Mud Slide!

So Saturday at the *crack* of 11.30 AM ( real time 12.15 PM) Team Pegasus, who is featured above, and MJ from Quality and myself all loaded into a van and headed for a "resort", (the same place that the Coms team has scheduled for our team building later in the month, coincidentally). The ride was long, due to the fact that it's rainy season and the main road was flooded (!!) so we had to take the long way. The really long way.

Most people nodded off, and after about 2.5 hours (and just as the driver appeared to finally learn how to smoothly accelerate, only to skid to a stop about 500 feet from the resort in front of 3 feet of water) the boys rolled up their pants and portaged our stuff across the river that was the road and the girl were driven across in the van (there was no question about this, it was a given- girls in the van, boys fording the rapids.) and we were there! Para-mud! Flooded-ise!

The resort was the kind of place that is usually rented by 15 drunken college students during spring break: two bedrooms that came with trundle beds and "extra" mattresses and pillows for the people who stayed up too late to get a bed, a kitchen, a rattan couch that was too short for most of us, and a giant TV. There was a pool, but it was across the parking lot from the house and the main guest rooms (? eh?). The whole place was a little grim due to the grey light, flooded street, broken palms, stone-rock ocean roaring away like the Atlantic around Rhode Island in the background, everything looking like the establishing shots for an America's Most Wanted recreation vid.

The guys fired up the grill and started cooking, a few people disappeared into the bedrooms to crash, and I whipped out a deck of cards and coerced Erwin into playing cards with me. I taught him Spit, and he taught me a new card game that's like a rapid- fire, open- handed Poker "Pusoy" or "Big Two" (http://www.pagat.com/climbing/bigtwo.html). It's fun and easy, and I enjoyed myself to a degree. I was craving a gin and tonic, a sandwich and a lounge chair, but eh...

The guys set up a pick up game of basketball, a few people cracked some beers (me included) and the sun slowly set as people drifted in and out, and Arthur and his lovely wife Lyhric (not sure of the spelling!) made dinner.

The overwhelming vibe for me was the VERY clear memories of killing time at my Grandma Bates waiting for the adults to make dinner, playing cards or board games with my siblings (probably Kez while Caleb jumped off tree stumps in the backyard). I felt like I was with my favorite cousin (with some people the family vibe is very strong, and Erwin is one of those) gossiping, desultorily playing cards, and talking trash while the TV murmured in the background and the food started to smell better and better.

I wouldn't call it a laugh riot, but it was okay.

The food, which was delicious, was (as usual) but served around 8 PM when I was STARVING. It was barbecue pork (which was crispy, fatty, and FUCKING AWESOME) , salad, bread, soup, and plenty of beer. Oh, and a huge pot of rice. Most guys (there were only three women there and about 8 guys, including "Tiny Mark"- Mark's kid that looked to be about 8 or 9 who was silent as the tomb) sat and dug in with their hands, and then promptly passed out in a food coma.

After dinner, Erwin and I went night swimming and talked, freezing our butts off, and then went in to watch Chloe on HBO (a movie I saw in the States and liked), or more accurately, Erwin to fall asleep and me to watch Chloe and listen to the videoke which had been fired up on the deck and would. not. be. stopped. until. the world. was. theirs!!

The guys were at it until about 2 AM, when the last off- key note faded into the night and they toddled off to bed.

It's hard to get used to the fact that Filipinos just *don't* sit and "shoot the bull" like a similar group of Americans could be counted on to do. If there's nothing to do or look at most Filipinos will stare out into space patiently and silently, not saying anything, or fall asleep and catch 40 winks. Once again, not judging, just sayin'.

Anyway, I got the mattress on the floor, as the bedrooms were split up : boys in one and MJ and me and Arthur and his wife in one, but I fell asleep watching TV and some dude (the only dude I can't remember the name of) took my spot on the bed with (NOT with with, just "in proximity to") MJ.

The next day we pounded down some breakfast (once again, food was very good and took two hours to make--coffee, omelets, rice, sausages, and fish) and took some pix on the sand and then went home (much faster since we could take the main road).

Overall I had an okay time- I probably would have had a blast if I had gotten 'faced and taken over the Karaoke machine, but then again I'm not really a boss but a sort of teacher for these guys and I want to keep what small rep I may still have, not ruin it with ill advised "Only the Lonely" at 1 AM.

What's worse than the only "okay" time you're having? The imaginary SUPERAWESOME time "someone else" would be having in your stead.

This leads me to a phenomenon I call "the cocktail party in the sky"--it has two faces:

Meet and Greet is when you're struck with the feeling that what you're doing (be it your job, your dude, your clothes, or even the way you're walking and talking) is purely or mostly for the Big Competition that everyone seems to be involved in: who's the coolest person on Earth. But you do it anyway because you can't stop now, you're almost there.

What He Had is when you're struck with the feeling that you picked the wrong group and now you're stuck with the "uncool" or "B-grade" team despite the fact that they're fun, etc.

The Best Time Ever is when you mentally review other people's FB albums that chronicle similar events and everyone looks like they're on Ecstasy they're so high on life/ the awesome party they're at that's now over and you're on the outside looking at photos.

In case it isn't obvious, I have a terminal case of Cocktail Party in the Sky.

And I will forever, probably.

Later, lovers!