Les

May bago akong lalakeng katrabaho sa hospital ngayon. Tatawagin ko na lang syang Eli at one time e nakasama ko sya for the whole day sa teleroom kung saan andun ung mga heart monitors( lam nyo ba ung funny green lines sa computer sa mga hospital na nakikita nyo sa sine? un na un..). Anyway, 3 kami sa teleroom. Ung isang kasama namin e nagutom na kaya nag-break muna sya kaya kami lang ni Eli ang naiwan para mag-monitor ng mga patients sa computer screen.

Sooooo, nung una tinanong nya kung nakapunta na daw ba ako sa Cuban funeral? Sabi ko hindi pa kaya naman na-curious ako at nagmagandang loob na tanungin kung ano naman ang kaibahan dahil obvious naman na gusto nyang ikwento. Sabi nya, (in English)  "Hay, naku! Parang hindi libing! Parang party! Nung namatay nga ung lola ko e ang saya nilang lahat! Tapos ung mga kamag-anak namin na di ko na matandaan e nagpunta lang para makita ako!! Tapos panay ang kainan! Ang attitude kasi namin e tapos na yan. Namatay na sya at nagpahinga kaya kumain na tayo." Okay, fine…

Then, eto na! For 20 minutes e naikwento na nya ang lahat ng problem ng tatay nya-na nakulong daw sa Cuba, na mula pagkabata e ayaw na sa kanya ng ate nya kasi mas paborito daw si Eli sa kanilang 2, na nagbubugbugan daw sila ng ate nya nun, na di maganda ang ugali ng ate nya kasi nung birthday daw ng taty nila e t-shirt lang ang regalo ng ate nya sa tatay nila e anlaki daw ng kinikita nya at kinumpara pa nya ang regalo nya na Citizen Watch. Talagang masama ang loob nya sa ate nya kasi na-kwento pa nya na kung pupunta daw dito sa Miami ung ate nya e di man lang magsasabi until 2 days na mula nang dumating. At dahil nga namatay ang lola nila e ipinamana sa kanilang magkapatid ung bahay ng lola nila- at ung ate daw nya e gustong ipagtinda ung bahay at idinagdag pa nya, " Mukha talagang pera un." And he ended his story with " Yan ang ate ko."

Di na nga ako makapag-salita dahil sa gulat ko dahil nakwento na nya ang buong pamilya nya sa akin. All of these in under 20 minutes! Gusto ko sabihin, "Dude, I don’t really need to that much.." At un ang 1st day ever na nakita ko sya dun sa hospital- at alam ko na kung ano ang pamilya nya!

Kung sa bagay, iba kasi ang kultura nila sa atin. Sa atin kasing mga Pinoy, aabutin pa tayo ng buwan bago natin maimbitahan ung tao sa bahay natin o kaya masabi man lang ang mga very intimate facts tungkol sa family nyo. Dito, Cuban man o American, madami sa kanila ang very open (gaya ni Eli) at kahit na 1st ka lang nila nakasama e mahilig sila magkwento ng buhay nila. Na- turn off ako actually kasi nakakatawa sya pero masyado sya madaldal-to talk about your family to other people who you just met says a lot about them, don’t you think? Bakit mo naman sasabihin sa ibang tao ang sira ng pamilya nyo? Feeling ko habang nagkwekwento sya e para akong nasa retreat o recollection! I don’t know if he wanted me to share anything about myself at that moment but I can tell that he didn’t succeed! Kaya ever since that day, kapag nakikita ko sya, I can’t help but thinking kung kumusta na kaya ung ate nya..?    

Today, a Sunday morning, is perfect… Purrrfect… Here I am, solo ko ang bahay, drinking my morning coffee, malamig kasi we’re still in the middle of winter, and I say to myself "This is bliss..! It sure is..". This is my kind of day. Waking up in the morning, ako lang mag-isa, no one to bother me. I like peace & quiet when I’m at home. Some people feel the compulsion to be nice & initiate conversation with others they hardly know-I feel the same way kaya minsan ayaw ko umaattend ng mga parties because I know I would be terribly rude not to say anything at all to a new acquaintance at gusto ko lang sabihin e "Alam mo, di naman natin kailangan mag-usap." I don’t like having company sometimes. I can even imagine myself going to  another country by myself-and I plan to, actually. Not right now, though. First things first. In my experience, I have travelled twice by myself to & fro the US, I like the feeling of being on my toes, on being the alert. I realized na mas observant ako pag ako lang mag-isa. Whereas kung may kasama ako, I don’t pay that much attention to my surroundings ’cause I’m too busy talking. Traveling with someone has it’s pros& cons. You have someone to share memories with. But traveling alone does have it’s excitement for me because you have to try things out of your comfort zone, observe & marvel at things with no one to disturb your train of thoughts. Honestly, I want to learn how to talk to other people. I know, I’m contradicting myself dahil sa sinabi ko kanina about my behavior at parties but one of the things I really want to have is to have the gift of easy conversation. No, no! Not being tsismosa! But to be able to reply to something with wit & cleverness. I could say that I wish I would know what to say, most of the time, at least. In English, a "rejoinder".

About the part of traveling alone, gusto ko sana mag-punta in any country in Europe or maybe kahit sa anong city lang dito sa States. To be on the safe side, since it would be my first time to travel alone, mabuti na muna kung pupunta ako sa lugar kung saan nagsasalita sila ng English. I’m thinking of going to San Francisco, then visit a friend in Santa Monica. Maybe next year pupunta ako. You know, there are just some things you need to experience alone!