…a brief glance…

It’s hard to sum up in words what the trip was like. It was more that I ever thought it would be. Deep down, I knew my going was a form of escapism. As Bipo pointed out in our recent catch up, kudos to the bud, he still gets my psychie! As happy as I was about being back, I have never felt completely settled and that bothered me. After all, it was my decision to come back, I felt it was time, and by golly I went. Though things began to fall into place little by little, starting work, getting back into the folds of church, getting into a Connect Group, getting back on Team, making new Connections, catching up with old friends, sliding back into the lifestyle that was vaguely familiar, despite all that, it just seemed like I was still… wasn’t SETTLED. I pined for London. I knew I needed to be able to break that somehow, and when the opportunity of going back to the Phils for a couple of weeks presented itself, I took it. I welcomed and embraced it. I knew it would break the direct link that my brain and heart reference to when given the opportunity.

The best thing about the Phils, hands down, would have to be my cousins. I wish I could eloquently put it in words, but no amount of words could do it justice. From cradle to present, my cousins have remained the same. There are twenty of us first cousins in my Dad’s side, and our age ranges from 26 to 45+, and despite time and distance, we have this amazing ability to pick up where we left off. When we’re together, there is never a shortage of hysterical laughter, inside jokes and an endless supply of hugs and teasing banter. There is a rare form of unconditional love that runs between our veins, and despite differences, devotion to each other is hard to miss. Relationship dynamics change, closeness varies between seasons, but you won’t find a group of people who would fight to jump to your defense, or who would do their outmost to cater to your needs to the best of their ability as these guys do. Phils is home, because they make it home for me.

“Cousins are the INSTANT friends God has blessed us with” A. Rueda

‘Uyy Relax’ quote: R3 Arambulo

Two weeks sped by so quickly, and as I try to recover from lack of sleep and sift through the memories that encompassed the trip, it makes me smile. Most of my favourite memories involved my cousin Art and Mela. Admittedly I spent most of my time with them. Art, Mela and I are all the same age, with our other cousin Sol who’s currently in the States. This is the first trip that I have had the opportunity to hang out with Mela, as my previous trips she was always off studying or on duty at the hospital. On this trip, she happened to be on holidays. Getting the opportunity to hang out with her one on one, was an answered prayer. Out of my cousins in my generation, she was the one I hardly knew. She’s getting married in March, and I knew little about her, and even less about her future hubby. It had only been recently that I found out she had a boyfriend. We did a lot of hanging out together. Talking, watching movies, endless car rides. When Art could steal away from work he would join us. Art and I have always been close, well there are stories of us expressing our lack of love for each other when we were little. Ate Nelle always reminds us of our little shov-athon when we were kids. But in the last 13 years since our first reunion, he has been nothing less than my partner in crime. Being with Mela and Art meant loads to me. We communicated without words, and that bond, compares to none.

When I opened my mail on the Sunday morning that I arrived I found that I received an Early offer/acceptance to Macquarie University for Special Education (Early Intervention 0-6). I was ecstatic. Praise God totally!

Coming back from Phils I feel a lot more grounded, and it feels like I have finally released the last grasp I had clutched so hard on London. It finally feels like I am living my life here instead of just parts of it while the other parts was still co-existing in London. Though I miss my friends, modern technology caters.

In general, I am looking forward to all that is yet to unfold…