a park bench shared

one of the places ive come to love since this semester started is the park bench right in front of malcolm hall, along the sunken garden. while i have always been a fan of the benches since i was but an undergraduate freshman (where i was sitting the first time i was asked directions as a true blue up student; where i exchanged smiles with a bald cute stranger on a passing obvan, where i sat and exchanged kilig stories about crushes come and gone with members of the kumare club and barkada 2000), i think this particular bench i have come to love more now because its been instrumental in forming nice memories about the people i spend every day with now - my blockmates. and yesterday was no exception.

after a most unpleasant encounter with someone badgering me for a friendster testimonial, i ran into elson at the library, with me a bit down-trodden (is this right?) and glum because there was no one to spend the afternoon with and everyone else had gone home. he was nice enough to wait with me for my sundo, and we spent the afternoon talking under the trees on my favorite bench for a good 2 hours. and what a lovely afternoon it was. got to get to know elson a lot better, and got him to decide to be happy and optimistic about law school life. i see so much potential in him, and also a great desire to love and be loved. he is a very sweet boy in need of friends who will understand him and reaffirm his faith in himself. i have a lot of respect for him, because i know he is having a hard time going through the motions with this pressure to survive. not everyone can do that and not crack, and yet he manages to do what needs to be done. we shared thoughts over dirty ice cream and chocnut. i was so glad we could have that thought.

my dream is to be able to spend an afternoon on that bench with everyone in the block. get to know their thoughts, get to know about them. wonderful. the idea makes me tingly all over.

another reason why i love up so much.

i wasnt able to get a shot with elson (we were too busy talking) but here are shots i thought id share with you, taken both from that very park bench and on it. hahaha. for those of you in up, hope you find a spot you love too, and make something really special out of it. a great long weekend all!