This chronicle that you’ll be reading below was written by my old-time college classmate, Josh and was retrieved from my Friendster account – back then when we used to write testimonials (oftentimes, obliged to) for our friends. I haven’t heard anything from him now and haven’t seen him ever since we graduated. But this one’s really memorable:
[1]
Its not the way she boosts my ego; the
good laughs we had together over trifles;
the sentiments we shared and kept at
bay; the projects that we rushed for a
double deadline; group reports that we’ve
slaved upon and knockout class
presentations that we triumphantly
pulled off and aced; the passion we
harbor for the arts; nor the stories we
brewed over coffee, that made Kat and I
the team to be. If not for Imz, whom I
also adore, we probably ended up as
thesis partners. Hey, there’s the word!
Partners! But as I said, our friendships
anchor is not among the aforementioned
instances. Linked together, they were
merely the chains that held the immense
weight of our bond.
[2]
And as for the metaphorical anchor?
Simple. We almost died together, all for
the sake of another class requirement.
For the clueless reader and for the
purpose of documentation as well,
consider this string of memory: 1st
semester + rainy season + Field
Research + profiling a remote upland
community + more or less half of our
grade at stake + it certainly ain’t a one
day affair + a total traveling distance
described by a 40-minute drive, 20-
minute walk, 7-meter wide river (and still
widening!), and a final 40-minute hike,
with intermittent stopovers to catch
ones breath + data gathering once we
got there + doing some of the household
chores for our host families + sleeping
over for the night + another day of data
gathering (were talking about 7 busy
weekends here) + picture taking galore
On Our Way: Literally Lost in Wilderness
"pangukot kadyos"
[3]
+ a bunch of bruises, sprains, wounds,
cuts, and kadyos seeds for mementos +
Kat accidentally showing off her baby
blue bra + being reluctant soundboards
to our 2 host families that were ironically
immersed in a politically fueled family
feud + finally saying goodbye and
promising them that we’ll return, though
we never did return + it rained so we had
to wait for a while + skirting back the old
route + the rivers current seemed
angrier than before (if you’re smart, the
equation’s quite easy: river + upland +
rain = rampaging waters!!!)
our weekly adventure
with the townfolks
[4]
+ a 20-minute small talk spent on
forming an action plan and saying
parting words in case we ain’t that lucky
+ doing a picket line formation + taking
one arduous baby step at a time, with
the current so strong that our mojos
were slipping of our feet + a lot of
cussing around when the water was
already at our belly buttons + finally and,
rather, hysterically reaching the other
bank + Kat absently remarking that it
was probably the best time of her life,
how fun it was, and that shell never do it
again (huh?!) + as a post traumatic
reaction, countless days of reveling at
our good lot!
*sigh*
Kat and I had one sentiment, though.
Both of us only got 1.5s, and that was
literally almost dying for it!
