Friday, September 3
Sept. 3 Fri.
“Pare, si Celine..TINUNGGA YUNG AMPALAYA!� –Caria
Damn.
Class encounter rocked!
...
Our section held it at the formation house..which was sort of a drag, really. I mean, there wasn’t enough room for all of us, and surely not enough beds. But we were able to make ourselves fit, hehe. Anyway..
We started out with an activity: merry go round thing. Inner circle moves clockwise, outer circle moves a couple of spaces to their left, that kind of thing. And whoever we were matched with, we would talk about a certain topic ms. Jusay would give us for 4 mins. It was such a simple activity, but..it really opened the class up significantly. For some reason, it was so..easy to talk about such topics..to spill your guts for 4 minutes..
Question1: what is occupying your mind right now?
Question2: what was the most embarrassing moment of your life?
Question2: what is one decision you really regret?
Question3: if you were to die tomorrow, how would you live your life today?
Question4: how would you like to be remembered as after you die?
The last ones made me choke..and made my classmates see a whole new side of me. After that activity, we had the affirmation game. Yknow, the one where a classmate sits in the middle chair and is not allowed to speak, and everybody else says something good about her. The first ones were really serious (and very touching), but it was taking too long so we had to cut it short 4 mins of affirmation each. Even then, the time schedule couldnt accommodate everyone, so we just had the group affirmation.
We were made to stand up(all of us), and go to the person who we thought needs affirming. Well, everyone hugged and kissed pretty much everyone. There was a lot of..tears..but I decided not to cry. Coz I never cry in school. Ever. I vowed never to let a drop of tear touch a single inch of school property. First, we hugged for fun, then..I turned to Anne and Nica..
I embraced them..one in each arm. They hugged me tight, and..
Damn. I hated myself so much for making them cry.
“Celine..f-from now on..p-pakikinggan mo na kami, ha?�
“But..I always listen to you..�
“We mean – REALLY pakinggan mo kami.�
“...�
And..there was one..ah, it was inevitable. God let her be my classmate for a reason. And I knew what she would do.
I ended up breaking my vow..
And I wasnt sorry at all.
(see Sept. 4 entry)
...
When dinnertime came along, we were famished. So once seated, we conservatively scooped up some rice, forked a piece of lumpiang shanghai, and ladled a small amount of beef&mushroom. On first bite, it was heaven. And from the looks on the faces of my tablemates..they were lost in bliss too.
PARE, ANGSARAAAAAAP!!!
But of course, the food finally got finished. All too soon. I think it was Dom who stood up to put her plate in the kitchen, when one of the formation house personnel came to our table and poured more beef&mushroom in the bowl. That was the point where we twitched.
Dom: *blinks* “Wait..may refill?�
Lady: “Oo. Gusto nyo i-refill ko rin yung lumpia?�
Us: *twitch twitch* *jaws drop*
Caria: “Walangya, may refill!�
Class: *falls silent* *blinks* “May refill..?�
(pause)
Everyone: “MAY REFIIIILLLL!!!� *wolfs down on food* “Pa-refill po! Pa-refill po!!!�
Me: *laughs through mouthfuls*
We all put on a helluva lot of .2s that night!
...
After dinner, we had the amazing race. It was ingenious, ill give you that. Ang saya, sobra!!!
Each group was made up of 6-8 members, and were tied together side by side by their forearms (the leader had to be at one end). Each group was equipped with only 3 flashlights. The object of the game was to first find the class officer specified to your group at the start of the game. That officer has a station hidden somewhere in or around the formation house, and your group has to successfully finish the task given to you. If you succeed, you get a puzzle piece and the clue to the next officer you have to look for. But if you lose, you have to choose: take the puzzle piece and leave a member behind, or skip the station. When you finish all the tasks, you have to complete the puzzle and submit it.
And now...im gonna tell how it happened for our group’s point of view. *grin*
...
Okay, it started outside the formation house. We were tied together(very tightly!) by our forearms side by side. Caria, our group leader, was on the left end, and I was on the right end. When the bell rang, the lights were turned off(all the lights! Gabi pa naman yun, so the only lightsource were our flashlights!), and we scurried into the formation house. Our group looked for the officer who liked vanilla icecream. When we spotted Bianca hiding in a small clearing outside, we had reached our first station. Our task: make and eat a sandwich in 45 seconds. Sounds easy?
WRONG!
We were asked to pick three numbers from 1-5. We picked..1,2, and 5, I think. Apparently, the numbers represented an ingredient each. And we got:
Spam, mayonnaise, and SALT!
