead of the group late in the afternoon. However, because we had too much fun and our friends did such a good job of persuading us, we stayed and slept over with the rest of them.
I can't even begin to explain how much we enjoyed ourselves! Of course, it would have been more fun if we were complete. I feel bad for saying this, but all of us are kind of used not having Godece, Patette, Mikko, and Ged around. I wasn't particularly disappointed when none of them came with us. I did however feel really sad when Paul texted me he couldn't make it (but I am done over-analyzing my feelings).
We also made new friends: Darren and Nina. Darren was the guy who offered us a ride. He's really nice and he certainly gained our yes. We've met Nina before but we got to mingle with her closely this time. It was a little awkward during the car ride to Bogo because we had just met Darren and didn't know exactly how to handle ourselves. He however proved to be easygoing and we ended up laughing and talking until we got to Mae's house.
I am also very proud of Jodie. He had been reluctant in going because of the beef between him and Mae. He said he was particularly worried about Mae's mom, but we convinced him anyway. It was time they made up. Seriously, it broke my heart when they fought. I loved them too much to even take sides, so I was really happy when they finally became friends again. Now we can hang out without all that tension and awkwardness!
Aww and the food! We must have eaten a whole week's worth of chow! There was lechon and chicken legs and shrimp and fish and gaaah I could continue for hours! None of us ever felt hungry during the day.
Mae took out her new camera, a gift from her parents, and we took LOTS of pictures! Here is my favorite taken in their living room:
We slept a little before we headed out to Medellin. Mae had been raving about this tarzan jump; she told us we would all thank her after we tried it. I wasn't really looking forward to this because though I can now confidently do zipline without feeling wobbly, I'm still scared shit of heights. The tarzan jump will have you swinging back and forth toward an open field more than 20 feet high. Nina wasn't crazy about it either; she looked really pale when she saw the whole contraption. But I am at that point in my life where I absolutely have to try new things regardless of whether I fear them or not. Besides, I've discovered that the more I am afraid of things, the more fulfilling it feels after I've conquered them.Jodie went first, and everybody watched him like we were in some sort of sports show. It was hilarious watching him! I almost bust a gut laughing. Of course I knew I'd probably do worse, and I did!
My legs were shaking uncontrollably and I held on to those rails as though I would meet my doom if I let go. I screamed "Mommy!!!" all the way until the swings slowed down. I must have sounded annoying. The rest of them pretty much did better after Jodie and I had our go. Nina though took forever to jump. She was even more scared that I was! We cheered her on until she finally mustered the courage to take the plunge. She looked so red though!After tarzan, we decided to try the zipline as well because we needed more adrenaline. The zipline wasn't at all high, so it didn't really pose much of a challenge:
We took a couple of pictures more before we headed home. These are my favorite snaps:
The love I feel for these people is unfathomable. We have been through phases in our relationship but we've managed to stay together in the end. There are people in our circle who come and go but we don't need official membership to be friends. There are a number of people whom I love who aren't in these pictures. It doesn't mean that I love them less. In fact, I miss them terribly—like I probably would miss a limb if I lost it.
What I want to say right now is that my heart is overflowing with happiness. I have been looking for this kind of magic for 7 months since I started working: to be with familiar faces in an unfamiliar place, to re-forge old bonds with new experiences. This is what real adventure is. This is what it feels like to live. ☺
