De La Salle University
17 July 2013 - It was a Wednesday and I was sitting in my Introduction to Philosophy class. With a professor who interestingly explains the conscious and the unconscious and with my natural instinct to take notes, I was physically there but mentally miles away.
Sandwiched between my friends Anton, Jeline, Sofia, and Rupert (who were all wearing pink except Rupert who was wearing green), I think I made the most noise and distractions that day. Two of us played a pen and paper game while the other three were unusually distant and were crowding together.
To my surprise, by the end of the period, they gave me a "Have fun in Brazil" card. It was the sweetest gesture that day. Thanks for the sunshine, you guys <3
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| We called ourselves "The Watchmen" since we all wore watches. We also wore pink every Wednesday. |
(....continued)
By the end of that period, I dropped by the USG office for a few minutes then rushed off to the Lasallian Pastoral Office to meet some of the De La Salle University delegates to the International Lasallian Youth Meeting and the World Youth Day 2013.
At the office, it was only Kenji Koga and I who arrived there first. Mr. Rico Miranda gave us our Pilipinas-Rio caps. Felix Agoncillo arrived shortly and the four of us made our way to the La Salle Greenhills retreat house. In the van, we talked about Pokemon (or it was more of they talked about Pokemon, or I think it was just Felix talking about how he was going to play it on the plane HAHAHA), our excitement for the next two weeks, and to my dismay the ghost stories in the retreat house.
The La Salle Greenhills Retreat House: Day 1
To get to the dormitories, you have to pass through a corridor with a door to the chapel. There were only a few lights illuminating the hallway and as we were walking, the two guys on both my sides were starting to scare me and my hair started raising.... but we walked quickly, so it wasn't so bad. :((
When we got to our room, we were greeted by the other De La Salle Philippines delegates and Brother Bernie Oca.
The first ones I sat down with were best friends from Benilde - Alex Gozum and Thea Santiago. We instantly clicked! We were all crazy. We talked about cousins, good looking people, the research we did on Brazil, and (inside joke) #ClubsInBrazil.
Slowly, all of us in the room came together. I met Dani Cortez, Jeff Wang, Karla Co, Trina Andaya, Andrew Militante, and Bernice Santiago. Then Sir JayJay Jacinto sometime that evening.
A little later on, I saw a pair of black shoes with the Nike swoosh glowing in white entering the room we were all in. So I was thinking it was another student in our delegation when someone whispered to me, "That's Brother Alex". For the three years I was in DLSU at that time, the only brothers I saw wore the habits, I have never seen one in civilian. It was like seeing a priest not wearing their vestments.
A few hours since we arrived, you'd think the guys would stop scaring me since we weren't near the chapel, but while we were lining up for dinner, Kenji faces me and starts making a scared face of something he sees behind me. I thought he was joking. My face was showing, "Whatever." But I decided to look back. I screamed so loud. There was a man in a black shirt behind me.
....It was Bro Alex in line for dinner.
A few hours since we arrived, you'd think the guys would stop scaring me since we weren't near the chapel, but while we were lining up for dinner, Kenji faces me and starts making a scared face of something he sees behind me. I thought he was joking. My face was showing, "Whatever." But I decided to look back. I screamed so loud. There was a man in a black shirt behind me.
....It was Bro Alex in line for dinner.
A little later, our friends from Taft Katrina Yap and Isa Parco arrived. Kenji, Felix, and I went out to get them. This time, the guys decided to walk really slow in the chapel corridor. They were saying things to frighten me again so I held on to their arms and pulled them.
As soon as we saw Kat and Isa, it was CHAOS! Excitement filled the air as we were all talking loudly and jumping. Then talking about how we were FE & GE babies. (Abbreviations. FE - freshmen elections. GE - general elections. These are two of the University Government Elections that happen annually in DLSU.)
While Kat and Isa ate their dinner, we were figuring out a group name for the five of us from DLSU and Bro Alex. Our names became KAFIQ - Kat/Kenji, Alex, Felix, Isa, and Queenie.
