Trip back to Canlubang

I’ve been delinquent in updating this blog for the past couple of days and I hope that this entry would cover up for any shortcoming.

It’s not my habit to go back to the seminary on vacation days, but this year was different since I had to run a couple of personal errands (for one, I left my clothes hanging in the clothes line. I do my own laundry, and I was afraid that they would catch the fume of the Christmas revelry. Good thing, Ate Agnes thoughtfully took care of them). I also had to copy some files from my desktop and fetch my present for dad which I forgot to bring since I was in a rush to go home.

One of my motivations of returning to Canlubang was to borrow the film “Cinema Paradiso” from Fr. Joel. Too bad, he’s not around to lend me his DVD. He sent me an SMS if I could stay until 3 PM, but it would be too much inconvenient for me to stay that late in Canlubang. I’m worried about the traffic and the erratic weather and to cut the story short, I had to tell him that I’d just borrow it some other time.

Br. Paul cheered me up when he surprised me with a little present. I’m too ashamed to admit that I’m so shallow. But seriously, I really appreciate it. Thanks, Paul!

Fr. Rey joined me for lunch. He was supposed to go to Lipa to process some documents, but knowing from my mom (through SMS) that I’d be dropping by, he decided to stay and chat with me. It was reinvigorating to listen to him as he let me in to various stories which came to pass over the first days of our Christmas break.

I had to stay longer in the seminary since Dennis asked for my help to install some basic programs in his newly acquired laptop. And then, Jerome arrived. It turned out that he attended a wedding of a classmate in the nearby Mayapa Parish. Good thing, he decided to visit Canlubang and we decided to go home together.

In a relatively cramped bus, we tried to suit ourselves. Jokingly, although half-meaning it, I told him that I have various ways to while away my time on long trips: I always arm myself with a book, and I do bring with me the MP3 player Fr. Rey lent me so that I could listen to past episodes of Chico and Delamar.

He got the message as shown by an unmistakable frown on his face.

I realized how Jerome has been one of the few seminarians I can relate with, then and now. I know that he’s a brainiac and he is a very capable in almost all stuff. But my moment with him revealed how mature he is in dealing with life’s challenges.

I cannot share with you the rest of our conversation, but he earned my admiration.