Shrill Thrill of April

April is almost halfway through. Argh. Was I unconscious or something? Where did it all go? Well I guess it can be attributed to all the long weekends that we’ve been having, thanks to Holy Week and National Heroes Day, which gave us 4- and 3-day weekends respectively. So much free time, but oddly enough I haven’t been able to blog. Not really a case of not having anything to blog about. Just wasn’t in the mood I guess. Or busy maybe. But time to recap.

Holy Week started the very first day of April. I was actually supposed to be out of town, in Puerto Galera to be exact, to help out with the Take the Test project, spearheaded by Jethro, an advocate and friend of E. The team had been cramming for it the previous week, they more than me, to get everything set. I could only help out with what I was moderately good at, which is words and numbers.

At the last minute, E told me constraints in the budget meant they’d have to cut some of the team from being on site. Of course, priority would be given to the nurses, medical technologists, and peer counselors. It was a little sacrifice for me, towards the success of the project. But a bit of a relief as well, because I dreaded the Holy Week travel rush and the need for kapal-muks had I played GRO for the event. Whew. It would’ve been the first Holy Week ever that I would be spending outside Metro Manila, too.

So instead of going out of town, I stayed in the city. I always treasure the peace in the city whenever everyone’s out town. I love it. But that weekend was not at all boring.

While Holy Thursday was spent at home, there was also planning going on for a Good Friday thingy. What was up? A photo-tour of Manila! So with me and 2 of my pozzie kids, and Papi with 2 of his friends, the 6 of us braved the summer heat to trek through Luneta and Intramuros, and have lunch in Binondo with a couple more pozzie friends catching up with us.

Armed with hardly anything more than a camera each, we soon succumbed to the afternoon heat, not managing to continue the walk in the afternoon. We would’ve been able to squeeze in more sights probably had we started earlier in the day. It was just too hot. So we spent the afternoon indoors just hanging out. I left for home past 10 in the evening. It was a truly fun, tiring and wholesome day spent with friends. Not bad for a Good Friday.

Most of Black Saturday was spent resting, while Easter Sunday saw me having lunch with the family. I finally got to taste the Papi-recommended Crispy Dinuguan of Kanin Club. Absolutely yummy. I also tagged along to do an ocular of the La Mesa Eco-park. For me, there were just too many people there, and it didn’t live up to my expectations of a peaceful and quiet place to spend a day. I was just itching to go home and sleep.

The day was saved by news from E that the Take the Test project was a huge success in Galera. Aside from the voluntary counseling and testing conducted, he said it was the HIV seminar held daily on the beach front that made a huge impact. He says we reached even more people than the million-peso-budgeted efforts of other NGOs and even the DOH. Whoa... I can’t wait to hear more about how it went.

After just four days of work, came another long weekend. Friday was National Heroes Day, another non-working holiday. Something was up. Should I go or not? Fine, someone helped convince me to go. It was to be another pozzie gathering Friday night.

Unlike previous ones, this was going to be at someone’s residence, and not with my usual pozzie group. So even more than usual, my wallflower mode was so on. It was really just a chill night, with some fab singers, some flashy dancers, some overly okray acts, and a whole lot of candles all around. And with more than twenty of us there, things were bound to overflow. If we started out in the living room, but by the end of the evening, most of us were outdoors in front of the house and seated along the sidewalk. Good thing the neighbors didn’t complain.

Although I was my usual quiet self, I did get to meet a lot of new pozzies I hadn’t known or had never seen before. I mean, yeah Papi and some of my “kids” and friends were there, and some I’d just met before or knew by name, but a lot of others I had never seen or been introduced to.

I think my most nega moment of the night was when one of the RITM doctors showed up. I didn’t really know who he was, but heard people calling him “Doc”. Nope, I wasn’t nega just based on having a doctor there. There was just one point in the evening that he called my attention upon seeing me reach for a bud of chicharon, saying I shouldn’t be eating it because it could cause high bood pressure. Seriously?

My mind was reeling. Excuse me? Have we even been introduced? Why exactly was I the only one whose attention you called, when I wasn’t the only one eating chicharon in the first place? Do you have my medical records with you? Did you see something alarming? And while you’re at it, maybe you should go the extra mile and point out every one of us who was either drinking alcohol or smoking, right?

If he was kidding, it wasn't a funny delivery at all. And if he was serious, hello?! There was just some sort of conflict between the professional and personal encounters of being a doctor. Anyway, I was able to keep my mouth shut. And yes, I still ate that chicharon. Bah!

So there, I had my gimmick quota as early as Friday night. I spent most of Saturday at home, highlighted by dinner and coffee with BFF, which I absolutely enjoyed. It was sort of us catching up, and me sending him off as well because... Wheeeee! Basta, I won’t be seeing him for a while because he’ll be... uhm... busy. Wheeeee!

And Sunday was spent dreading yet another Monday once again. Okay, I guess now I know where all the weekends went. Aside from my new addiction... agh, yes I admit… I’m B.I.T.C.H and I’m addicted to an online game... huhuhu... seems like I’ve been pretty busy after all. Some shrill but so much thrill... So far, that’s been April!