Isa: "If something is broken..."
Isa and Queenie: "we can KAFIQ's it!!"
We laughed hilariously!! Kenji started laughing-complaining about how he will live two weeks with this *pointing at Isa and I*.
Isa and I made a mission impossible dance afterwards. HAHAHA
Isa and I made a mission impossible dance afterwards. HAHAHA
Back in our beds, we started making funny nicknames. If you're following Isa on Instagram, you might be able to view our introduction to our new nicknames.
Click this:
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| Photo from Isa Parco. |
Evening prayers as a group came after. We sat on the floor, lit candles, read bible passages, did some sharing and reflection. We were also taught the WYD2013 Rio English Anthem which Bro played countless times for us to remember it. So by the end of it, we all had LSS.
At 11PM, Bro. Alex called lights out. Instead of staying in the sleeping room, the five of us took this time to bond. We stayed in the dining area with a few lights on. We just talked and played music - mostly Ed Sheeran and Taylor Swift courtesy of Isa and I. :> One of our conversations was about school politics since all of us played an active role in it. And that is how we came about with this:
The La Salle Greenhills Retreat House: Day 2
With the girls and boys' side only separated by a huge curtain, the guys decide the lift the curtains and say, "Good morning!" I don't know how many hours of sleep KAFIQ had, but at 6:20AM we attended Holy Mass.
After breakfast, we had activities that were very enjoyable and really built our camaraderie as a group. Divided into two groups, we played Paint Me A Picture, Blow My Balls which was a relay game where we had to blow ping-pong balls from one side of the room to another, and a blanket game where we all sat on the blanket and had to work together to make bring it from one side of the room to the other. Isa and I were on the same team, so we were insanely noisy and started being competitive against the opposing half.
From taunting and laughter echoing in the room, it went quiet for the next activity. Cartolinas were distributed among us and were laid on the floor. Permanent markers were also distributed then we all wrote notes for each other. I really loved this one.
We weren't allowed to read the notes though. Bro Alex collected them all. :(
Talks came shortly after. A brother who went to the World Youth Day in Spain talked about what to expect in the event, a girl talked about her experience in the WYD also and taught us a song we could sing when commuting in Brazil, and another girl who taught us about De La Salle Philippines.
Around 4pm that day, Bro gave us the time to decide on what we wanted to do for a cultural night presentation in Brazil. Instantly, dance was decided. The Live It Up De La Salle Centennial Dance was supposed to be what we were going to present, however, we decided to make it more Filipino. We brainstormed and researched songs for a good 45-minutes when we ultimately decided on "Piliin Mo Ang Pilipinas". While everyone else took their merienda, Alex, Trina, and I stayed in the function room to choreograph.
After an hour, the three of us rested for a while and took our snacks then called everyone to teach them the dance. It was really entertaining to see everyone learning the dance. Some caught up quickly, some had two left feet. But that was the beauty of it. What made it perfect was that we weren't all dancers but you saw the heart we were all putting to learn and dance it.
During dinner time, everyone put Bro in the hotseat and we asked him about his life and the brotherhood. Coming from an all-girls school founded on the teachings of St. Josemaria Escriva, I'm pretty knowledgable about Opus Dei. This night was one of the chances for me to know more about the brotherhood founded with the teachings of St. John Baptist de La Salle and to embrace my being Lasallian.
Prayers came afterward where we read bible passages again, reflected, then finally got to read our cartolinas. We were really being prepared for the spiritual journey we were going to have for the next two weeks in Brazil. I don't particularly remember the bible passages, but I remember taking away that we all had a journey and that we are all trying to find something in this world whether it's answers, our purpose, etc. Also that Jesus would always be in the picture and is always here with us.
Around 8:30pm, Brother Dante arrived at the retreat house and invited us to go to Starbucks.
We were all having a grand time conversing, getting to know each other more, and talking about our excitement. Then one thing led to another and Isa and I ended up showing our mission impossible dance. If you're following Kenji on Instagram, you can see the video.
Brazil here we come!!!