We discovered just how HARD it was to make a sandwich if youre tied to each other, and cant reach for things without raising the hands of the ones youre tied to.. First, we had to scour the ground to find the friggin KNIFE! Once we did, Caria placed the spam slices on the bread. At that point, we sorta just..froze. Kinda went braindead. Pat was holding the saltshaker, and I was holding the mayo jar.
Bianca: *looks at us* “Hello? 30 seconds!�
Us: *jolts back to reality*
Caria: “LAGYAN NYO NA MGA DUDE!�
Pat: *frantically shakes the salt on the spam*
Me: *frantically tries to wrench the mayo jar open* “AYAW BUMUKAS!!�
Caria: “Akin na!� *takes the jar* *tries to wrench it open, fails*
(pause)
Caria: *frantically taps the jar cover with the knife*
Me: *laughs my head off*
Mafe: “Akin na!� *wrenches the jar open*
Us: “YES SI MAFE! LALAKENG LALAKE!� *laughs*
Mafe: *glops mayo on spam* “Sige go, kain na!�
Us: *frantically tears pieces off the sandwich*
Bianca: “Ten..nine..eight..� *looks at us*
Us: *winces at the taste*
Bianca: *laughs* “Masarap?�
Us: “Ghaghi kha tuluhguh Byngkh!�
Bianca: *laughs even more* “Okay, you have the puzzle piece..enjoy your meal!�
Pat never ate mayo before. But we had a helluva laugh. Everyone commended everyone, and we really enjoyed it. I was still laughing as we ran to find Kate.
...
We found Kate hiding in a secluded room at the end of a corridor. When we reached her, we saw the covered Tupperware containers, and knew..it was fearfactor. *twitch*
First, we had to assign a member to take out a toothpick from a container full of crushed orange gelatin. Agot volunteered, and was kinda shocked to know that she had to do it with her MOUTH. Well, when she finally licked a toothpick out, it had a #6 taped to it. Kate uncovered the #6 tupperware, and told us we had to eat the contents in 2 minutes. What was inside?
Ampalaya and egg.
We dug in. At first, everybody thought it tasted great. But then, everybody started gagging and choking. I was the only one left munching and enjoying the food.
Caria: “h-hindi ko na kaya, mga dude..� *gags*
Madol: “Naiiyak na ko!�
Them: “ANG PANGIT NG LASA!� *chokes*
Me: *happily munches on handfuls of ampalaya* “Hindi ba kayo pinapakain ng ganto sa bahay nyo?�
Them: *stares at me* “Oh my God Celine..kaya mo?!�
Me: *shrugs* *laughs* “Thank my dad!�
Them: *continues to stare* “Grabe..sige, Celine, YOURE OUR ONLY HOPE!�
Me: *laughs*
Them: *chants* “Sige, Celine, kain lang! Kain! Kaya mo yan! Youre our only hope!�
Me: *blinks* “Hm..di mashadong masarap yung timpla..�
Them: “PLEASE CELINE, DALI!�
Kate: “Five..four..�
Me: *picks up the Tupperware, drinks up last bits*
Them: *laughs their heads off* “GRABE ESTRADA, DI KA TAO!�
Me: *grins*
Kate: “Very good! You get another puzzle piece!�
Them: “Iba talaga si Celine!�
Oh well, for once dads feeding tactics paid off, haha.
...
Our next station was Annes. She stood in the middle of the corridor beside a red timba(pardon the taglish!) full of fist-sized stones. She ordered the girls on the very ends – me and Caria – to lift an empty green timba each. We were ordered not to say a word during the activity, as our other members answered the questions Anne asked them. Well, it sounded easy enough..until we learned that for each wrong answer, Anne would (sadistically) dump two heaping handfuls of stoned in each of our timbas.
Okay, so after three mistakes, my nerves were screaming for mercy. And by the look on Carias face, her nerves werent too happy either. But still, it was fun..and ironic, hehe. Coz most of the questions..only Caria and I knew the right answer! But we werent supposed to talk!
Anne: “Okay, sino ang mga member ng AFS sa section natin?�
Agot: “Erm..�
Them: *enumerates 7 girls* “Seven ata..oo, seven.�
Anne: “Sigurado kayong seven?�
Me: *eyes widen* “Mmmmphhhh! Mph! Mphhhh!� *shakes head vigorously* *eyes rivet to Anne*
Anne: *looks at me* *grins*
Them: “Yep, sure kami.�
Anne: “WRONG.� *dumps stones in our timbas*
Them: “Hah? Baket? Sino pa kulang?�
Anne: “Haha, hulaan nyo!�
Me: “KAHARAP NYO LANG! SI ANNE!� *laughs*
Us: *laughs*
When we finally got 8 questions right, we were able to drop the timbas, get our puzzle piece, and regain circulation in our arms..and have a heck of a laugh about the interesting trivia we learned about our class.
