Refreshed

Davao was good for me.

It was a happy Viola that flew in from Davao, late on Saturday night. Dressed as me in the most-est -- low-rise camel shorts, light green top, and sandals -- PLUS a splendid red-orange sarong printed with fishes in gold (originally a present for someone, but obviously I've claimed it, hehe!) – I felt, REFRESHED. Unlike other trips that would leave me bereft, lonely, tired or disconnected, this time around, I felt FULL. How so very different from the sniffling, tired, and harassed me that flew off at break of dawn on Wednesday.

Aside from the obvious benefits of being refreshed, this feeling is noteworthy because my rune reading mentioned it -- that I would take a trip and that this trip would be good. I didn’t expect it as it seemed like it was going to be nondescript travel. But I was wrong.

Scorpio Boss
It was my first time to work closely with the Scorpio boss. I kept feeling my way thru it, not sure if the Capricorn staff was supposed to take care of the Scorpio boss or not. I was at my diplomatic friendly best, all supportive and helpful. And Scorpio boss was fun to be with -- boy, was I glad she was in a good mood! Her passionate self spent four hours talking, and gamely singing and partying with the other chapter folks that night.

It was good for us both to get to know each other, and work together.

Through the overhead projector, dimly.

The Davao Activity
My main purpose was as one-person reference manual on all things pertaining to our national office. I am happy to say I was of help, and that it was a good thing that I was there to clarify some things, and to give relevant information.

I was also happy to be there. It was a fruitful exercise in organizational diagnosis and strengthening, and I think only good things can come from the Davao people undergoing such a process. The facilitators were very good. They know and appreciate the importance of our organization; they are steeped in the movement, and had organizational tools and tricks at their fingertips. And none of the protective pride and arrogance that may come with having too much of a stake in the process and the outcome. Plus, they were quite funny.

I also enjoyed the rare novelty of listening to Cebuano/ Bisaya. It has peculiarities and humor all its own.

Post Planning
I contemplated long and hard on de-virginizing my taste buds and tasting durian fruit for the first time (also at the vehement urging of Scorpio boss, a durian fanatic). I was almost going to with the Davao chapter people, but I was overtaken by events.

I met up with Pisces Girl and her Davao friends. Or more accurately, met up with her friends and then some four hours later, with Pisces girl and more friends. The four hours in between involved meeting up with nice friendly strangers and taking an exciting ride in a nice car through kilometers of bananas. The exciting part was this: we were almost running on empty (read: gas indicator blinking red) in a deserted part of the highway near the Davao Penal Colony (read: heinous crime prisoners said to walk “freely” thru the banana fields) unfamiliar to all three of us in the car, and with no cellphone coverage. Think __________________(insert title of horror movie here). Hehe!

The next day, we trooped to the nearby beach on Samal Island, part of the magic that is Davao – beach five minutes away, and mountains fifteen minutes away.

Thank Goddess for the fish sister and her friends, I was able to experience a little bit more on this trip. And hence, at the end, was refreshed.

Hope to get back there sometime, for a longer look-see, with more natives to share the beauty of their home city with me.

Thank you to everyone who took care of the goat girl -- from friends back home and in Germany who kept me company thru lonely moments at the convent, to the accommodating Davao chapter people especially its tireless Sec-Gen, and to Pisces girl (and her friends) with whom I share many things divine.

Postscript


My Stash. Obviously, I went amok for sarongs, brilliant aquas, oranges, soft pinks, royal blues! Aaaaaaaah!!!!!!!! Heaven is a confusing place. Made it back in time for the afternoon session, shaking from hunger, blinded by sarong nirvana (hehehe!). Disclaimer: People asked me to buy for them, so it wasn’t all mine, let me make it clear ;-).

As if from a novel. L said that the durian season in Davao is also a season of death. Apparently, the ecstatic pleasure of eating durian – the overpowering aroma, the unique taste, the heat that suffuses one’s body – comes with the risk of ostentatiously upping one’s blood pressure, leading to many an untimely death of a durian-loving denizen.