Minsan

I survived medical school because of them. I saw places because of them. Together we overcame our fear of handling dead bodies. We studied together. Ranted and raved together. We ate, we cried, we laughed, we partied, we travelled, we got stuck in the flood together, we saw each through the best and worst times. We hugged when we saved our first patient. We cried when we lost a patient. We both thought of quitting medicine. We fought and made up.

It's hard to define my life without thinking of them.

I talked to Dale yesterday and I really missed him. To my surprise, a few minutes later , he calls me up and tells me that he was on his way from manila to come visit me, and he was bringing our other best friend, jill. The sight of them sitting together gave me goosebumps. Here were the best people I've known, the most interesting, most loveable people in the world - and i was given the chance to see them again. The thing i hate about leaving med school, and pursuing this training of mine in the US is not being able to meet up with them as frequently as i used to. They were the type of beings whom you could call up at 3 am to change your flat tire in quiapo. Also the type who would steal those government things on the road... type who would sometimes smoke some weed in Sagada.. they were interesting, they knew how to liven up any party, and they knew what it means to be a friend. I learned a lot from Dale, from Jill, from all the other friends i've had in med school.

I guess being in med school, sharing the same bed, sharing the same soap, same utensils, same everything brings people close. I'm lucky. I'm blessed. And now i get this sickening feel at the pit of my stomach when i think of spending three years without them being physically present.

We sat together and ordered coffee from coffee bean and tea leaf. We ordered different drinks. Mostly i guess that's a habbit. So we could taste a lot. The drinks rotated among us. I remember that i was the only one who failed the test of friendship espoused by Randi - that of sharing a chewed gum. I couldn't chew it. They all passed except me.

Funny i don't remember med school being hard. It was fun. They made it fun.

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To our misadventures...

Our love of the limelight distorted biochemical principles just so we could come up with a song and dance number... To our serious asereje dance numbers.. To spaghetti song and dances... To winning that research competition in physiology... to cutting classes... to laguna, to tagaytay to sagada to boracay to nueva ecija... to countless bars... to countless overnights... to bad charades... to jogging... to fitness first and hunky personal trainers.. to countless flings and failed relationships... to fights and to making up... to embarassing each other to the point of death... To sleepless nights.. to nights passed out on the floor...to everything that made life worth living.

May our friendship never end..