...
Next station was Charlenes. Char stood outside a door, and made us pick out three slips of paper that contained clues about three items we were supposed to look for inside the room in 2 minutes. The catch? The room was pitch black, we were only allowed one flashlight, and three of us had to be BLINDFOLDED!
Well stupidly enough, I agreed to be blindfolded. Once inside, the group scrambled to scour the room for the pen, key, and lipgloss. And I..I just tried not to hit every inch of my skin against the walls, bed, trashcan, floor, and everybody else. I accepted the fact that I was completely helpless, and just depended on Mafe who was tied beside me. At the last second, I accidentally grazed my hand over a pillow, and heard a cluttering noise.
Char: “Guys, five seconds!�
Caria: “May kulang pa ba?�
Them: “OO! YUNG LIPSTICK!�
Me: *runs hand over pillow*
(cluttering noise)
Mafe: “AYAN! AYAN YUNG LIPGLOSS! KUNIN MO CELINE!�
Me: *turns to her* “Wish ko lang nakakakita ako, hahaha!�
Mafe: “Ay oo nga!� *reaches forward*
Them: *laughs*
Ah well, we were able to finish the task, get our puzzle piece..and develop a greater trust and respect for each other. *smiles*
...
Okay, now for the bloody task. Nikkis! She was stationed outside, and her task was by far the hardest. We had 6 minutes to turn on the gripo(ngek, pangit talaga kung taglish!), fill up 4 cups(with holes!), pass them from one person to another, and dump the water in a Styrofoam container up to a line.
Okay, so when the timer started, I scrambled across the kiosk, traced the green hose, turned on the tap, told Caria to scramble back, and we sat down in the space between the hose end and the Styrofoam cooler. Caria had the hose end, and was in charge of filling up the cups, and I was on the other side, to dump the water in the cups into the cooler and pass the cups back to Caria.
Easy enough strategy. But..there were..complications. First, it was pitch black. No way to hold our flashlights, except sticking them between our tied forearms. Second, the hose was out of control – it practically drenched Caria from the waist down. And by the time the cups reached me, they were only half filled, haha. Well, I got the knack of dumping the water..but returning the cups to Caria was another story. See..its not that easy. Cups tend to..roll in a circular manner..
Caria: *water sprays her* “Leche, basang basa na ako!!�
Us: *laughs* “Basa tayong lahat!�
Mafe: *passes cup to me* “O ayan Celine..�
Me: *dumps water into cooler on my right* *tries to roll the cup back to Caria*
Cup: *rolls PAST Caria*
Them: “Celine! Tila ata galit ka sa mundo! Easy lang, haha!�
Me: “Haha, okay..� *rolls the cup gentler*
Cup: *rolls around in a circle*
Them: *laughs* “Ibang klase ka talaga mag-rolyo, Estrada!�
Oh well, we finally got to fill the cooler up to the line. But then, we realized we had to turn off the tap too! So we scrambled (faster this time!), turned off the gripo, and scrambled back. Tadaaa! A congratulations from Nikki, and a puzzle piece! (And a midnight shower too.)
...
Okay, last station was Che-ches. Since another group was still completing the task, we had time to sit down, and try to piece together the puzzle. By the time we heard loud voices singing kiddie songs..we knew the task was gonna be hard.
So, the task was easy enough. We stood infront of a long table, a pair of rubbershoes infront of us each. Our instructions were in 3 minutes..tie and UNTIE the pair of shoes together. The catch? Damn.
GRABE YUNG CATCH.
We had to sing the whole time! The singing should never stop, or else we lose. And another thing..our thumbs were scotchtaped to our pinkies.
