Senti night

 I bumped into one of my graduate school classmates tonight at Glorietta. He was with his wife. He told me he would be leaving this Sunday for the US, and that he was going to stay in Seattle. Funny thing was that its been so long since I last saw him but I could still remember the other occasions like the christening of his first child (and son) which I had attended with my other classmates, all the way in Cavite.

 That other day stands out in my mind..it was hot, hot, hot all the way out there. The food was...well, filling and good considering I could eat a horse during those days (and a boar and an elephant...). I was wearing this Indian blouse my learning team mate Keenan had given me (red and green thread seemed to be interwoven very closely giving it a red or green sheen with some gold mixed in it). Nice thing to wear for pictures and momentous memorable events like that.

After the lunch and cooing and drooling over the baby (hey, it was a two-way drool!), our group went out to explore that resort in Cavite. I went back to AIM with Bong afterwards zigzagging along the road because both of us didn't know the way back and I remember I had a headache, which fizzled out when I went back to my 24-hour airconditioned room and slumped like a limp noodle onto the bed.

 Why do I remember it now? Well, I guess you could say it started out last Friday, when I got a text from Sir Boboy telling me that Jasper (another classmate) had left for Singapore that night. While Jas had told me on his birthday he would be leaving for Singapore to join his wife, and leave his cushy (ehem) job at Globe, I promised not to tell other people about it to avoid nipping in the bud any plans (ow, be superstitious why don'cha?)...and suddenly the news hit me like a thrown tub of water when it became reality.

 Last month I confirmed that Bong was leaving for the US and resigning from SM. Then came Jas, and now it was Wes and his family. Sir Boboy texted me saying we could expect this because this is what our AIM stint had resulted in. But I couldn't help but think, well what about all those people who are leaving the Philippines even before and until now? They didn't need or have an AIM degree to know/feel/see that something is seriously wrong with our country.

 Years before, my then-boyfriend and my officemates (current and ex-ones too) urged me to to work abroad, and there I was being noble and optimistic about the Philippines, saying we can still do something about helping our country here.

They say AIM makes you think/react/work etc. faster and you could see the big picture clearly. Well yeah...I'll give them that...but sadly..can I be blamed for being sentimental and sad when all I can see now is really an exodus of Filipinos or as a professor once told me...like rats deserting a sinking ship...please don't tell me this will turn out to be a diaspora?

 Well, anyway, before my maudlin thoughts keep cropping up like flies in a dung heap (urgh!), I  will stop myself. I started out writing since I felt some sentimental thoughts about my batch, and I really enjoyed myself with making friends with this particular group of people...the same way I feel about my college and to some degree my high school classmates too (well, when one is young, one doesn't form too many attachments or maybe that was just my case).

I'm just rambling really, writing what pops out at this time of night...still though, who is next?