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.
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| With her inay and tatay |
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| 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.
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| 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.
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| Puerto Galera 2007 |
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| 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.
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| 2006 |
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| 2007 |
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| 2009 |
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| 2009 |
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| 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! :)
Spread the positivity! Happy birthday week, bi!
- A! :)
