A piece of summer

The traffic was unusually heavy on the way to school last Monday. At 6:30 a.m., the highway was packed with cars, and the DJs on the radio were talking about favorite and most abhorred subjects. "It’s back to school, everybody," one of them declared.

What the fudge? I thought groggily, sitting up from my sleepy slouch. Back to school already? I could hardly believe it. Thousands of students were dragging their legs back to school after summer break. Meantime, my legs have been walking to school since April and haven’t really had any vacation except for weekends. Yes folks, I had attended classes during summer. While other teenagers were getting some summer reading done, I was reading my textbooks. While other teenagers sizzled in the incredible heat at home, I was sweating finance, the current bane of my existence. (I hate numbers). While other teenagers got tired of thinking of things to do, I got tired of thinking about the difference between something and nothing in my philosophy class. While other teenagers were spending time with their families, I was studying the role of the family in our society for theology.

This was my first time to take classes during the summer, and it was a real shock for me. I had no idea how hot it was going to be. I had no idea how fast the pace was going to be. I had no idea how hard finance was going to be. (I hate numbers). Of course, on the bright side, I had a lot of things to do this summer instead of wasting away on the couch in front of the TV. But I actually missed wasting away on the couch in front of the TV. I missed my privilege as a student to take a break after a schoolyear to rest. Most of all, I missed flipping through magazines and looking for good vacation spots. I missed packing swimsuits and board shorts into a bag and jetting off for a short vacation. I missed sharing junk food and sandwiches with friends on long trips.

So when an opportunity to get away came up, I took it immediately. Even if it was just two days away from school and stress, the idea of a break from the concrete jungle of Katipunan appealed to me. And the fact that I was going to spend the weekend in beautiful Boracay made me want to go all the more. With my friend Kich, my sunblock, my straw hat, and my flip-flops, I jumped on a plane (Southeast Asia Airlines got us there comfortably in practically 30 minutes! Amazing, amazing, amazing!) and prepared for my single slice of a summer vacation.

Kich and I arrived in Boracay in the afternoon, and the first things that greeted us (besides the white sand and the sparkling blue waters) were shell necklaces (placed around our necks a lá leis in Hawaii) and delicious iced tea shakes from Sun Village Central, the resort we stayed in. Sun Village Central is right smack in the middle of Boracay, near D’Mall, and it was a convenient location. We could go in any direction and we were still relatively near our place. The rooms were cozy and very comfortable, the staff was unbelievably warm and friendly, we almost just stayed in our rooms. Almost.

Knowing that we would only be in Boracay for two days, we planned our days out well so that we could make the most out of the weekend. First, we knew that the seafood would be incredibly fresh and delicious, and so we set out to find the best places for grilled seafood. We found a place that had all-you-can-eat grilled seafood with oysters as appetizers. And with mats on the sand, the offer was just too good to pass up. We piled up our plates with all the delectable seafood that we wanted.

Of course, seafood wasn’t the only thing we were excited about. Being girls, Kich and I could hardly keep ourselves away from the popular accessory stands and the talipapa. We saw the usual sarongs and shell accessories, but we were loving the Murano beads, Y-necklaces, glass beads, crochet tops, and colored scarves.

And of course, we couldn’t avoid going through all staple activities that you do in Boracay, from getting henna tattoos to ordering cold shakes from Jonah’s to ordering crepes at Café Breizh to watching the sunset on the beach. We even wrote our names on the sand and took millions of pictures of them. The two days flew by, and before we knew it, we were peeling ourselves off the bed at 5 a.m. for our early morning Monday flight back to Manila.

I went straight back to school as soon as the plane landed in the metro, but I felt incredibly refreshed and ready for my finance class. (Although…I still hate numbers). My quick trip gave me the taste of summer that I needed to help me go on with all the school work I still needed to do. Whenever I walked to school, I just imagined my feet sinking into soft, white sand instead of concrete. While putting on my daily amount of sunblock, I would pretend I was going out for a swim instead of my class. And whenever I’d feel myself getting lazy and bored, I’d slap on my beaded cuffs from Boracay to cheer myself up.

So to all the students pouring into the various campuses everywhere, take my advice: take a piece of summer back with you to school so as not to get burned out. It may be a picture or a shell you picked up at the beach or even a receipt from a quick drive to Tagaytay. Trust me – when you’re getting tired and stressed from school, a single memory of your summer freedom and fun can save you from going insane, especially when you’re dealing with numbers. (I hate numbers).