the life and death of the rollercoaster

this is winter. pointilism by mai

I rode a wave today.
Not too long ago I thought about dying.
People are afraid of that word. I used to be.
But I've played around with the thought of it since I was 6. Or 7.
We look at children these days and we think they are so young.
They don't know better.
True, in some cases. But most often there is a very special intelligence in their minds.
We lose it when we become adults.
It gets lost in our life patterns and in our day to day routines.
I played with the thought of death because I like to imagine what it's like.
What it's like not to worry about making money.
What its like not to think about if we're going to make our dreams come true.
What it's like not to think about living.
Or people.
Or caring.
Or all of that which makes us human.
When I think about being human I admit, I get angry. Occasionally.
This is the low part of the rollercoaster.
And I enjoy it all the same.
I think about death when I want to throw away my cares, my ambitions and my passions.
It's not physical death, just mind death.
Meditation. Call it what you want.
We're all here for a purpose.
We're all here to ride our own rollercoaster.
I enjoy thinking about when I can get off mine.
And float around. Empty.
I'd miss everything though.
The feelings. The moments. The sunset.
Although, I suppose, I'd miss them dead or alive.
I'd be missing them because they would be gone.
And it wouldn't matter then.
Because they are gone.
Don't you see how beautiful this ride is?

So the wave I rode not too long ago... it passed, as usual.
I noticed it better this time.
I witnessed the life and death of the rollercoaster.
I loved it because I can.

Moalboal

This past weekend a few friends and I decided to go to Moalboal in the southern part of Cebu. We left Friday afternoon, rented motorbikes and GTA-styled our way through the city and into the country parts, the mountains and the darkness to get to the lovely little town of Moalboal. It took us 4 hours and I lugged 4 giant paint cans on the back of the bike the whole way there. It was exhausting, beautiful and worth it. 

We arrived close to 8pm, ate a nice little meal and wondered the little strip of bars, restaurants and beaches. We stayed at Pacitas Beach Resort, the nicest place at the end of the strip and one of the cheapest. 700PHP for a night, 25p for the beer fridges, 15p for coke and water. Amazing. The little mini homes led out into a grainy beach and down stone stairs directly into the where old coral made up the majority beneath the water.

 We didn't stay up too late as we had an early start the following day. Our main goal of the journey was to meet Aida. I had been trying to meet with her for a few months now, but sadly I kept missing her due to our schedules.

She started a day centre where children are fed and schooled who are underprivileged and malnourished. Our mission was to brighten up the kindergarten room and fill it with visual aids and other fun colourful paintings that the children could use as references. We had one of the teachers even come help us and another friend we met on our last adventure with Lets-Share.

We started around 8am on Saturday. Being the one that instigated this, I still had no clue as to what we should be painting. I had to wait to see the room. After circulating ideas in my head, I knew we would do the alphabet around the top of the room, as well as numbers and shapes and a fun mural. We thought that as a kid it was fun to measure how tall you werre, so we painted a ruler near the front door.

While we began the painting, not too far down the road at Basdiot Elementary School, Lets-Share and Aida along with a few very well-known people (including members of the Rotary Club in Cebu) had organized a dental care and eye care for the people in the school. Free. This on-going mission will be brought to many children through the Philippines in the coming months. We didn't get to see much of the event as we were busy painting, but we did catch up to Aida and Richard at lunch where we joined them in eating the lovely food made just for the volunteers.

Our painting took us to just about 3pm, where afterward we rewarded ourselves with a swim in the ocean, mango shakes, delicious sandwiches and for a few a nice, long sleep. The rest of them went out to the disco and stayed out til all hours of the night. Our plan for the next morning was to visit White Sands Beach, swim, hang out and then take the long motorbike home around noon. We did just that and while it poured rain on us a good portion of the bike ride, we were nevertheless happy and satisfied when we arrived safely in Lapu-Lapu.

Moalboal is a beautiful place. Many tourists visit for the diving, the scenery and the small-town vibe. For us it was a place to clear our minds, be creative, and appreciate everything we have in our lives.

White Sands Beach, Moalboal