Before I get to that however, I will start as always, at the beginning of the week, and run you through what some people might see as a monotonous and uninteresting life, or what some might see as a little glimpse into my wonderful (and yes, sometimes monotonous and uninteresting) life.
Actually scratch that, I will ignore the boring stuff, and just share with you a few little nuggets of gold that was my week.
Unfortunately I managed to get a nasty little cold for the earlier part of the week, which kept me a little bed ridden for the majority of the week, however I was determined to get better so that I may enjoy the end of the week, which I could experience the UP Oblation Run, Social Work department Christmas party, and of course my flight home to Australia for Christmas.
The start of the week, my housemates and I decided to bring some humble Christmas cheer into our house by having our own little Christmas celebration. We went out to dinner in this gorgeous little treasure of a find (feeling very pirate right now) in this little organic café. And to my immense surprise, HELLO TO VEGETABLE STIRFRY! Even better, the stir fry had copious amounts of different vegetables, and possibly the first time in the last 6 weeks that I have had so much vegies (bad vegetarian, bad! *whacks nose with newspaper*)
We came home to exchange our secret Santa presents – Thanks to miss Cathy I got some lovely necklaces (I believe the angry birds one was the best, haha) as well as some sealing wax, a miniature red top hat (jealous much? It’s amazing) and a masquerade t-shirt. Needless to say Miss Cathy, you did a terrific job of figuring me out :P.
We sang some Christmas carols together (some may say in a loser-like manner, but I prefer to think of it as setting the trends for the cool kids to follow).
Then of course I managed to get a cold, and watching many episodes of ‘The Office’ became my thing, aside from doing assignments at Starbucks. It sadly occurred to me that I might be frequenting the lovely air-conditioned Starbucks near our house for their free Wi-Fi a little too much, when the workers greeted me by my name. What is worse is that they greeted me by my fake Philippines use only, coffee name. Having a name that is difficult for people to grasp in Melbourne sometimes, and even a coffee name that some Melbournites have difficulty with too (hello- ‘BRubee’ incident anyone??) I decided to go with a name that was easy to pronounce; Emma. So when they are greeting you with “Good Morning Emma” you know it’s time to start splitting your time between Starbucks and Coffee bean & Tea Leaf.
Friday came around and it was time for the famous UP fraternity oblation run. Hold onto your seats ladies and gentlemen, this is where the nudity comes!
We made our way to the front of Palma Hall, where once a year, one of the university’s fraternities takes part in, what is basically, a nudie run. However the ‘oblation’ run serves as a form of political protest, with a new cause being picked each year. It is about giving their all, in a raw form. This started back in the 1970’s and continues to this day. Of course each of their identities are kept secret with brightly coloured masks. I suppose to stop the locals playing a big game of ‘match that wang’ with people they may know and also to keep the focus solely on the political issue at hand. Although I have been told that a lot of the local girls who have come from far off provinces and conservative families go along, because they have never been exposed to the naked male form, and curiousity gets the better of them. Either way, it serves for an interesting afternoon.
The cause they chose this year was conservation of the Philippine rivers. About 20 boys marched out in all their glory and fought their way through the crowd. We could barely see them as we were up the back, but it sure caused a commotion. Suddenly the crowd parted ways, much like the red sea in biblical references, and we realized they were headed our way. So we backed up until we were stopped by a fence. Next thing you know, the boys were right in front of us by about a quarter of a meter and posing for the media. Meanwhile, three Australian students (that’s us!) could be found behind them giggling like little school girls. Actually, the funniest thing of all would have been Tania’s complete look of shock at finding around 20 naked bums right in front of her. Not sure how we managed to get stuck behind all of this, but, they do say that you should throw yourself into the thick of the cultural experiences!
All the boys have a handful of roses that they carry with them to give to a girl they think is pretty, so little miss Cathy managed to get two roses off one boy, and another Filipino girl trapped with us got a sneaky kiss on the cheek, and a rose as well. Definitely the perfect opportunity to let rip the line “who was that masked man?” followed by a sigh…or in this case a fit of giggles.
Once the nudity disappeared we headed over to the social work department for a little festive shindig. One thing I have noticed about the Filipino’s is they absolutely love putting on ‘talent shows’ at every possible occasion. Fair enough since a lot of them are actually talented, however sucky for us because as the novelty Australian students there is an expectation that we perform at all of these events; even when you don’t want to. We tried using the excuse that as the main singer, I was sick and therefore couldn’t possibly partake, but alas we had to anyway (mostly thanks to Tania forcing it upon us… Sleep with one eye open buddy! Them mouse babies will find their way up your nose canals shortly!) We had a little boogie, played some games and finally got up to sing ‘lean on me’. It was then time for me to depart to the airport to make my way to Western Australia for a family gathering; Dad’s 50th and my sisters 21st.
It was actually a wonderful couple of days in Perth catching up with my extended family. Unfortunately living on the other side of the country as them doesn’t provide much opportunities to spend a lot of time together, and it would have been about 3 years since I was last able to see them all. We had barbecues by the river, and picnics in the park, and copious amounts of delicious wine and food. Oh how I have missed real food and greenery. Needless to say I am glad I came home for this festivity.
As for right now, I am on a plane back to Melbourne for a week or so, typing up this blog in a word document to pass the time, ready to post when I return home tonight (after greeting the dogs of course, I know my priorities!)
Perhaps I will talk to you all again before Christmas, but if not, Feliz Navidad, prospero año y felicidad.
Much love, B xoxox
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