At 11PM, Bro. Alex called lights out. Instead of staying in the sleeping room, the five of us took this time to bond. We stayed in the dining area with a few lights on. We just talked and played music - mostly Ed Sheeran and Taylor Swift courtesy of Isa and I. :> One of our conversations was about school politics since all of us played an active role in it. And that is how we came about with this:
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| Parco. Reyes. Agoncillo. Yap. Koga. #FefeForPresident |
If you're following Isa on Instagram, you can view our campaign video here:
The La Salle Greenhills Retreat House: Day 2
With the girls and boys' side only separated by a huge curtain, the guys decide the lift the curtains and say, "Good morning!" I don't know how many hours of sleep KAFIQ had, but at 6:20AM we attended Holy Mass.
After breakfast, we had activities that were very enjoyable and really built our camaraderie as a group. Divided into two groups, we played Paint Me A Picture, Blow My Balls which was a relay game where we had to blow ping-pong balls from one side of the room to another, and a blanket game where we all sat on the blanket and had to work together to make bring it from one side of the room to the other. Isa and I were on the same team, so we were insanely noisy and started being competitive against the opposing half.
From taunting and laughter echoing in the room, it went quiet for the next activity. Cartolinas were distributed among us and were laid on the floor. Permanent markers were also distributed then we all wrote notes for each other. I really loved this one.
We weren't allowed to read the notes though. Bro Alex collected them all. :(
Talks came shortly after. A brother who went to the World Youth Day in Spain talked about what to expect in the event, a girl talked about her experience in the WYD also and taught us a song we could sing when commuting in Brazil, and another girl who taught us about De La Salle Philippines.
Around 4pm that day, Bro gave us the time to decide on what we wanted to do for a cultural night presentation in Brazil. Instantly, dance was decided. The Live It Up De La Salle Centennial Dance was supposed to be what we were going to present, however, we decided to make it more Filipino. We brainstormed and researched songs for a good 45-minutes when we ultimately decided on "Piliin Mo Ang Pilipinas". While everyone else took their merienda, Alex, Trina, and I stayed in the function room to choreograph.
After an hour, the three of us rested for a while and took our snacks then called everyone to teach them the dance. It was really entertaining to see everyone learning the dance. Some caught up quickly, some had two left feet. But that was the beauty of it. What made it perfect was that we weren't all dancers but you saw the heart we were all putting to learn and dance it.
During dinner time, everyone put Bro in the hotseat and we asked him about his life and the brotherhood. Coming from an all-girls school founded on the teachings of St. Josemaria Escriva, I'm pretty knowledgable about Opus Dei. This night was one of the chances for me to know more about the brotherhood founded with the teachings of St. John Baptist de La Salle and to embrace my being Lasallian.
Prayers came afterward where we read bible passages again, reflected, then finally got to read our cartolinas. We were really being prepared for the spiritual journey we were going to have for the next two weeks in Brazil. I don't particularly remember the bible passages, but I remember taking away that we all had a journey and that we are all trying to find something in this world whether it's answers, our purpose, etc. Also that Jesus would always be in the picture and is always here with us.
Around 8:30pm, Brother Dante arrived at the retreat house and invited us to go to Starbucks.
 |
| The De La Salle Philippines delegates to Rio 2013 with Bro. Dante who treated us that evening. Photo from Isa Parco. |
We were all having a grand time conversing, getting to know each other more, and talking about our excitement. Then one thing led to another and Isa and I ended up showing our mission impossible dance. If you're following Kenji on Instagram, you can see the video.
Click this:
...Don't worry. He survived. >:-)
I went home after that, while everyone stayed the 2nd night in the retreat house. I missed one of the surprises though :( Isa surprised her boyfriend Bryan for his birthday. It would've been great to see that. I heard that it went well and Bryan was really happy.
The next time we all saw each other was the next day
....at the airport!! :)
Brazil here we come!!!
Part 2 coming soon.
hi ate queenie! this is just a random question =) di ba you have curly hair before? where did you get your hair permed?
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