A: SHE'S ALL THAT!

On my computer’s desktop is a file named “Sched_BLAAAAH” and inside that are scheduled topics until the end of May 2013. And for today, Bebi J and I agreed that I will write about my experiences as an Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) at a very young age of 23. I thought it was a good topic. I would really want to share with y’all the lessons I’ve learned and the things I discovered about myself in this whole journey of trying to be independent in a foreign country. However, it is my best friend’s (bebi J’s) birthday week, and I want to take this time to share some of the discoveries I had about her through our years of friendship. Surprise, beeyotch! :D

I don’t remember how it all started. But I do remember that we weren’t close during the first few months of our freshman year in college. I remember sitting next to her inside one of the offices in the campus while waiting for other friends, but we wouldn’t really talk. We were block mates (being block mates basically means we were classmates in every subject we had) in first year college, but she wasn’t one of those people I really hung around with. It is also quite vague to me if we started becoming close at the latter part of our first year in college or if it was during our sophomore year. I just remember going to this place called “Harbour Square” with her and another friend, and I remember us laughing and just having a really good time. And then I remember going home and exchanging text messages with her, and then just feeling at ease, and wanting to share some more stories with her. And the rest, as people normally say, is history.

I have known bebi J for 9 years now and though that may not be considered long enough for me to even write an entry like this, I find those nine years enough for me to get to see so many sides of her. So without further ado... Jaz.

Nothing makes her happier than being with both her parents

I have shared way too many skype convos with her about her wanting to always be with both her inay and tatay (mom and dad). And it breaks my heart that sometimes, no matter how much she wants it to happen, it just can’t. And whenever I see her photos hanging out with her ‘rents, there is just this glow in her eyes that you don’t really see all the time. She loves them so dearly, and when they are apart, she misses them so badly. She couldn’t be happier when their trip back to Doha, Qatar was confirmed. And now, I know that beyond her smiling face in her photos is an even happier heart.

With her inay and tatay

With her inay and tatay

She is her tatay’s hero

I will not go deep into what the situation was, but from how she handled it, she showed me a whole different meaning of the word “sacrifice”. She was employed and she could see a quite promising future ahead of her through what she was doing before, but she sacrificed that opportunity to take care of her father. And there was never a time that she regretted that she did what she did. She knows her priorities, and it’s always family that comes first for her. She was there when her tatay needed a personal nurse, a companion, a stand up comedienne, a friend, and most of all, a daughter. And though it made her sad that she couldn’t get to continue what she was doing before, she knew that what her heart wanted was to be there for her tatay, and that just was enough.

Hahaha! Funny tatay!

Patience is one of her virtues

I have seen her become upset about something, but I have never seen her rave about anything. It’s amazing how she controls her anger, and how she just seems to be always calm and collected even when there is much to worry about. The only time I saw her “panic” was when we took too long at the salon (to have our hair done for an event that evening) and she still had to take an exam in the afternoon, and she was already 30 minutes late. English 2, bi? Haha!

Confidence? She’s got that!

My best friend, as she would put it, is on the “plus size of the fashion spectrum”, but you think she’d give a damn about that? Heck no! She knows it and she embraces it. And I love that about her! But one thing I love even more is how she proves to everyone that she is sexy and she knows it; by dressing how she wants to. She would buy these short dresses or skirts, or revealing tops, and wouldn’t give a single eff about what other people would say. I know some “free size” (including myself sometimes) people that couldn’t even work a simple black dress because they’re too worried about other people’s opinion.

She has a good voice

She just doesn’t want to admit it, but she sings really well. She played Effie White which was Jennifer Hudson's character in the movie “Dream Girls” for a presentation we did in our senior year in college. Fun times! The only problem is, sometimes, she just would be really conscious and shy about singing, and just would refuse to let her real voice out.

Water, sun, sand… and pool

Just like a typical student, she enjoys summer and semestral breaks. She would always try to convince us to go to their province for a couple of nights of sleep overs and also for some swimming bonding at the local resorts around their area. There was even a time we rented the pool of a motel near their place just to get to swim. I’ve lost count as to how many resorts we’ve already visited, but the most significant would be our first time together at the White Sand beach at Puerto Galera summer of 2007. 

Puerto Galera 2007

With some friends at a resort in Laguna, Philippines

Crazy

Oh she’s no angel. Wouldn’t be friends with her if she was anyway. We’re not proud that we sometimes skipped classes back in college, but I’d say it was worth it. Let’s all be honest, we all have our fair share of “I don’t feel like attending that class,” moments. And everytime we’d skip a class, we’d just hang out, it didn’t matter where, just as long as we were doing nothing, together. Haha!  We also enjoyed quite a number of beer bonding with many different sets of friends. We have shared so many first times in trying different types of booze and we had this night when we just did some crazy moves on the dance floor. She may not be a very big fan of dance floors and led lights, but she sure enjoys nights out with friends.

She is a really good friend

Our friendship, like what I said earlier, has gone through many ups and downs. And I am very blessed to have a friend like her who stuck with me and put up with all my crazy and stupid nonsense. She was always there to listen, and was always there to lend a helping hand. She never judged me, and would always forgive me (for being a spoiled a$$ b*&tch) even before I ask for forgiveness. She was there to support me and cheer for me, and she has many times, went out of her way to be there for me when I needed my best friend. She never kept a record of the wrong and negative things that happened in our friendship, but she kept track of all the fun and happy memories we’ve had.

2006

2007

2009

2009

2010

Thank you for spending 9 years of friendship with me. I wish you had an amazing birthday and that you have an awesome birthday week. I wish you plentiful of blessings and more birthdays to come! I’m looking forward to counting more years of friendship with you! Let’s make some more happy memories, bi!


Spread the positivity! Happy birthday week, bi!

- A! :)