Me: *eyes widen* “How in the world can we do this with our fingers like..THIS?!�
Cheche: *laughs* “ah basta, kayanin nyo yan!�
Us: *blinks* *looks down on shoes* “Er..�
Cheche: “TIMESTARTSNOW!� *laughs*
Us: *rips out a shoelace from the pile* *frantically tries to weave them into the shoes*
Cheche: “I cant hear you singiiiiing!� *grins*
Us: “ROW ROW ROW YOUR BOAT, GENTLY DOWN THE STREAAAAM! MERRILY MERRILY MERRILY MERRILY, LIFE IS BUT A...ANG HIRAP!�
Cheche: “ay, bawal tumigil!�
Me: “TWENGKEL TWENGKEL LETEL STAR! HAW AY WANDER WAT YU AR!�
Them: *laughs their heads off*
Mafe: “A B C D E F G..� *twitches* “Cel, wag mong itaas yung kamay mo please!�
Me: *laughs* “Sorry, sorry..� *lowers my hand closer to the shoes* “Ayan..�
Mafe: “Ayan, thanks!�
Cheche: *looks at us* “Aba..very good..�
Caria: “Dudes, kumanta pa kayo!�
Me: “UNAFFECTED!� *laughs*
Them: “Pano yun?�
Me: “Ahem. THERE NEVER SEEMS TO BE, BECAUSE WHAT I BELIEVE, A MOMENT IM NOT TRYING..TAPOS KO NA!!� *rips laces off*
At the last second, we helped each other rip the laces off the shoes..Yes! we won the last puzzle piece! We completed the puzzle, got declared 2nd place, and got untied. Wow..we never knew how so much fun could bond people so much.
...
After the game, we settled down and discussed our reflections on what we learned. Apparently, the stations stood for different aspects..
Biancas (sandwich making) stood for unity, as you help each other make and eat the sandwich. And we learned something..interesting about that station. The other numbers stood for.. Ketchup and peanut butter! Just imagine if we got a combination of ketchup, mayo, and peanut butter..*shudder*
Kates (fear factor) stood for moral support, as the members encourage each other to eat the disgusting food. Actually, we had it lucky. The other Tupperware containers had things like: isaw (chicken intestines), balut (underdeveloped duck eggs), and betamax!
Kriska: “Grabe..akala namin BROWNIES yung betamax! Kaya sige kami nang sige!�
Them: *laughs*
Kriska: “sabay, biglang..angpangit nang lasa! Shucks, di pala brownies!�
Them: *rolls on the floor, laughing*
Me: *blinks* “Ano ba yung betamax?�
Char: “Nilutong dugo ng manok.�
(pause)
Everyone: *eyes widen* *gags* “YAAAK!�
Me: *holds throat* “Grabe! Ang sarap nang brownies!�
Agot: “Yung samin kaya, grabe! Ampalaya!�
Class: *winces* “Nakaya nyo?�
Pat: “Anong nakaya?! Nag iiyakan na nga kami eh!�
Class: *roars with laughter*
Mafe: “Pero ibang clase si Celine! Hindi tao!�
Them: “OO! Grabe!�
Caria: “Si Estrada, TINUNGGA BA NAMAN YUNG AMPALAYA!�
Everyone: *rolls on floor, laughing*
Annes (timbas and stones) stood for accepting the faults of others, as the girls who held the green timbas shouldered the mistakes of their team members.
Chars (blindfolded item search) stood for trust, when we had to trust our groupmates on leading us around while we were helplessly blind.
Nikkis (cup in water passing) stood for teamwork, when we had to strategize how we go about passing the cups and filling up the cooler with water. Well, apparently, we ALL got drenched. *grin*
Cheches (shoe tying) stood for..well..honestly, I forgot. Something to do with teamwork and being cheerful about your work. And probably something to do with breaking your fingerbones.
...
Well, after the activity, we had a midnight snack of sickeningly sweet desserts. Then we trudged back to our rooms, some of us took a bath, while others – like me – collapsed straight to bed.
But..even then, the action still didnt end. At some point, I was about to drift off to sleep..
Other room: *banging sounds*
Me: *pops one eye open*
Other room: *thuds*
Voices: *very wrong sounds..*
Cais voice: “Aleli..�
Me: *eyes widen* “HOY! ANONG GINAGAWA NYO JAN?!�
Them: *roars with laughter*
Cais voice: “Cel...wanna join us..?�
Me: “NO THANK YOU!�
Us: *laughs our heads off*
When I finally had enough courage to sleep (coz I was terrified, it was pitch black outside the window, man!), I closed my eyes and went blank. Next thing I knew, Camille had opene the door, and was waking me up. I took a bath, and we all went down for breakfast (no refills this time), then made our class Wish Tree.
I dont know why, but..everybody seems so..different in the morning. I dont know about everybody else, but I notice it. I entered the dorm quarters and chatted with Cheche and Krissel a bit, then looked at my classmates around me – some were texting, rubbing the sleep off their eyes, walking around in towels, some were sleeping, and some were..ehe..lathering lotion on their skin. *twitch* But with the sunlight pouring through the windows..I dont know..
Everyone looked so..
Perfect.
Beautiful.
I couldnt help but smile.
...
And the fact that I got an 86 in Filipino in the card didnt wipe that smile off.
Oh, and..
The souvenir was a killer.
Icequeen out.