Weekend Report

I moved out of the dorm last Saturday. It was kind of sad to pack up my stuff and leave, especially since I was one of the last 10% of the residents to leave the place. The dorm is creepier, even in daylight, because of the silence. I guess it’s not really used to that. For some reason, I’ve always imagined my dorm to be female. There are some male places. The Apartment I share with my dad or brothers, for example, or all ShoeMart Malls. Greenbelt is female for me, and so is Palma Hall. Anyway, I’ll be back in two weeks. For some reason, I like living at the dorm more than I like living at home. I mean, yes, there’s food here whenever I want it and cable tv and airconditioning, but I guess it’s about time I moved away. (My friend Boyet asked me once why my parents moved me into a dorm instead of getting me my own place. Believe me, they’d NEVER let me live alone.) But really, I’m enjoying dorm life. Away from my family. Next on my itinerary is vacationing out of town without my family.
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While I was bumming around Majo’s room watching them pack, my phone rang. It was the Lab, who had apparently biked from UP to someplace else and back. He was complaining about being all sweaty and stinky but I hugged him anyway. And no, he didn’t smell like sweaty dog, just sweaty guy. I managed to squeeze two hugs out of him. Poor guy, he looked so exhausted. He is so… veiny. As in his veins were sticking out of his arms. (Will attach a pic as soon as I get to a pc that can.) Anyway, he had to leave. I postponed our dinner coz he looked sooo pooped. Aww.
So my dad picked me and my stuff up, and we went home. I had forgotten I was supposed to meet Kuya Joe for coffee, but twas a good thing I did, cos he had forgotten it too. Hahaha. So we had coffee around eight to ten at GJ’s. (What does GJ stand for, my friend Emil asked. “Glow Job” replied my other friend.) and I came home early. Kuya Joe, for some reason, did not register on my camera. Either he watched the Ring within the past seven days, or he really is a vampire. Hahaha. Joe the Pretty Vampire. (I hope you’re reading this, Kuya Joe.) He IS a pretty boy.
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Sunday was exhausting too. I heard mass in the church I was baptized in, and I remembered that I couldn’t take communion without going to confession. SO I just stood there. The parish priest is well known as an asshole with a mistress, which makes one wonder why we put up with it. It is so… medieval. Of course, the priest has much less power now than he did in Rizal’s time, but still, it’s the same situation of the hypocrite in the pulpit. Anyway, when mass was over, I forgot about it.
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We went to Quiapo to look for a second hand camera. I don’t want to sound clichéd but Quiapo is like another country altogether. The palm readers have their stalls built right up to the church walls and the place is crawling with people. I felt like an ant in a colony. Of course, you have to be on constant guard that nobody is picking your pocket or feeling you up, but I loved the motion of a place. My dad says it hasn’t changed much since he was in college. It’s like a place at a standstill but it’s always, always moving. They sell porn and herbal remedies for *late periods* (read: unwanted pregnancies) right there on the church courtyard. It’s funny, really.
From there we went to my mom’s old photography teacher who lived inside a squatter area. Mr. Patena is a smiling, lanky man who is very much in love with his wife. His eyes crinkle when he laughs and he took my parents’ wedding pictures. He had a lot to say about “genital” photography, as he calls digital photography. “Let me put it this way.” He said to my dad. “If you asked me to take the wedding pictures of your daughter, and I showed up with a teeny tiny camera, would you still respect me?”
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Happy birthday, by the way, to my baby brother Basil, who is aptly named as he wants to become a chef. HAPPY 20th birthday. You’re not a teenager anymore. Get over it! Hahaha.