fish out of water, trying to climb mountains...
fish out of water, trying to climb mountains...okay. so i'm in cantabaco right now, somewhere in the mountains of cebu (thanks to modern technology, i can surf the web and even blog via my mobile phone right here in the middle of nowhere!) desperately trying to be a... "climber." yep, so far, i don't think that i've been doing a very good job at it. "how come?" you might ask? well, to be painfully honest, if you were to ask me for my job description these past few days it would probably go a little something like this: water boy, bus boy, carry boy, ice boy, battery boy, runner boy, food boy... and so many other types of "boys" that i can't even try to name all of them (except for that kind of boy. refer to the fifth word after this sentence for clarity). gee.. i can't even call myself a belay slave since i can't even belay for crap! tsk, tsk, tsk...
but don't you dare think that i've just been some sort of pathetic city boy lost in the wilderness (okay, fine, this ain't the sahara but it sure does come real close!). i've climbed a few routes as well... it doesn't matter that i haven't gotten to finish any of the routes (so far) in this trip (i did get to finish one in dingle though!). the point is that i, at least, tried to climb, right?
ho hum...
anyway, you can't even begin to imagine how much of a fool i've made of myself during the duration of this trip. and the thing is, it ain't even finished yet! thinking about the other ways that i can and probably will make myself look even more stupid and totally undone than i already have done in the remainder of our stay here just makes me wanna cover my head with a paper bag, run for cover, hide and hurl! haha... well, at least i can say that i was able to give these uber cool and uber tough outdoorsmen, local and foreign alike, a little bit of amusement the past few days. never mind that it can be and actually is pretty degrading on my end of the deal. i made them laugh... them laughing... at me... not with... at... me... at my expense... more times than i can remember. that should be more than enough reward-slash-punishment, i guess. err... right?
oh! and have i mentioned that all that they've been telling me and all that i've been hearing since my arrival here in cebu has been nothing else but "you're not one of us!" i mean, gimme a break! try telling that to a manila boy busting his ass to gain some semblance of respect in the outdoors (aka me)! can you be any more brutal? i've gotten totally filthy already the past few days that i've practically already become swamp thing come alive! i mean, what else do i have to do (other than to actually finish a freaking route) to gain some sort of validation as a climber? tell me... what!?!
sigh...
but it's okay. don't get me wrong. i'm fine. actually more than fine. i'm having a grand time. i'm totally enjoying spending these past few crazy days and nights with true blue climbers, my pathetic yet entertaining attempt at being "one of them" and all the other things that come with it! i'm just being overly dramatic right now. gimme another five minutes or so and i'll be fine... just a little bit sensitive... but fine nonetheless.
i just wonder and look forward to the time when i won't be a "wannabe" anymore and actually be considered an authentic... (drum roll please)... "climber!" ha! imagine! that'll be the day! oh well. till that day comes, i guess all i can do is to just try even harder... maybe even finish a route or two... or three...
oh wait... i hear something. i gotta go right now. they're calling me again. they probably need something bought from the store. i'll just check back again later. and i'll be posting the pics on my multiply again soon as well. until then... here's a pic of a bunch of my newly found slave-drivers...
oh and how could i forget... aldwin, miel, travis, garth, doc, mikko, pot, angel, trick, carlos and macoy... thanks a whole lot. let's do this again sometime soon. hopefully by then, i'll be able to keep up!
posted by nicolas @ 2:46 PM
Comments: 19
